8 tips for traveling to HAWAII with COVID restrictions

Hawaii was closed to tourists and visitors from March 2020 through about October 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Which, let’s be real, their healthcare infrastructure would not be able to handle the spikes in hospitalizations we saw in California and New York. So! When they announced they were opening with restrictions, and numbers started to trend down here on the mainland, we made the choice to travel to Maui in March 2021 to celebrate my 30th birthday. Planning to travel to Hawaii during covid is no easy feat currently, but it can be done by taking the proper safety measures and following all protocols necessary to enter. We jumped through the hoops and navigated Hawaii’s COVID travel restrictions to be able to safely experience paradise. Through our trip, I rounded up some tips if you’re headed to Hawaii with the current travel restrictions. If anything, read the last two tips!

Also note that each island may have different entry requirements. This is what we did for Maui, Hawaii March 2021 – rules and regulations may differ for each of the different islands. And if you are island hopping, I would suggest reading through what is required for inter-island travel as well. As of 4/16/2021 HERE is a PDF on requirements for entry into the the different islands.

Related MAUI 2021 posts: Photo Diary // Maui 2021 Travel guide // Maui Food Guide // tips for traveling to Hawaii with COVID restrictions
[coming this week]: Maui 2021 travel budget + the most epic 1 week Maui travel itinerary + Hawaii packing guide
MAUI 2019 posts: Travel guide // food guide // Road to Hana guide // Vlogs // Maui Wedding posts

DISCLAIMER: The rules, regulations and laws are ever changing. This is what we did and our experience when we traveled to Maui, Hawaii March of 2021. Each island may have different regulations and rules. Make sure you check local regulations before traveling to Hawaii. Most up to date information about traveling to Hawaii can be found HERE and HERE. 

1 – COVID test to bypass quarantine. Hawaii requires proof of a negative NAAT (nucleic acid amplification test) COVID test to bypass their mandatory 10-day quarantine for any visitor 5 years and older. HERE is a list of Hawaii’s partner testing sites. We were able to get tested through our in network health insurance. Note, if you do deicide to go through the quarantine, certain hotels and short-term rentals may not be able to accommodate your quarantine. Keep in mind that your COVID test must be done within 72 hours of your departure flight to Hawaii (or final flight to Hawaii if you have any layovers).

2 – Planning your flight around your COVID test. If you can, plan your flight Wednesday, Thursday or Friday so you have ample time to get your COVID test back so as not to interfere with weekend scheduling. We booked our flights for Wednesday, took our tests Monday morning and had the results back Tuesday.

3 – Printing our your COVID test. You will have to upload a PDF of your test results to Hawaii’s Safe Travel Website before your departure. But also, I would recommend printing out 2-3 hard copies of proof of your negative test results. It was suggested to have paper copies of our results in case we needed them for screening at the airport. We were also asked by our rental car company, hotel, and a couple excursions to provide proof of our negative COVID tests and/or the QR code (more on that below) as well.

4 – Completing Hawaii’s Health Questionnaire. You will need to create an account and complete Hawaii’s Safe Travels Health Questionnaire within 24 hours before departure. Each adult (or persons over 18 years old) needs to create their own account. This is where you will upload your COVID test, and answer simple questions about your travel to the state. After you fill out your online health questionnaire and upload proof of your negative COVID test, you will be emailed a QR code (you can access this via your online Hawaii Safe Travel profile as well), basically saying you met the requirements to bypass quarantine.

5 – Airport Screening. Your QR code is what will be scanned at the airport. Some airlines will do your screening before departure and will give you an arm band so you can bypass the screening at the Hawaii airport. Ours did not; but we waited no more than 20 minutes in line after we got off the plane. We showed our QR code and photo ID’s and were handed a ticket which we later gave to an employee right before baggage claim basically saying we were cleared. Print out a copy of your QR code, or at the very least take a screen shot of it to have in your photo roll on your phone,  just in case you can’t open up the internet on your phone to pull up your QR code.

6 – Be prepared to wear your mask at all times. The state of Hawaii requires everyone to wear a mask in public. Unless you are eating/drinking, or in the pool (or your lounge chair), you are required to wear a mask. We bought a pack of these disposable ones with us. We didn’t bring our reusable cloth ones because we would have no where to wash them, and the humidity in Hawaii is insane and these were by far more comfortable that a couple layers of cotton in front of our face.

7 – MAKE RESERVATIONS FOR EVERYTHING. A lot of the sit down restaurants were seating people with reservations only. I like to use Open Table for reservations, but check each restaurants specific websites for details on how to make reservations. Also, a lot of excursions were booking up quickly because they are operating at a reduced capacity. Don’t wait until you arrive in Hawaii to make reservations for things or you might run the risk of everything being full or sold out.

TIP! If you plan on doing Road to Hana (my guide to the road HERE, and our road to Hana VLOG) and you want to stop at the black sand beach, you will need reservations ahead of time. You can find out more HERE

8 – Be respectful. Of others, the locals, and employees at your resort and any restaurants you go to. We tried to tip more than we would normally, because it has been an especially rough year for Hawaii tourism. At breakfast one morning a waitress stopped Travis on his way out to thank him for his generous tip and how much that meant to her (and it wasn’t much more than what we would normally tip). Just don’t be a jerk.

While things still aren’t “back to normal” in Hawaii, the hotels and local business have taken additional precautions to make sure all are safe while still being able to experience paradise during COVID times.

XO 

DISCLAIMER: The rules, regulations and laws are ever changing. This is what we did and our experience when we traveled to Maui, Hawaii March of 2021. Make sure you check local regulations before traveling to Hawaii. Most up to date information about traveling to Hawaii can be found HERE and HERE.