FlyinHawaiian

Placeholder for discussion.

JNelson113

Just saw this: https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/...-dining-rooms/

A few restaurants in Kauai are not allowing visitors to eat at their restaurants.

SNA_Flyer

North Shore. Not surprised.

Klxp2016

The Governor, and Mayor has to deal with this. Discriminatory practices towards tourist should be illegal in Hawaii. Who wants to vacation at a place that people aren’t welcomed, and treated this way.

Doppy

I take the opposite view. If a business owner doesn't want my business for any reason (tourist, political views, other prejudices), I'd rather they be upfront so I can take my business where it is welcome.

sullim4

Well since there aren’t many posts on this topic, here’s our perspective with a day under our belts.

Many popular spots are closed. Beach House, Gaylords at Kilohana, and Living Foods Market at Kukui’ula are all at least temporarily closed. The Saturday Farmers Market in Lihue is also not operating. Red Salt at Koa Kea, one of our favorite dinner spots, is heavily booked, probably due to the voucher the county is offering for post arrival tests. We ended up booking a slot on Friday as that is literally the first available time, some six days in advance.

We are staying at the Lodge at Kukui’ula. This is our first time at this resort, having used Chase UR points for it and it is pretty amazing. Services are somewhat limited, eg Mondays see almost everything closed, but I am really glad we went with the bungalow here as opposed to getting a room at the Grand Hyatt.

jAAck

Good info, thanks. How was the arrival process at LIH?

sullim4

The Covid clearance was really easy. You get funneled towards county employees with iPads that scan your QR code and clear you. Have your ID ready.

The real, err, crapfest, is the rental car process. The issue is that the major companies combine their affiliates into a single location. So Alamo is on point for National and Enterprise, and Hertz is running Dollar and Thrifty. Due to county regulations they must check your QR code before they let you behind the wheel so there is no Hertz Gold or Emerald Aisle - everything goes through the counter. Expect the line to take 1-1.5 hours, at least that’s what it took on Friday at Hertz. No social distancing although masks were worn.

jAAck

Wow that is not great news on the rental car front. We're picking up a car from Hertz on Saturday evening. Fingers crossed, but glad you set our expectations!

Doppy

So given the closures would you still prefer going to Kauai or suggest another island?

Weatherboy

I suspect Kauai may close to transPacific travelers as soon as this week. So I would recommend avoiding it for this year.

We desparately need revenue in the state, so if you must come to the islands, Maui the Big Island are nice with somewhat more open places than elsewhere. Although that too can change from week to week.

lrdpenn

Why? I have a trip in a few days and have been keeping tabs on the news but nothing that led me to think this. At least I’m flying into HNL so if I have to change plans I can.

Doppy

See this thread, starting here:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/32827366-post1164.html

sullim4

I am going to disagree with Weatherboy’s take on the Mayor’s comments.

We saw an interview with him this morning on HNN and there was no threat to “immediately” withdraw from the quarantine opt out program. The KITV article from this afternoon says he would consider opting out if Ige rejects his proposal. I’ve seen nothing in the local news here or as locals have talked story with us that this is in the cards. That said, the government response has been widely panned by the locals we’ve talked to so far in terms of its unpredictability.

For others who love Kauai like we do — come. The local businesses need the cash badly and it is amazing to be here with fewer tourists. Hiking the canyon today was nearly deserted and our morning at Salt Pond yesterday was tranquil. We are having an excellent time and I assure you that while the closures of some businesses are kind of annoying, they aren’t dealbreakers. Support the local mom and pops on island that have weathered the storm so far.

Doppy

The mayor's proposal (at least according to this story) is to require a minimum 72 hour quarantine on arrival, after which you can exit quarantine if you test negative on a subsequent test. If that's not accepted, then he might opt out and default back to 14 days.

I imagine for most tourists that functionally there's not much of a difference between a 3 day quarantine and a 14 day one - unless you're going to be in Kauai for a month or something, three days in a hotel room is probably a non-starter for 99% of people.

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/1...rriving-kauai/