Kauai Tourism – What Kauai Visitors Need To Know:

(Updated March 5, 2021)

–Governor David Ige approves Kaua‘i’s re-entry into Safe Travels for Trans-Pacific travelers beginning April 5, 2021–

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HONOLULU – Gov. David Ige has approved Kaua‘i Mayor Derek Kawakami’s request to rejoin the Safe Travels pre-travel testing program for Trans-Pacific travel, effective April 5, 2021. Existing rules for travel to Kaua‘i remain in place until that date.
“This emergency rule will simplify travel to Hawai‘i by including Kaua‘i in the existing Safe Travels program. The increased restrictions over the winter months helped Mayor Kawakami safely balance travel with the health and safety of residents and visitors on the Garden Island,” said Gov. David Ige.
“I thank Governor Ige for recognizing Kauai’s unique rural community with limited resources, and allowing us to institute stricter testing and quarantine rules over the winter months as cases spiked on the mainland,” said Mayor Kawakami. “Since that time, Kaua‘i has built a robust vaccine distribution program. By April, we will have offered vaccines to our hospitality industry and restaurant employees, and our healthcare workers, first responders and kupuna will have been fully vaccinated.”
Gov. Ige and Mayor Kawakami urge residents to install the Aloha Safe app, which will notify users if they come into contact with someone who later tests positive for COVID-19.
All incoming travelers to the state must be able to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 pre-arrival test from a trusted partner. See update from November 12. 2020 below for information about Hawaii’s Trusted Testing Partners.
For more information on the State of Hawai‘i’s Safe Travels program, please visit www.hawaiicovid19.com/travel.
To download Aloha Safe, please visit alohasafealert.org.
For more information on travel to Kaua‘i before or after April 5, please visit www.kauai.gov/COVID-19.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Updated December 30, 2020
HONOLULU – Gov. David Ige has approved Kaua‘i Mayor Derek Kawakami’s request to implement a pre- and post-travel testing program for visitors who stay in “resort bubble” hotels, effective January 5.
“This proposal will allow Kauaʻi to move forward with limited tourism in ‘resort bubbles’ while honoring the county’s request to opt-out of the Safe Travels pre-travel testing program,” said Gov. David Ige.
“Travelers who participate in this program will be able to enjoy resort amenities and visit the pool for the first three days of their vacations, until they are eligible to take their post-travel test,” said Mayor Kawakami. “Once the post-travel test shows they are COVID-free, they can enjoy all that Kaua‘i has to offer.”
The new rule will allow travelers to Kaua‘i, who receive a negative pre-travel test and stay in an approved Enhanced Movement Quarantine (EMQ) “resort bubble” property, to take a post-travel test three days after arrival and be released from quarantine with a negative post-travel test result.
To qualify, travelers must:
Take a pre-travel test within 72 hours before traveling to Kaua‘i and receive a negative test result.
Stay at an approved EMQ “resort bubble” property.
Take a post-travel test more than 72 hours after arriving on Kaua‘i and receive a negative result.
The current Enhanced Movement Quarantine (EMQ) “resort bubble” hotels on Kaua‘i are:
The Cliffs at Princeville
Hilton Garden Inn Kaua‘i Wailua Bay
Ko‘a Kea Hotel & Resort at Poʻipū
The Club at Kukui‘ula
Timbers Kaua‘i Ocean Club & Residences at Hoku‘ala
Kaua‘i Marriott Resort & Beach Club
Kaua‘i properties interested in learning more about becoming an EMQ may contact the Kaua‘i Emergency Management Agency at kema@kauai.gov.
Participation in the post-travel EMQ program is voluntary and open to all travelers, including visitors and residents. Visitors can also stay in non-EMQ hotels and motels, but they will be subject to the full 10-day traveler quarantine without a post-travel testing opportunity and cannot leave their rooms. Residents can also fulfill their 10-day travel quarantine at home without leaving their property.
The County of Kaua‘i’s modified quarantine program will remain in place for critical infrastructure workers, essential medical travel, or other special circumstances. To apply for a modified quarantine, please visit www.kauai.gov/COVID-19 and click on the “modified quarantine request” button at the top of the page.
The Safe Travels Hawaiʻi pre-travel testing program remains in place for all other counties.
For additional details on the new rule for Kaua‘i, please see Mayor Kawakami’s Rule 24 at www.kauai.gov/COVID-19.

November 12, 2020 Hawaii’s Lieutenant Governor, Josh Green worked tirelessly (even with getting Covid himself) to set up the Trans-Pacific Safe Travels program. It won’t be as easy to get to the islands to Pre-Covid Kauai Tourism levels, but now it is possible to do so without having to quarantine.

For the most complete information from the State, go to hawaiicovid19.com. There you will find a Safe Travels tab which will take you to a page that links an Overview of the Program, Pre-Travel requirements, Tips and Advice to stay healthy, and Frequently Asked Questions. The bottom line is, in order to avoid quarantine, one must take a NAAT (Nucleic Acid Amplification Test) Covid-19 test from a “Trusted Partner”, within 72 hours prior to the last Mainland leg of departure, and have a negative test result to show officials upon arrival. The cost of the test is borne by the traveler. You may upload the (pdf) test result or have a printed copy. If the test result has not come back prior to arrival, travelers must quarantine in a designated hotel (not a vacation rental) until test results come in. Every traveler must also complete the digital Safe Travels Registration Form for each leg of travel from the last mainland departure to your final island destination. An email will be sent to you with a QR code for each leg of travel to be shown upon arrival with your test result.

