I Traveled to Maui, Hawaii (During the Pandemic)

My boyfriend, Mitchell, was turning 25 this January, and I wanted to make it extra special. If you know me, you know I’m all about birthdays, especially surprises! Given that our typical scenario of celebrations with a group of friends have been ruled out due to the pandemic, I wanted to surprise him with something for just the two of us that he would never forget. SO, I surprised my boyfriend on a trip to Maui, Hawaii... during the pandemic.

Crazy, right? How did I do it? What did we do? I’m going to share my story on how I made this dream a reality while staying safe and following CDC guidelines and protocols. 

I booked the flights in December for a 5-day, 4-night mid-January vacation to Maui, Hawaii. The deals to Hawaii are TOO GOOD to pass up. I’m talking under $500 for 2 people round trip. Insane. This is something that will not be the case after the pandemic. If you feel comfortable traveling, I highly recommend looking into a vacay to the Aloha State.

The State of Hawai’i requires a 10-day self-quarantine for all inbound travelers. In order to forego the self-quarantine, you must complete the state’s pre-travel testing requirements. After booking the flights, I received my confirmation email prompting me to register to the Hawaii Safe Travels website that tracked my completion and held all of my documents of the required checklist before arriving. The rules for traveling to Hawaii vary between each island, so make sure to confirm that your desired island of travel is allowing the exemption of the 10-day quarantine through this program. Maui was okay to travel to, where as Kauai was not at this time. The mandatory checklist for each person arriving to Hawaii requesting exemption for the 10-day quarantine was:

I started by registering and creating our trip details. Because we had connecting flights through Oahu to arrive to Maui, I had to upload both flights that brought to us to our final island. Trip 1 was the first flight, and trip 2 was the second flight. Only one of our flight numbers was auto-populating in the text box, but it is okay to type it in manually, not all flights will populate.

The COVID test we completed was through Walgreens. I reserved a drive-thru time slot for the both of us to complete a rapid PCR test with results within 24 hours. This is not the same as an antigen test, as an antigen test would not be approved by the safe travel requirements. Once we received our negative lab results, I uploaded the PDF’s to each created trip on the Safe Travels website. The results were immediately scanned and labeled as “negative” on the website, meaning our results were approved! Because our first flight was directly to Oahu, we were able to do our COVID test within 72 hours of our first departure flight. However, if we were connecting through another city on the mainland, such as Los Angeles, we would’ve needed to complete our test within 72 hours of our second flight from LA to Hawaii.

The Health Questionnaire was available 24 hours before our first trip, and I completed all of this within a few minutes. After this was completed, we received our individual QR code’s for each of our “trips” that will allow us to move forward after landing in Hawaii. None of the materials are required to be shown at the departing airport, just at arrival in Hawaii. Keep in mind, this was all done without Mitchell knowing where we would be going... he probably had an inkling, but I kept the arrival details a secret! Overall, the process seems a little complicated, but it is pretty simple if you just follow the instructions to ensure you complete all requirements. Now onto the fun part... the trip itself! 

I kept this secret going as long as I could... even through the security checkpoint of the airport, Mitchell didn’t know where we were headed. I obviously told him what to pack, and he anticipated a warm vacation, hopefully something tropical. Early morning risers, we flew Hawaiian Airlines from Phoenix to Honolulu connecting onto Kahului Airport. When it was time to board, it was pretty obvious we were flying Hawaiian airlines, but to Mitchell’s surprise, he didn’t find out that we were headed to Maui until we were on the plane. His assumption was Oahu, somewhere he had been before. This was exciting for the both of us, as it was his first time going to this island, and I pulled off the surprise successfully! There was another clue that Mitchell picked up on: the 60-year-old couple walking around our terminal in straight up Hawaiian tacky tourist clothing...

After getting approved on both the Oahu and Maui islands to forego the quarantine, we headed straight to the rental cars where I had reserved none other than a red convertible Camaro for the week... if only it was a VW bug ;) The rental car was pretty cheap, about $150 before insurance for the full 5 days we were there. This may be the case due to the lack of tourists during a pandemic, another way you could save. It was about 2pm, and we wanted to stop for a quick lunch and enjoy the rest of the day exploring the island by car. We were thinking... poke bowls!

We stopped at Poi by the Pound where we had THE BEST ahi poke bowl ever. All week long we tried to top it, but this one has others beat. It comes with the option of shoyu, spicy or half & half sauce. We went with spicy, but our waitress was so kind to let us have a taste of the shoyu... it was divine. I’d recommend the half and half to try both flavors, and we were able to share one dish. The tuna was so fresh and melted in my mouth. 

