We planned the best vacation for Spring Break March 2020. After months of preparing for our much anticipated trip to Maui, Covid 19 swept the nation. We cancelled and pushed the trip out to the summer, then cancelled and pushed it out to Fall Break, and once again… CANCELLED and pushed it out to Spring Break 2021.
We officially made it to Maui one year after our planned vacation. Had you told me what that year was going to be like, I would have been in shock. This vacation was so much more than a trip, it was the beginning of hopefully better days ahead after many of us pushed through an incredibly difficult year.
Preparation
Hawaii put in place strict guidelines to keep it a safe place. I am a big fan of the requirements because we were able to relax on the flight knowing everyone aboard had recently tested negative for covid 19.
Tests
To travel to Hawaii you must get tested and receive negative results within 72 hours of your flight. Hawaii requires you to administer the test through a Trusted Partner. The biggest struggle with this is getting your results in time to board the flight.
We used Vaulthealth.com They mail you the kit with spit tests (we received four, one for everyone in our family. Blake is 7 and Zara is 9 and were required to test. Please refer to the travel site to check stipulations on age requirements.) When it was 72 hours before our flight we logged into Vaulthealth.com and we each took our test via Zoom with a Vault Health Rep. She walked us each through the process and had us write on the envelope indicating the test had to be rushed since our flight to HI was pending the results. We then immediately mailed the tests off to be assessed. Within about 36 hours we had our results back.
Since we wanted to be extra careful, after we mailed off our Vault tests we headed to appointments we made at Walgreens and did swab tests for the whole family. We were told those results would NOT likely arrive in time for our flight. We did end up getting them the morning of our flight. I’m grateful we did Vault so we weren’t left hanging.
What to do with the results
Once you have your results you save them as a PDF and load them into the Hawaii Safe Travels Platform You click on the icon as seen below and attach your results. Within 24 hours the state of Hawaii issues you a personal QR code. They issued one for me and one for my husband. The children were attached to my husband’s QR code. In the airport be prepared to pull up the Hawaii Safe Travel’s platform (save the link and log in info in your phone) and also your personal QR code which they checked both in both Phoenix (departing airport) and Hawaii.
You made it to Hawaii!
We stayed at the Wailea Beach Resort Maui in an Ocean View Sundeck Room. It was perfect. The resort is beautiful with an adult pool, kids pool with waterslides, and a third pool for everyone. The common grounds were beautiful. There are two beaches with easy walking access: Wailea Beach and Ulua Beach. Also, they are known for amazing snorkeling with turtles, especially Ulua. In fact, turtles come right up to you if you’re wading in the water. We took our family pictures on Ulua Beach right there.
Restaurants
I am strictly gluten free and all of these places had incredible options for me.
Adventure
Trilogy Sailing – We did the snorkeling and whale watching trip to Molokini Crater
Surfing Goat Dairy – You can tour the farm, meet the baby goats, and do goat cheese tasting flights. This is a local dairy that provides goat cheese to many of the great local restaurants.
Heleakala Summit – it takes about 40 minutes to drive above the clouds to the top of the Volcano. It’s a super cool experience. If you want to take it a step further there are bike companies that take you up so you can ride a bike down. It’s cold up high, be prepared!
Ulua Beach – This beautiful beach is great for snorkeling, pictures and hanging out.
Wailea Beach – This is the beach where you can get covered chairs through the hotels on Wailea Beach. You can also snorkel here. We ran into a cute turtle swimming by.
Makena Big Beach – There is a paid parking lot at this beach.
Makena Black Sand Beach – Such a beautiful phenomenon. A couple warnings, we drove a jeep to the beach and I suggest you drive there in something that can handle rigid off road conditions. Since the sand is black it is extra hot!
Aloha! Enjoy your trip!
Seriously love that white dress! So beautiful! Mind telling me where you found it?
It was from Saylor NY!