Yes, Hawaii is open for travelers

By Heather Winfield

With many people going stir crazy and anxious to get out, the world is finally opening up.  And we are off to greener pastures or, should I say or off to greener Hawaii. And the Hawaiian restaurants.

We stayed at a nice condo in Kihei, Hawaii. It was a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom fully equipped place. Perfect for the Hawaiian beach traveler. It had snorkel gear, beach chairs, 2 different size ice chests, floaties for the pool, even kids’ sand toys. All of them had beautiful beach views. I loved the setup. But really, there are rental condos throughout Hawaii. You can go through Airbnb and find the perfect one for you.

What to Expect When You Get to Hawaii

The new travel experience/post-COVID might not be quite what you are expecting. At least not in Maui. The restaurants are not at full capacity, so it’s tough to get reservations. That’s your clue to book in advance. LOL They are short-staffed, food was so so, and the service was less than desirable. Nightlife is completely dead! The bars close down early, and absolutely no dancing. Forbidden by the government. For young adults and anyone that wants to mingle, this is not the place. The last call was at 9:30pm. (Since this article was written, places are now open till midnight)  That was the most happening place. Eeek

Hawaiian restaurants We Visited

Even dining at the Molokini Bistro at the Waldorf Astoria Wailea, a 4.5-star hotel, was just okay. By no means was it terrible the grounds beautiful; I’m talking picturesque. Not a leaf out of place.  But at the restaurant, the service kind of sucked. We had reservations for 6pm. They want to seat us in the back in a dark area. Then we noticed there were many seats empty with an ocean view. so we asked to be seated at one of those. Only to find out, you need to include “I want an oceanview” in your reservation. We thought that was a given, being in Hawaii. LOL, They did finally give in, but really.

Fleetwoods on Front Restaurant

Like I said earlier reservations are hard to come by in Hawaii. But what’s worse is poor help. 

We get to Fleetwoods a pretty well-known Hawaiian restaurant in Front the hostess asks, “do you have reservations.” And our answer is no. Of course, we are not from here and just wanted a little alone time. Drinks and appetizers. The hostess tells us it’s a 2-hour wait. I would have just thrown in the towel and headed back home but the next couple to come up said wow that didn’t take as long as we thought. That gave me hope. So I said let’s put our names down anyway and see what happens. The hostess then tells us I just want to let you know there are 50 people ahead of you. If that’s not discouraging I don’t know what is. We decide to take a stroll down the street to see if there’s anything else going on. Literally seven minutes later they Texas our table is ready. Don’t get me wrong we are totally grateful and had a great time once seated, but we had to laugh there is no way they could have called that many people and then get to us in 7 minutes.

The one thing I can say is they make the Best Mojitos and burgers. Lol 

The people in Maui were not as friendly as one would hope.  Even on the boat tours, the staff wasn’t that friendly. Maybe they are out of practice after being shut down for over a year.  

What Is Open in Hawaii Besides the Hawaiian Rstaurants

But let’s be real in all reality, it was just great to get out, and Hawaii will always be Hawaii. Its beautiful scenery is hard to pass up. There are so many cool adventures you can do. The things that are open are scuba diving, snorkel adventures, golfing, the beaches, and all the scenic places.

• Snorkel
• Scuba
• Sunbathing
• Hiking
• Boating
• Fishing

Most of us come to Hawaii to get a little color and to lay out in the sun. I’m writing a story on my hiking adventures and about that I know you will enjoy. As for now, Aloha and always have the cool wind in your hair.