After our tasty lunch, we took the top down and drove around the island enjoying the perfect weather and sunshine. (Always wear SPF!! You will get burned.) We started driving up the west coast through the Lahaina district and up to the north shore. So many beautiful resorts sit on the beaches that line the coast, and they are all public access. At the north shore we stopped at a few lookout points to watch the surfers do their best work. It was so relaxing and fun... I wanted to get in the water right away.

We took the drive back down the coast to Kaanapali Beach to watch the sunset. Just having my toes in the sand was so refreshing... the beach is my muse! It was such a beautiful evening and so peaceful. I could tell right away that we had lucked out on exploring Maui while it wasn’t so crowded. There was way less traffic and tourists crowding the popular areas this time around, in comparison to my last visit to Maui.

We were staying in Kihei, so we continued back down the west coast to check in and get some sleep before a long day ahead.

The sun was shining, and it was a perfect day to hit the beach. Looking ahead at our weather, we saw it was likely going to rain light showers the next two days, of typical Hawaiian nature, so we wanted to get at least one full beach day in. We started at one of the greatest secret spots on the island (well maybe not so secret anymore) - Makena’s Secret Cove. There are about 5 parking spaces on the side of the road that lean against a wall separating the road from a beautiful natural cove. You walk through a small alley to get to the beach. 

Due to the less crowded island, we were lucky to have this place almost completely to ourselves! There were only 2 other families there when we arrived and more than enough space to keep an area to ourselves. This spot is such a beautiful landscape for pictures and relaxation, there’s really nothing like it. We explored the black lava rock in the cove and tanned for a few hours before heading to the next beach.

Neighboring the secret cove, just slightly north, sits one of the most popular beaches, known for its large beautifully stretched sandy beach - Makena State Beach “Big Beach.” This was Mitchell’s favorite spot to go, and it had the best spot to swim. The waves and water were so beautiful. 

When we saw the clouds rolling in, we opted to head back to the hotel and change into something for dinner. On our drive in the Lahaina district on day 1, we had decided on coming back for dinner and shopping, so that’s exactly what we did! On our drive up the island, we stopped and watched the sunset at a lookout point... so romantic, I know ;)

There was one dish I had back when I was in Maui with my family in 2015 that I had absolutely LOVED so much. It was a Macadamia-nut crusted Mahi Mahi from the Lahaina Fish Company in the historic district. Since my visit over 6 years ago, I have thought about the meal an unusual amount of times... I obviously wanted to go back and give it another try now that I was back. We went to the same restaurant right on the water and sat upstairs on the deck. The atmosphere is so quaint and peaceful. It feels fancy yet casual at the same time, it was a perfect way to have Mitchell’s birthday dinner to celebrate. You know when you remember a dish and it’s so good, you want to try it again, but it doesn’t live up to its expectations that you set so dangerously high??? Well that didn’t happen... I reordered my famous dish and was blown away AGAIN. It’s literally so amazing 12/10 recommend this Mahi Mahi. 

While stopping in a few shops around the neighborhood, gathering some souvenirs, we spoke with some of the locals on their advice for tomorrow’s day trip of Road to Hana: where to stop and what to see. Knowing it was going to rain the next few days, we figured the first of the two days was the safer option to explore the jungle scenery, so we headed back home to get a good night’s sleep. 

Our trusty locals who shared advice with us recommended an early start for Road to Hana. It’s best to be on the highway making your way down the coast by 8am if possible in order to avoid traffic and slow drivers. Road to Hana is a 64 mile two-lane winding road that consists of 59 bridges and 620 curves. Renting the car was the way to go, as we were able to take the top down and enjoy the scenic view at our own pace.

There are plenty of stops along the highway to make note of, but most importantly is the Halfway to Hana market that sells the most popular banana bread on the island. The reviews are not kidding - this banana bread was DELISH! We had chosen to make our way to the bottom of Hana as quick as possible, so by the time we made it to the market, it had just opened with a warm fresh batch ready to eat. 

Along the way, we had anticipated a rainstorm, but we lucked out for at least half of the drive that barely came as a drizzle. The rain started to pick up, but it didn't ruin the fun. At first, we were hesitant about driving the dangerous highway in the rain, but after some research and local advice, we felt comfortable moving forward with our plans as long as we drove slow in any troubled areas. The Road to Hana is known as a dangerous drive due to most bridges being one-lane and the high cliffside that is known for fallen trees and rocks to tumble into the street. During the rain, the hazard is much higher, so keep that in mind if you're taking a convertible or Jeep! 

