Coronavirus: SLO County travels to Hawaii for vacation

Rocker Eddie Money’s hit song “Two Tickets to Paradise” was playing in my head as I worked on logistics for our first vacation after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hawaii was on our mind, as it has been during the many trips we’ve made there over the years. After more than a year of lockdowns and coronavirus-related restrictions, we were yearning for the day we could go somewhere — anywhere — that seemed safe, made sense and transported us at least briefly beyond the everyday concerns of the pandemic.

Traveling to Hawaii now, as the pandemic is loosening its hold on life, is like vacationing during a sort of “shoulder season” — the traditionally less crowded, less hectic months before and after the masses head to the most desired vacation destinations.

Hawaii is less crowded at present because travel is really just now becoming an option for most, especially if you’re fully vaccinated and are comfortable traveling.

But that less crowded, less expensive opportunity to travel will change.

Airfares to popular destinations will increase, hotel prices will go up and a vacation will surely become more expensive.

So there’s every reason to get on with your travel planning now. That doesn’t mean it’s easy.

As we viewed our options for where to travel, favorite destinations such as Italy seemed better left for another day. Australia was off the table since its borders were still closed to international travelers.

Traveling to Hawaii offered its own challenges.

How to travel to Hawaii

In March 2020, the state of Hawaii instituted a 14-day quarantine for visitors to all of the Hawaiian islands, later shortened to 10 days of quarantine.

This policy relaxed in mid-December with the option for a quarantine exemption through the state of Hawaii’s Safe Travels portal, at travel.hawaii.gov.

A video on the site presents an overview of the program and lists the steps to be completed, including getting negative COVID-19 tests.

The state’s rules continue to evolve, so it’s best to reference the latest requirements and restrictions at the state of Hawaii’s online COVID-19 portal, at hawaiicovid19.com/travel/getting-to-hawaii.

We took our coronavirus tests at Med-Stop in San Luis Obispo since they work with a Hawaii-approved lab partner. We timed it so the tests were taken within the required 72-hour window, doing so as walk-ins since appointments for testing are not offered.

This is not an inexpensive experience. Med-Stop charges $100 for a COVID-19 test and you’ll be billed another $150 by WestPac Labs. Altogether, testing for the two of us cost a total of $500 and that wasn’t covered by insurance.

That’s a hefty premium to pay for any trip, but considering the times we live in and the appeal of a Hawaiian vacation, it wasn’t a deal-breaker for us.

We were pleasantly surprised when we received e-mails about 18 hours later with our negative results, quicker than promised. Then we uploaded the test PDFs to our accounts on the Safe Travels portal.

Once we were within 24 hours of our flight, you needed to log in to the portal and answer a short health questionnaire. A QR code was issued immediately after the questionnaire was submitted.

This QR code allowed screeners access to your Safe Travels quarantine exemption status during airport check-in. While we could access this QR code by logging in any time, Safe Travels recommended that we also make a printout of the QR code and carry it with us.

We flew Alaska Airlines direct from San Jose to Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.

At check-in in San Jose, we provided our tickets and then logged into the Safe Travels portal on our phones to show our QR codes. During check-in, status on our Safe Travels accounts was changed from “Not Screened” and “Not Exempt” to “Screened” and “Exempt.”

Alaska Airlines issued us Safe Travels wristbands that allowed us to breeze through the airport to baggage claim upon arrival in Oahu. Those without wristbands had to endure long lines as their exempt status was manually confirmed.

After check-in, we logged into our Safe Travels accounts to confirm the change to “Exempt” was made.

A new QR code reflecting this change was provided. We then needed to log in and show this updated QR Code to our hotel during check-in to confirm our exemption from quarantine.

This is a lot of work to go through for any trip. However, the yearning to experience this tropical paradise after more than a year of pandemic restrictions was compelling enough to make it worthwhile.

Plus, we knew that once travel begins in earnest later this summer, the uncrowded and reasonably priced Hawaii we wished to visit would likely experience rising costs and a crush of visitors.

Wakiki free of crowds

Following our 5 ½-hour flight from San Jose to Honolulu, we had arranged to be met with a ride and lei greeting because, after all, that’s really how you should arrive on the islands.

The option isn’t that costly and it’s also a good plan because rental cars are very expensive now due to availability, ranging from $200 to $500 or more per day. We even found Uber prices to be higher than normal due the surge in demand.

The best bargain, surprisingly, is an old-school taxi cab since their costs are regulated.

Over the years, our go-to hotel has always been the Hilton Hawaiian Village, a 22-acre resort located on a wide stretch of Waikiki Beach that’s much less crowded than the stretch of beach adjacent to Waikiki’s main hotels and shopping area. We’ve found the walk from the hotel to the main bustle of Waikiki to be easy and enjoyable, with half the route along the beach.

This time, however, we started our vacation with two nights at the Moana Surfrider, a stately and historic hotel located in the heart of Waikiki Beach. We’ve been wanting to experience this hotel for some time and finally took the opportunity. We weren’t disappointed.

The Moana Surfrider, like many hotels in Hawaii, closed down for months to weather the dearth of tourists in the early months of the pandemic. And like others, the hotel has striven to reopen in ways that allow accommodating guests in true Hawaiian style.

We found check-in an easy process, with the only additional step involving confirmation of our quarantine-exempt status through the Safe Travels QR code on our phones.

The lobby, rooms, restaurants, bar and overall experience were just as we had hoped.

The Moana Surfrider’s manager was even on hand in the lobby to welcome guests to Hawaii and the hotel — an unexpected touch.

At night, we enjoyed live music and drinks at the hotel’s iconic Beach Bar with its exceptional surf-and-sand view, and Vintage 1901, the hotel’s stately piano bar.

