Hawaii travel regulations

Each adult needs their own account. It is not complicated at all if you have been fully vaccinated.

https://hawaiicovid19.com/travel/faqs/

Do you have specific questions?

Four of us traveled to Maui in early August…each of us had to create our own account and uploaded our CDC card. You must bring your CDC card with you.

24 hours before flight departure you will need to log back into your Safe Travels account and complete the Health Questionnaire. Once you do that you should note a green check mark on your application when you land you will need to log back in to show that to folks who are checking after de-boarding.

If you are flying one of the airlines that give wristbands..you are already pre-screened and can leave the airport.

Car rentals are very expensive..I was lucky enough to book a rental 6 months ahead at a very reasonable price.

I recommend making restaurant reservations as soon as you know you are traveling.

I was just in California and several flights to Hawaii were boarding on SouthWest while I was waiting for my flight home. There seemed to be an additional check-in at the gate to get on a cleared list. It was 5:30 in the morning but the announcements caught my ear. I think they were showing vaccine cards so they didn't have to do it in Hawaii. Interestingly, kids under 5 had to be cleared in Hawaii. However, it seemed like the lines went quickly and nobody had issues. Chances are there will be an entirely different process come December.

Chris, could you elaborate on the restaurant situation? Is it a capacity restriction and does it effect other businesses or activities? We're going in December as well, and considering canceling per governor's recommendation.

Stan, can't speak to Maui but my family and I recently returned from two weeks in Kauai and found no issues with restaurant seating or capacity considerations. We were very impressed with the 'in it together' mindset reflected by Garden Isle locals as well as shops and restaurants. They're taking the necessary precautions and doing so absent the politically-charged hubris (side taking) around wearing masks. Locals we spoke with said they wear them as an accommodation to their fellow neighbor, what a refreshing concept.

As Chris referenced, the State of Hawaii website (health status) documentation is necessary, and I would highly recommend 'clearing' screening at the outbound airport. We had the option to either clear at SFO or upon arrival into Lihue, and chose the former (as did ~80% of our flight). We were so glad we did when we saw The Line for flight passengers opting to clear upon arrival. Imagine a similar instance when flying into Kahului.

From what I understand, currently restaurants in Maui are restricted to 50% capacity, but that may be only for indoor eating. Many restaurants have outdoor eating or open-air eating under a roof. However, there is also a severe labor shortage in Maui which means that restaurants may have had to cut hours or reduce capacity. Quite a number of restaurants went out of business because of there being no tourists during the pandemic.

Bottom line: Unless things change, it could be hard to get last-minute restaurant reservations in December. So if there's a must-go restaurant on your list, make a reservation there as soon as you can.

We went in mid-August. Most of the anxiety was hoping that the Safe Travels process would flow smoothly as we were going for a wedding. Like clock-work, 24 hours before our flight we logged in, filled out the information and were issued our QR code. There was a dedicated line at SEA for Alaska Air passengers flying to Hawaii. My only hiccup was needing to show the QR code to check-in at our hotel and I had forgotten to write down my Safe Travels password to access account with the QR code. We also found that we needed to make restaurant reservations at least 24 hours ahead in Waikiki.

Matt and Stan….regarding restaurants…..if you did not have a reservation you were put on a wait list which could be an hour to 2 hours long. Restaurants i.e. Fleetwood’s or Merriman’s reservations go fast…..their booking window opens 30 days prior to the day you would like to go. Merriman’s reservations in particular are booked within 4-5 min of opening that window.

I would suggest you look at restaurants you would like to go to now and book…. We booked Duke’s on the Beach, Merriman’s, a Trilogy Deluxe Sunset cruise, Honu, Valley Isle Road to Hana tour, lucky enough to get into Monkeypod close to start of their Happy Hour ….no resies and then Fleetwood’s on the roof. Our return travel day we drove to Kapalua to a farmers market and then to Lahaina and had a late lunch at Mala.

Several days after we returned I believe Gov. I’ve asked tourists to reconsider due to rise in Covid and extremely limited hospital space. I believe at that time he decreased capacities.

I haven’t followed Maui since return and we did not do another island. I’d like to add that everyone we encountered were courteous and glad we were there… once in the Safeway …I had forgotten to put on my mask but was gently reminded by staff. We wore masks anywhere we went inside.