Hawaiian Getaway | Travel in the time of CORONA

Since the beginning of the COVID19 pandemic in the United States (January 21, 2020 in Washington State), leisure travel had all but halted, but the promise of vaccines has finally been fulfilled and slowly, it seems like travel might once more be an option. At this point, most international destinations are still understandably restricted, but I recently had the opportunity to take my first vacation via air travel since the pandemic began and yes, there were a lot of initial feelings and concerns, but simply said, it was amazing.

A Pandemic Travel Guide

Hawaiian Getaway

I travelled to the Hawaiian island of Maui, which is, in my opinion, the best non-international but kinda international vacation one who lives in the continental USA can currently take.

We chose Hawaii for several reasons:

1- Ease. As the 50th state in the union, travel to Maui would not require a passport, visa, or anything beyond a travel approved driver’s license.

2- Safety. Hawaii has been stellar in its approach to managing the corona virus and they continue to work hard to reduce the rate of transmission, and the seriousness with which they are taking things actually provided me with peace of mind.

3- A relatively short flight from Arizona. Phoenix to Maui is a 6 hour flight, which isn’t bad at all to travel from the desert to a tropical paradise. Additionally, I feel that wearing an N90 (or double masking) is very doable for 6 hours.

Getting there:

Before flying to Hawaii, you will need to create an online account with the State of Hawaii Safe Travels Website. This website has all the up-to-date requirements needed to enter the state. Currently, Hawaii required a negative covid swab 72 hours prior to your arrival. The swab has to be done at a location/lab approved by the state, otherwise your result will not be accepted and you will be required to quarantine for 10 days upon arrival. We got our test done at Walgreens Pharmacy 48 hours before out departure and we had the results within 12 hours. Your negative covid19 result needs to be uploaded to the Hawaii Safe travels website, along with your flight information, a copy of your driver’s license, and your accommodation location. Once your “package” has been approved on the website, you’ll receive an email with a QR code that will need to be scanned upon your arrival to Hawaii. This QR code is essentially your clearance.

We booked our flight from Phoenix and flew out of Sky-harbour International Airport. We went in the 2-3 week period of “spring break” and expected some airport crowding, but surprisingly, the airport was not crowded, everyone was masked, and most people still appeared to adhere to social distancing and sanitation guidelines. We took hand sanitizer and wipes with us, and washed out hands often. On the flight, we wiped down our seating area, including tray table, windows, and arm rests. We did not eat on the plane (and there was limited food service anyway), but ensured that we got food and ate well right before the flight.

On arrival:

Once we landed in Kahului Airport, we needed to join a line, similar to a customs line, where we were verbally screened and our QR code was scanned. Then you were free to enter the island and go about your vacation. The bulk of the work was in the preparation and once we arrived, it felt like any other regular vacation (no additional covid required check-ins unless you are not cleared, at which point you will be required to quarantine. If you do not adhere, you will be arrested).

We rented a car while we were in Maui so that we would have the independence to go where we wanted to go without the potential for crowding in large group tours and tour buses etc. I highly recommend it. Additionally, parts of Maui are quite rugged so I recommend getting a Jeep if you can. It was very easy to pick up our rental car but it did take a little while due to the arrival of 2 other flights around the time we arrived. We stayed in a hotel in Wailea, which is a gorgeous area (pretty much the whole island is gorgeous so you can’t really go wrong as far as where to stay).

What we did:

We stayed in Maui for 5 days and 5 nights. We explored a number of beaches (great reason to rent a car), went whale watching with a group that used an amazing sail boat and guest count was set at 8, we saw sea turtles, drove the Road to Hana and explored all it had to offer along the way, ate at some great restaurants, tried authentic Hawaiian food, and hiked parts of the mountain Haleakalā National Park (which was tough! — elevation gain of 10,023 feet).

Hawaii prides itself on its safety protocols, and this was not limited to the flight and entry, but also the hotel, the sailboat tour we did, and restaurant seating (limited and outdoor). Overall, I think this was a great first holiday in this new corona world.