Gradual Comeback

The Moana Surfrider Hotel: hardly any activity on a beautiful morning.

At 7 a.m. on a weekday morning, Kalakaua Avenue has few cars, pedestrians, and joggers. 6 a.m. in pre-pandemic Waikiki had more activity. Only a few workers were waiting for a bus, and all of them were masked as per current Hawaii regulations for public transportation.

Hawaii was the last State to be added to the Union--I was there for the parade down King Street--and it's the last State to lift COVID-19 restrictions. On Independence Day weekend, Governor Ige still requires Mainland visitors to test negative for COVID-19 before they get on the plane to Hawaii, even if they have been vaccinated.

Such testing, beginning July 8th, will not be required for vaccinated travelers. The rationale is that the State's population will be "safe" at a 60% vaccination level, and that the models project that hurdle to be reached on July 8th. Those are two major assumptions, but don't question the science, you uneducated troglodyte!

Meanwhile, the crowds are starting to come back (it's impossible to get a rental car this month). When my discombobulated personal and business lives--and Hawaii's tourist economy--get back to normal next year, maybe I'll book a stay at the Moana Hotel.

Ten years' absence is long enough.