Hawaii Quarantine Exemption: How To Visit Kauai Without Quarantine
For those wanting to visit Hawaii, here’s an option for how to get a Hawaii quarantine exemption. This is especially useful for those intending to visit Kauai, which has its own special rules. We’ll look at the rules and then how to get the Hawaii quarantine exemption for visiting the island of Kauai.
Thanks for reader Charles for giving us the idea for this on our Hilton Hawaii timeshare presentation article.
Hawaii Quarantine Rules
Especially for the island of Kauai, visitors need to meet the following rules:
- Take a pre-travel COVID test within 72 hours before traveling to Kauai 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 Kauai and receive a negative result.
You must stay at approved resorts that are part of this “resort bubble” rule. However, you can choose to stay elsewhere, but you’ll need to do a full 10-day quarantine. More info is here.
Avoid Hawaii Quarantine Exemption On Kauai
Obviously, most people want to avoid quarantine when traveling. Since Kauai opted out of the Hawaiian state testing program and set its own rules, travel to the island of Kauai has seemed daunting. There is a way to avoid quarantine in Kauai AND not need to participate in the resort bubbles. Here are the steps:
- Take a COVID test within 72 hours of travel.
- Fly to any island in Hawaii that isn’t Kauai, ensuring you meet the rules for entry.
- Take a COVID test there.
- After 72 hours on another island & with negative COVID test in hand, you can go to Kauai without quarantine / needing to stay at the resort bubbles.
Arriving from within Hawaii and with a negative COVID test certificate allows you to obtain a quarantine exemption. You can contact the Kauai Emergency Management Agency (KEMA) for further information and to verify any changes in testing requirements. Their COVID response and quarantine exemption requests can be found at Kauai.gov/COVID-19.
Final Thoughts
It’s good to know that there are other options for those wanting to avoid the resort bubble and also not wanting to quarantine. If your travel originates from another island in Hawaii, quarantine exemption on the island of Kauai is possible. It’s also possible to avoid the resort bubble requirements this way, since those can be pricy or might not be where you want to stay. If you stop on another island for 3+ days and then arrive in Kauai with another negative COVID test, you should be free to start enjoying your vacation on day 1.
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With a single test required to travel to Hawaii it has helped flatten the curve. The majority of cases and clusters are a result of local resident’s bad behavior and partying. Travel related cases that slip through the net, especially visitors who don’t party in large groups, are typically quickly tracked down before community spread occurs. So it seems Ige’s “Safe Travel Program” is working.
Kauai now requires two tests at least three days apart. No quarantine. Almost no covid at all on Kauai so far. I guess you can say the proof is in the pudding.
What part of “stay home” and only travel for essential reasons do you all not get??? If we ALL stayed home for a few months and accepted the suggestions made by public health authorities, we could get control of this PITA and regain travel without restrictions of any sort. Work arounds BREAK the rules / suggestions / intelligence for which we are supposedly known for having.
Brian – It sounds like you think we are recommending breaking rules or something. That’s not at all true. This article is a way to follow the rules in a method that doesn’t require quarantine. It will require 2 COVID tests in the process, is legal, and doesn’t break any rules. Hope that clears it up.
It does not and simply makes matters worse. Suppose you catch the bug THERE, as low as the risk may be, and bring it back to your family and/or friends? Stay home for awhile and there won’t be the need for “workarounds”. It may be “legal” but it is still STUPID. Stay freakin’ home!
If everyone just stayed at home I’m not sure how we would all survive. Do you live on a self sustaining farm? My guess is you have financial means to survive without traveling. Not so for many in Hawaii who depend on tourism. The two test system is working. See you after the pandemic!
Brian – you’re welcome to have that opinion. People have asked us if there are options for legally visiting Kauai without having to quarantine, so we provided this information. It’s not “legal”. It’s legal. Attacking us and insulting us is not necessary.
None of these “hacks” even matter if the airlines continue to keep Hawaii on the no-deals list. The ridiculous fare cash and point costs are keeping people from booking any Hawaii visits.
What confuses me is the type of covid test allows. I have covid testing in my area and they provide a swab of the nose you do from your car and hand them the sample. You get results back in about a day. But, I don’t know if that’s “good enough” for Hawaii. It’s good enough for my employer and seemingly everywhere else, but I haven’t the foggiest idea if it’s good enough for Hawaii. It’s just a swab in the nostril — not up in your nasal passage like some people fear. They have you blow your nose first, swab each nostril in 5 swirls and then put directly in test tube. I’m confused with the lingo of what test is what, but is this what Hawaii recommends or do I need to go to a special lab for them to do the same?
I have done this twice for work, and they upload the results into a portal showing negative results.
Marty – sorry for the delay, but here’s some info:
Hawaii testing requirements – https://www.hawaii-guide.com/hawaii-covid-testing#test-details
And info where they say inter-county (island to island) doesn’t require quarantine for Kauai – https://www.hawaii-guide.com/hawaii-covid-testing