Kauai will no longer require quarantine for visitors to a tourist bubble. Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami said it's no longer needed as vaccine exemptions are coming into effect. Kaua'i has an “Enhanced Movement Quarantine Bubble” program that accepts any COVID-19 diagnostic test (antigen test or PCR) with emergency use authorization from the U.S. UU.
The Resort Bubble program is an option for travelers arriving with a negative test approved by the FDA but not approved by the State of Hawaii's Safe Travels program. If travelers choose to participate, travelers must stay at the Resort Bubble property for 72 hours or more and then have the option to take a post-trip test. Negative results from a post-trip test will allow the occupant of the Bubble Resort to exit quarantine. If a traveler arrives without a pre-travel test, they cannot participate in the Resort Bubble program and will have to quarantine for 10 days in an approved quarantine hotel (found in the Accommodations section below) or leave the state.
Once negative PCR test results are confirmed, they will have full access to the resort until the end of their stay. At the Bubble Resort, travelers wear a tracking wristband and are allowed to leave their rooms to access resort property within the bubble, as directed by their hotel. Pre-travel testing associated with resort bubble quarantine may come from sources other than trusted Hawaiian partners. If visitors and residents choose to stay in non-EMQ hotels or in homes, they will be subject to full 10-day quarantine for travelers without the opportunity for a post-travel test and will not be able to leave their rooms.
The small size of the property, with only 22 generously spaced one and two bedroom cabins, made it an easy candidate for the bubble state of a resort. After the initial negative test result, they can enjoy certain resort facilities, including dining at Lagoon Café, limited access to tennis and golf, housekeeping while not in their rooms, and use of an exclusive beach area. For those travelers looking for sun, sand and surf without the FOMO of seeing it all through their hotel window for more than two weeks, a resort bubble can provide a much-needed respite. The new program will allow travelers to Kauai who receive a negative pre-trip test and stay at an approved resort bubble property with Enhanced Movement Quarantine (EMQ), take a post-trip test three days after arrival, and be released from quarantine with a negative result of the post-trip test.
Kawakami's non-traditional quarantine approach allows transpacific travelers the option of pre-testing 72 hours before they arrive in Kauai, spend 72 hours in a “Bubble Resort”, test negative for the second time, and then have the freedom to enjoy everything Kauai has to offer, or for us residents, to have the freedom to return home. The Mandarin Oriental Canouan is located within the 1,200-acre Grenadines estate and offers 26 suites and 13 villas; General Manager Duarte Correia believes the resort's bubble status has become a definite factor for guests deciding to book a vacation. If you head to Kauai, or plan to do so, you will find the return of the “resort bubbles”, the novel idea of isolating travelers until they can prove a negative covid-19 test result for the second time. In early March, I flew to Kauai Island to try the island's resort bubble program with a stay at Timbers Kauai in Hokuala.
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