A recent trip to Hawaii

Just thought I'd share a few observations from my recent trip.

First off, to make to easy they have a site where you can provide your vaccination info.  Seems like this sort of process would be good for any airline travel:

https://travel.hawaii.gov/#/

Mask wearing was pretty strictly enforced for an indoor spaces.

Restaurants required vaccine proof.  

So overall, I felt pretty safe going here.  

We went right to the north shore - caught some of this surf competition:

https://www.worldsurfleague.com/events/2021/mcs/3825/michelob-ultra-pure-gold-haleiwa-challenger

Most days it was cancelled because the waves weren't big enough.

Rainbows seem to be a daily occurrence 

Social distancing on beach at Ka’ena State Park

These are truly lovely pictures.

I am wondering whether you flew direct and, if so, what such a long flight was like in the current viral climate.  I have a long put off trip to Europe that I really need to take but I have been procrastinating because I just can't bear the thought of 10 hours on a plane.

it was direct - 11 hours.  Three seats in middle row next to us were empty, Simone ended up sleeping most of the way - also had the same experience flying back.  Everyone is masked except while eating/drinking.  Time flew by with the entertainment selection onboard.  

Here's a cool article about plane safety:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/04/17/travel/flying-plane-covid-19-safety.html

They also prechecked vaccination info prior to boarding - not mandatory, but at least if people had a wristband - you knew they provided vaccination documents.

jamie said:
They also prechecked vaccination info prior to boarding - not mandatory, but at least if people had a wristband - you knew they provided vaccination documents.

Here in Canada, you can't get on a plane without showing proof of vaccination, so that's one thing we don't have to worry about.

Glad you had a nice trip. Sounds lovely. 

My husband and I went to Maui, Kauai and Oahu in May of 2019. We flew direct to Honolulu. It was torture, and that was before the pandemic. On our way back, we had a short layover in Denver, which helped a little but we do not plan on going back anytime soon. 

My father was stationed in Hawaii, 1937.  Army.

He had fond memories of being on the beach at Waikiki at night, listening to the music from hotels' bands. 

We stayed mostly on the North shore - spent a few nights in Waikiki at the White Sands Hotel.  

A vintage hotel - only 3 stories high and independently owned.  They were trying to reclaim the feel of Hawaii from their heyday - the have a place to eat called the Hey Day Café:

https://www.whitesandshotel.com/

The coolest thing was the soundtrack that's played through the hotel and the pool area.  I wish they had a Spotify list online.  Here's a few of the tunes we heard - it really does transport you back: