This week our visitor guide to Hanalei Beach caught the attention of Kauai’s Garden Island Newspaper. We think the beach is sensational and deserves to be rated number one in the USA.
The condition of the restrooms, however, at this beach as well as others, concerned us greatly. It seems important that money be spent to repair and maintain the basic infrastructure in order to enhance the visitor experience.
If you’ve been to Hawaii, what are your suggestions? Do the public bathrooms at our beaches take away from your enjoyment of the islands? We’ll be sharing your thoughts with local officials.
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Salem (2 years ago)
I think public restrooms are a necessity to avoid the obvious alternative of having people doing their business in areas where others might be exposed to the contamination and possible disease associated with fecal matter.
Even just having simple pit toilets that are low maintenace and perhaps getting a local ” friends of Hanalei Beach” or similar organization to take turns volunteering for clean up.
Having nasty bathrooms like the one in the picture takes away from everyone’s enjoyment and portrays the area more negatively.
Vicki Nielsen (2 years ago)
I noticed the terrible condition of the bathrooms at Waimanalo beach this last January. Not quite unusable, but almost. It is a primitive bathroom at its best, but it was very disgusting. I wish I could remember exactly what was completely broken, but in general it was unclean and had not been attended to for a long time. If I was a new visitor, this would leave a very bad impression. I can’t imagine taking children in there.
hawaiiluvr (2 years ago)
I’m a return visitor, having spent many weeks on all the islands except Molokai over the past 12 yrs.
I find it disgusting, the conditions of some of the public restrooms. We spend close to 10K to come from the east coast to Hawaii yearly and if they want to continue to attract visitors, they should spend a little time and $ maintaining the facilities.
The condition of some of them is appalling.. and couple that with homeless people who seem to “stake out” places around the restrooms and it doesn’t make for a great experience.
As a woman, I’ve been itimidated when trying to access the rest rooms by homeless men basically blocking access. In particular this has occurred to me at Salt Pond Beach on Kauai a number of times. My husband escorts me to the restroom and waits for me to come out.
steve (2 years ago)
The problem as always is where does the money come from. I always favor the users pay instead of a general tax that hits everybody. Tough to work out though which is why the bathrooms are in the condition they are.
Michael (2 years ago)
Top rated beaches must have an ample supply of clean, well appointed restrooms. The cost would be worth the publicity in terms of visitor attendance.
Elayne Christiansen (2 years ago)
we have come to Hawaii over 14 times…few things are upsetting..but the public restrooms are inexcusable. Such beautiful beaches and yet such a hgrror in the bathrooms…
Chris Meyer (2 years ago)
As a Californian, I am painfully aware that poor restroom maintenance takes away from the beach experience. As a frequent Hawaii visitor and lover of the Islands, I believe maintenance of these facilities should be a priority for a tourism-dependent economy. To me, among the reasons Hawaii stands above its competitors in the Caribbean, Mexico and elsewhere are its pristine conditions and modern amenities. Good restroom facilities are part of the distinction. As they deteriorate, the Hawaii sheen tarnishes a little. On our last visit to Hanalei Beach in 2008, the poor state of the restrooms was apparent. It won’t stop us from returning to our timeshare, but it could be one negative factor for others weighing an expensive Hawaii vacation.
Dan (2 years ago)
I agree with the idea for low maintenance toilets. There are some very effective and surprisingly pleasant composting toilet designs these days. One overlooked issue in Hanalei is the lack of sewage infrastructure, so these park toilets (as well as neighboring houses) have septic fields pretty close to the ocean, and with recent flooding this only exacerbates the issue. Maybe a smarter composting solution could help.
Megan (2 years ago)
While not on a beach, the public porta-potties in Makawao on Maui are horrible. Last summer I opened the door on one of them, only to find a medium-sized turd cozily hanging out on the toilet seat. Nice. But there’s no where else to go in the entire town!
Amber (2 years ago)
I’ve encountered several unusable beach restrooms in my time in Hawaii; the kind where you walk in, think “No way, I’ll hold it!” and walk right back out. I’ve never once gone into a Hawaii public restroom and thought “Wow, this is cleaner/more modern/better smelling than expected.”
I’ve also encountered horrible bathroom conditions in rest stops and parks on the mainland, but I’ve also been impressed by clean, modern and fresh facilities in certain places. In Hawaii it seems that the scale goes from unusable to tolerable.
Carrie (2 years ago)
We were actually pretty pleased with the conditions at the Hawai’i County parks on the Big Island when we camped around the island last November. I realize these parks do not get as much traffic as Oahu beaches though. We stayed overnight at Laupahoehoe and Spencers and had no complaints about the restrooms or showers. We saw maintenance workers each morning tidying up. We also used the very busy restrooms at Kahalu’u, another county park. (Hapuna Beach State Park had decent facilities too, and it looked like they were being renovated.) Overall, I’d say Hawaii County does a decent job. Plus at only $6 a night per person, camping at the County parks is a fantastic bargain. We intend to do it again this year.
Colleen (2 years ago)
We go before we go – meaning, we use the restroom at our condo or at a hotel (where we have eaten breakfast or lunch) before going to the beach. The beach park rest rooms are just too gross to consider. They need to be maintained – they should sparkle like the sea………. Has anyone considered sub-contracting the cleaning? Something needs to be done.