Here is some information to help tourists who want to visit Hawaii and be exempt from the mandatory 14-day quarantine. Starting October 15th, Visitors to Hawaii will be able to avoid the 14-day quarantine requirement if they get tested for COVID-19 72 hours prior to flying and test negative. Visitors must bring an official document as proof of their negative test and show it before boarding the plane and upon landing at one of Hawaii's airports.

Some tests can be completed and provide a test result within 15 minutes (rapid tests) and others involve home kits where the individual will conduct a nasal swab themselves and courier overnight the sample to a lab and receive results the following day. Below are some options that are available to you depending on where you live and what airline you are travelling with.

Canadians can now avoid the 14 day quarantine

Canadian airlines, Air Canada and West Jet have struck a deal with the state of Hawaii to allow Hawaiian-bound travellers to undertake a pre-flight covid test to avoid the mandatory 14-day quarantine.

Air Canada Covid-19 testing for Hawaii-bound travellers

Air Canada is partnering with Shoppers Drugmart for pre-travel covid-19 testing (RT-PCR test) to avoid the mandatory 14-day Hawaii quarantine. Test results are expected to have a 48-hour turn around (Hawaii state requires a negative covid test within 72 hours of arrival). Participating locations are in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta. More information can be found here

WestJet Covid-19 testing for Hawaii-bound travellers

WestJet is currently partnering with participating pharmacies in Alberta for the DynaLIFE test ($150/test), a pre-travel covid test to avoid the hawaii 14-day mandatory quarantine. Unfortunately this is only available to people in Alberta. Hopefully Westjet expands this service to other major Canadian cities soon. More information can be found here.

San Francisco (SFO) to Maui tourists

Rapid Covid-19 tests will be available at the SFO airport and be offered by GoHealth. The cost will be $250/test and will provide the results within 15 minutes. Initially this service will be offered to travelers flying with United Airlines only. Contact GoHealth to find out more.

Alternatively travelers can opt for a self-collected, mail-in test for United Airlines customers traveling to Hawaii. This service is cheaper, $80 and is provided by Color. results are returned within 24-48 hours.

More information about Corona virus testing for passengers on United Airlines flights from SFO to Hawaii can be found here.

Hawaiian Airlines, in partnership with Worksite labs, is offering drive-through COVID tests near the SFO and LAX airports. The price will be $90/test and the results will be available in 36 hours. They have a same-day result service for $150. They report that this service will be expanded to more airports soon.

This is just the beginning of a new norm of air travel in the age of Covid. Arrive at the airport a bit earlier than usual, get your 15-minute Covid test, check-in your bags, go through security and board the plane.

Stay tuned for more options for flying to Maui, Hawaii and avoiding the 14-day quarantine.

Safest Hawaiian Islands to visit with the fewest Covid-19 Cases

Each of the Hawaiian Islands have been hit differently in terms of COVID-19 infections. Oahu by far has had it the worse, both overall and number of cases/100,000 people. Maui, Lanai and Kauai have had the fewest infections and are the safest of the Hawaiian Islands for tourists. The graphs below provide the latest case numbers by Hawaiian county and are updated daily. Data is provided by the State of Hawaii Department of Health.