By the time we made our way to Hana village, it had been about 2.5 hours. Guided by the advice we received from the locals, we planned to have an early lunch at a small food truck, Braddah Hutts BBQ Grill, at the base of the village at 11am. We were warned that it would get busy fast, and the truck tends to run out of food quickly by popularity. Since we arrived before the market opened, we explored a few beaches just south of the village, including Hamoa Beach and the Kaihalulu Red Sand Beach. Since it was raining, and we had intended to go for a hike after lunch, we didn't swim, but we did wander around the large red cliff walls and lava rocks at the base of the sand.

Once the food truck was open, we made our way back to have a filling lunch before we continued on our way. We had one plate - definitely sharable between 2 people, and it was pretty good! 

The farthest we drove was to our hike destination: Pipiwai Trail to Waimoku Falls. This was another 35 minutes from Hana village. We parked at Kīpahulu Visitor Center and lucked out on a free visit and parking due to the MLK holiday. The hike was absolutely beautiful. It was not too difficult and was mostly an incline due to stairs and rocks, so it gave a great exercise as well.

The hike follows a large stream with mini waterfalls created by the grand Waimoku Falls, scaling high above the base with large whimsical trees, walkable bridges, and a bamboo forest. When you make it to the very end, the hike opens up to the most stunning view of 7+ waterfalls towering over the surrounding mountains. Even with the rain, this was by far worth the hike. We spent 2.5 hours on the hike, but it can easily be done in less time. The view was breathtaking and magical. 10/10 recommend this hike! 

After the hike, we drove to Black Sand Beach, back in the direction of Hana village. This was by far once of my favorite places to visit in Maui! There are lava tubes on the beach, and the contrast between the green plants and black sand made such a unique aesthetic to view. We enjoyed watching the waves crash on the black lava rock. 

This area is incredibly unique and very photogenic... I could only imagine if it wasn't raining! What I loved most about this area is that it reminded me a lot of Nusa Penida in Bali, but with black sand. The colors are so vibrant, including the ocean water.

It was about 4pm by the time we completed our desired stops, and we were SO tired from the long day. We still had another 2+ hours to drive back to the north side of the island off the Hana highway. On the drive back, Mitchell was basically a pro, mastering all the curves and bridges. We lucked out and made it out of the highway just before dark.

To finish up our long day, we stopped at Maui Brewing Company in Kihei just by our hotel for a few brewskiiisss. I got a flight of their seltzers and loved ALL of them. They have unique flavors like Dragonfruit and Acai, and I honestly think they're better than White Claws. Also the ambiance was super cute! We never had any trouble getting a table at any of the restaurants we wanted to go to in Maui, probably due to the lack of tourists. However, we did notice that only 50-75% of all of the island restaurants were actually open - something to keep in mind when traveling to Maui. No reservations necessary, and indoor dining was available.

We were #blessed with another sunny day! Probably the most beautiful day of the whole trip.

We started our morning with a local breakfast at Kihei Caffe. We went for sweet & savory, and it did not disappoint. They have the most delicious cinnamon roll french toast paired with coconut syrup - 10/10. Their eggs benny was also a fan fave and was tied for first place. All in all - great experience.

Obviously it was worth catching some rays, so we did a walk around the park that was near the café and continued our day by hitting our favorite beach spot. We went back to  Makena State Beach “Big Beach with some seltzers to swim and tan - what a perfect day. 

We walked up and down the shore to the North end and climbed over the cliffside rocks to get a better view of the beach and private cove on the other side. This was such a perfect way to finish off our vacation, and we were able to soak up the last bit of sun before heading back to Arizona.

The final stop we made on our trip was at the furthest south point of Maui - Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve. This area is completely untouched lava rock covering the coast for miles. It's a fascinating drive to get to the Reserve parking, as this is where you can spot dolphins when they come to the cove for rest. The area is so beautiful, and we were able to catch the sunset from this spot.

It was time to depart our vacay! We woke up for an early flight back to the mainland, connecting through Oakland and back to Phoenix. It was a full day of travel due to the time difference. We were so thankful for this trip and the nice little getaway during this new way of life during a pandemic. I would recommend this type of travel to Hawaii to anyone who feels comfortable traveling! The 4-5 days on the island of Maui was more than enough time to do everything we wanted to do while getting in some relaxation. Cheers to this adventure and to many more! Mahalo, Hawaii...