As of today, there are seventeen “Trusted Partners” who have agreed to give the test to Hawaii travelers, with the intent of getting the results back within the 72 hour restriction. The three big names are CVS, Walgreens, and Kaiser. The CVS test costs $139. Kaiser has agreed to test members for free. I haven’t heard what Walgreens is charging. There are also mail order companies. The most popular is VAULT for $150. A traveler must order the VAULT kit ahead of time, make a video appointment for an employee to actually watch the saliva (spit) come from the traveler into the container, mail the sample back to the company (UPS Express), and wait for the results. Some airlines have also agreed to test out of specific airports. The port of Oakland is testing all Hawaii travelers and is a trusted partner. To find a list of trusted partners and their websites, go to https://hawaiicovid19.com/travel-partners/.

If you are traveling with children under five, they do not have to be tested. Some companies will not test children under 12 years of age.

A voluntary second test will be available 72 hours after arrival, if desired. It will be a rapid test with results in 15 minutes.

On the same page, https://hawaiicovid19.com/travel-partners/, you will also find a list of Daily News Digest reports which has travel updates and statistical Covid details from the Department of Health.

Here are some scenarios from the Tourist Authority for your consideration:

If the transpac traveler has taken the COVID-19 NAAT test FROM ONE OF THE LISTED PARTNERS 72 hrs before departing their last leg of the flight to Hawaii – they will be cleared and can avoid the 14-day quarantine and enjoy the island.
If the transpac traveler has taken the NAAT Test, but did not get results yet, they must quarantine in a hotel/motel ~~until they get the results and show their accommodations to get out of quarantine~~. Modified 11/19/20 Gov. David Ige announced 11/19/20 that trans-Pacific travelers to Hawaii, who can’t present a negative pre-arrivals test upon arrival, won’t be able to bypass the 14-day quarantine once their test arrives.
If the transpac traveler did not take a 72 hr. NAAT pre-test – they will have to go straight into a 14-day quarantine – NO NAAT PRE-TESTING will be done on Kaua‘i for visitors.
If the transpac traveler got their NAAT pre-test 72 hrs before arriving on O‘ahu (or another island) and leaves the secure area of Honolulu Airport to shop, stay overnight – they are subject now to the interisland 14-day quarantine and will need to be retested with another NAAT test in Hawaii.
If a traveler refuses to use the Safe Travels registration program – they will not be released from the airport.

Tags: Kauai Tourism, Safe Travels, Covid19, Covid-19, Kauai Tourism Rules

Governor Ige delayed Hawaii reopening with Covid-19 Pre-testing until October 15th. We do believe that this date will stand.

9/16/2020

It’s been news we’ve all been waiting for – Hawaii’s Reopening! Governor Ige held a news conference September 16th to announce that Hawaii will reopen to domestic travel on October 15th, as long as visitors can show a negative Covid-19 test result within 72 hours of departure. So, what does this mean?

The 14-day quarantine is still in effect for domestic and international travel, and will continue to be in effect indefinitely. However, now there is another option for travelers outside the state. The model was taken from Alaska’s reopening. If a visitor agrees to take a NAAT, Covid-19 test within 72 hours of departure, and is able to show a negative result, they will be allowed to enter the state after October 15th without having to quarantine.

Many have questioned how they can meet these requirements when some areas still require a doctor’s referral to get tested and test result findings can sometimes take up to a week. Josh Green, Hawaii’s Lieutenant Governor, has been working diligently with CVS Pharmacy and Kaiser to create a national Testing Partner Program to help avoid these two problems. The idea is that one would go to the pharmacy to give his/her specimen and then the results would be uploaded into a data base with which Hawaii officials would have access. The cost is anticipated to be between $120 and $140, although Kaiser is considering offering the tests to their members for free. The Vault Test seems to be the most easily acquired, as it is a home test and you send the testing kit back to obtain results.

Vacation Rental Owners, including myself, are so excited that guests will now have an option to come to Kauai without having to quarantine. It has been a very difficult time for all of us as our properties have been sitting empty for months. This program is not 100% risk free, but neither is daily life on the mainland. With this option available, it is hard to imagine anyone choosing to not test, board the plane, and have to quarantine for 14 days.

It’s doubtful that we will have the same number of tourists arriving, but in a way that makes it even nicer for those who do decide to come. I must say it is rather idyllic right now – no crowds, no traffic, and most businesses are back up and running with social distancing practices in place. The waiters and service persons wear masks, tables are spaced apart, the food is delicious you must have the seafood.

There is, of course, so much uncertainty still involved, if there is an increase in cases in Kauai. Kauai’s Mayor has implemented a tiered system that comes to play if cases on the island increase. For this reason I would strongly encourage everyone to purchase travel insurance for your future trips. It has always been a good idea, especially when traveling to an area which has hurricanes, but now it is even more important. I realize that many trip insurance policies did not cover the pandemic, but now companies are coming out with plans that do. Play Travel Protection, as an example, has a plan which covers you if you get Covid-19 during your trip and even if you should test positive 72 hours before your flight. The Cancel for Any Reason policy covers even if the guest tests positive and they’ve purchased insurance before testing, that would be a covered reason for cancellation. Furthermore, that would cover everyone going on the trip.” Yes, the insurance companies’ goal is to make money, but booking a vacation rental with confidence, knowing that if you have to cancel you will get your money back, goes a long way to reduce stress!

As you can imagine Kauai residents are a bit nervous about opening our borders to visitors because we have been living in a Kauai Pandemic Bubble for six months. Please be sensitive to this fear, and respect the safety measures in place. You will find most people wearing a mask in public. We are a small community, living on a small island which has a history of residents being devastated by disease. We must all be careful. Please bring a mask. Additional testing information.

So, do not give up on that dreamy Kauai vacation. Hawaii’s reopening has made it possible. It will not be quite as easy to get here, but once you do, you’ll certainly enjoy your stay.