Lanai is pretty spectacular. Despite the outbreak, I always felt safe due to the constant cleaning and social distancing. We knew the mayor asked the governor to issue a shelter in place order 3 days before the governor signed the order. The Four Seasons told us to relax- when the governor signed the order, they would get us off the island.

We were able to enjoy 4 nights of our honeymoon (out of 6 planned nights). On Monday, we went horseback riding. By the time we returned, the governor issued the shelter in place order and the hotel sprang into action. They own a fleet of 5 planes and efficiently transferred all guests back to Honolulu. We intentionally scheduled a flight for 7pm to hang out as long as possible. It was a scene out of the twilight zone as we were one of the last to leave, but still great. The staff assured us that Larry Ellison would take care of them during the shutdown and we were comforted by the prevailing upbeat attitude that no one would be laid off and they planned to open as soon as permitted.

We spent 2 nights in Honolulu. Not nearly as nice as Lanai, but we feel fortunate regardless- in the greater scheme of things, the fact we even got a honeymoon was a miracle in itself. I felt bad for all the shops and restaurants that were clearly struggling.

As an aside, Hawaii Air announced that they would stop flying to Lanai in January. It was listed as a EAS location and the funding ran out. It’s a good thing Lanai Air expanded from zero aircraft to 5 in the last 2 years, otherwise it might be challenging to get there.