There’s the Beachhouse fine dining restaurant, if you’re so inclined, or you can order dinner from a more limited menu at Vintage 190.

We enjoyed breakfast at the hotel’s Verandah at the Beachhouse and pineapple smoothies at the Surfrider Café. While we didn’t get to enjoy Sunday afternoon tea at the Verandah because it was fully booked, we have done this high tea before and highly recommend it.

One of our favorite things in years past has been to stop by the Moana Surfrider to spend some time on the rocking chairs that line its front porch, and just people-watch.

This is also popular with other travelers and finding available rocking chairs has never been a sure thing. The significantly smaller number of tourists right now meant that finding a few chairs was not a challenge.

This Moana Surfrider’s location in the heart of Waikiki Beach makes everything easily accessible.

While restaurants and shops had limited capacity due to COVID 19-restrictions, there were plenty of them ready and waiting to serve visitors.

We knew ahead of time that reduced capacity meant popular restaurants would be fully booked on many nights, so we made reservations in advance through the Open Table app, including Hard Rock Honolulu.

Some eateries, such as the ever-popular Duke’s Waikiki bar and restaurant, were fully booked with no reservations for breakfast, lunch or dinner available during our stay.

However, Duke’s sets aside half of its tables for walk-ins, so we gave it a try. Lunch for the two of us involved just a 15-minute wait.

Waikiki Beach is often a very crowded place. While there were tourists strolling along its main street, Kalakaua Avenue, and a reasonable amount of traffic, we found it much less crowded than on previous visits when sidewalks are packed.

Some popular eateries that are often impossible for walk-ins, such as the Cheesecake Factory, had unusually short lines and presented no obstacles to enjoying a fun meal.

After several days at the Moana Surfrider, we moved on to our usual Hawaiian digs, the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

We’ve always enjoyed this resort because it offers so much on-site — an array of casual and fine dining restaurants, as well as a pizzeria, New York-style deli and Starbucks coffee shop.

There are also gift shops and two ABC stores where you can pick up everything from sandwiches, drinks and snacks to rafts and beach supplies.

Complimentary morning activities are offered — such as hula lessons, lei making, yoga and tai chi.

This was the intended “down time” of our trip, so four days were spent on lounge chairs under an umbrella on the resort’s uncrowded stretch of Waikiki Beach.

Drinks and food were nearby at the Hau Tree Bar and Tropics Bar & Grill. Daily walks took us to the bustle of activities along Kalakaua Avenue and the main part of Waikiki Beach, a pleasant 25-minute stroll.

A fascinating trip to the Honolulu Museum of Art was also in order to view its collection of Asian, Hawaiian, European, and American art.

Hilton Hawaiian Village closed down for eight months during the pandemic and reopened in November.

During our stay, we found that while it did offer many of the features and amenities we’ve come to appreciate in the past, the pandemic’s impact means it’s still getting up to speed in many ways.

The nightly live entertainment we’ve always enjoyed on stage at the expansive outdoor Tapa bar, and in the more intimate setting of Tropics Bar & Grill, was absent.

The popular Tapa Bar itself was closed.

In fact, except for the sold-out Waikiki Starlight Luau held on the resort’s Great Lawn adjacent to the Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon, there was no live entertainment at all on the property during our visit, which made evenings less vibrant.

Daily rhythms at Hilton Hawaiian Village had been affected by capacity limits, though that will change as the expansive resort continues emerging from the pandemic.

Lunch or dinner at Tropics was never a sure thing since lines were long and spots were sometimes impossible to secure. Booking ahead through Open Table was a best bet for several of the restaurants.

The resort’s popular Rainbow Bazaar buffet is closed, its cavernous interior empty save for bare tables and chairs stacked haphazardly on its unswept floor.

Starbucks, a must for many needing an early morning dose of caffeine and perhaps a bagel or breakfast sandwich, always had a line even at 6:30 a.m., with the wait taking up to 30 minutes or longer.

Oddly — and we’ve never seen this on any of our trips here — the sprawling and usually packed check-in area was eerily empty at times.

Hilton Hawaiian Village is billed as the largest ocean resort in the Pacific, so it’s understandable why it’s taking time to fully emerge from the challenges of the pandemic. This is a very popular Waikiki destination and we expect it to be bustling as usual the next time we return.

We’ve heard of many locals having no problem with Hawaii’s quarantine exemption process, but at least one or two who did not receive test results in time and had to cancel their vacation plans.

There is no accommodation for taking a test once you’ve landed in Hawaii. You’re either exempt before flying there or you’re subject to the required quarantine.

So you focus. Understand the requirements explained through Safe Travels. And you plan your test timing carefully, since in this case timing is everything.

This article could have been titled, “Four Tickets to Paradise,” but our friends John and Cathy from Southern California, who were to join us after a few days, never made it. They had to cancel their trip just hours before their scheduled flight, though they did all the right things through Safe Travels Hawaii and timed their COVID-19 tests appropriately through Kaiser Permanente.

One of their test results came back quickly, but the other was delayed and eventually came back inconclusive. It was expected that a quick follow-up COVID-19 test would come in time, but the negative test result wasn’t received until just before their scheduled flight, after all was cancelled. That was a disappointing sign of the times.

Hawaii is absolutely worth the effort even amid all the extra, and somewhat stressful, steps you have to take right now to get there.

Being on the islands, especially after all the months of lockdowns and restrictions, was spectacular and we enjoyed our experiences there immensely, especially in a less crowded environment. You will enjoy the Aloha, too!

San Luis Obispo writer Ron Cogan focuses on travel, technology, automobiles and the environment. He publishes the award-winning Green Car Journal magazine and the website GreenCarJournal.com.