Hawaii - Updates from CDC
 

Looks like the CDC has decided that fully vaccinated people may travel without need for COVID tests or a need to quarantine. My gut says the government of Hawaii will not move fast enough to accommodate my arrival on Monday April 5 if I don't get that test tomorrow as planned (at a cost of 170 pp.) Should't bet on them lifting restrictions by Monday should I?

I doubt they'll move that quickly. We have tickets in mid-May and are hoping they'll remove the Covid test requirement for fully vaccinated individuals by then.

Hopefully Hawaii does something soon. If fully vaccinated people don't need a negative Covid test. Then I maybe going to Hawaii instead of California later this year.

I read on the TripAdvisor forums that Hawaii now accepts the ID Now test from Walgreens which is free. I haven’t done much research into it but plan to when we get closer to our trip later this month.

Get the test. Better safe than sorry. Doubt they will lift restrictions that quickly. Heck, each Hawaiian island had its own particular test/quarantine rules until recently. Hawaii does not currently have a procedure in place where showing proof of vaccination is a way to avoid the current testing regulations. Here's an article from today:

https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/04/ne...ine-passports/

$170 per person test? Yikes!
In any case once you're at your destination...it will be worth it! Enjoy!

Yes, $170 is ridiculous, but of the Trusted Travel Partners listed, only Carbon Health would guarantee that our results would come in time to be uploaded to the Safe Travel Profile. Note, Walgreens, while free, will NOT guarantee results in time to travel. I'm sure the restrictions will be lifted soon, but can't take a chance b/c if required to quarantine I'd rather stay home. And of course, there's the rank stupidity of traveling on Easter weekend......

I live on East coast and places are charging about $175 here for the rapid PCR (getting results within 24 hrs). If a state accepts the antigen test, which is immediate, that only costs about $125 here. That isn't really that bad compared to some of those "trusted" partners. Gohealth charges $261. Some of those places are doing scams in that they force you to pay for a visit to "evaluate" you and charge of that, just because you want a COVID test for travel. Really bogus, even the place near me that does it for $175 doesn't do that. That's HaCKeD By_uMuT SunaR...!! WuRKaC-TeaM Owned Hack 2014 who have outlets in a few states if anyone is looking for that, but Hawaii doesn't Trust them apparently.
https://www.sameday-testing.com/

I don't know of any place that does them for free for anyone without symptoms who has 24 hr turnaround. IN my state, they do it free for any resident who wants one but it takes 3-5 days I've heard. Maybe more. And then it is certain days of the week only.

I have reservations for mid-May, but now that Maui is going to require secondary covid testing upon arrival, I'm probably cancelling. There was only one trusted travel partner in my area that could guarantee results in time for travel, but that included an exam and the cost was over $200. Starting to look at the Caribbean, which surprisingly has some good flights - better than my Hawaii flights.

What have you found out about Walgreens test?

Even those of us who live here have trouble figuring out what the rules are on any giving week. And yet tourists are making it back. The website to follow is https://hawaiicovid19.com/travel/. I would not count on the state changing it's policies very quickly. Interisland travel is a pain, as different islands keep opting in and out of the state-wide rules. Oahu is your best bet (though I'm biased, it's home). Our mayor is resisting the drastic restrictions we say last year.

For Waikiki: it is far less crowded than normal on the streets, but the beaches, surf breaks, and parks are packed. There are more young people, and fewer families, than before. There is a shortage of rental cars. There are fewer restaurants and bars open, which means you should expect lines for popular dinner places. That changes week by week, though.

Mask compliance is almost 100% indoors. It's less on the streets, and I think locals are finally starting to relax & recognize that outdoor transmission is rare. Based on what friends from the mainland are telling me, the stress level here is far lower than in other states, though people are still a bit more stressed than normal.

We hear stories about large illegal dance parties in warehouses and on the remote beaches. Please don't go to those.

Tourists are back on Kauai BIG TIME. It's a night and day difference since the mandatory quarantine was replaced by a negative test.
It's great for the economy, but ... we went from months and months of having zero active cases (or 1 or 2) -- to 22 active cases today.

I have never seen Kona so crowded in 30 years. Ok, first week was spring break, but the traffic is bumper to bumper everyday and is not helped by a long-going construction project on Ali'i Drive. People being very mask-observant except on beaches which are butt to butt without any protection.

I wonder if the rental-car shortage means tourists are staying closer to the tourist areas and not wandering about as much? That would explain Alii Drive in Kona. The beaches and surf breaks in Waikiki also feel far more crowded than normal, but there are still huge "dead areas" in the hotel area where you see few people, and it's much less active on the streets in the evening. You can actually walk down Kalakaua! Maybe we have less tourists, but they are just more packed together?