Kee Beach, Haena State Park

Controversial Haena State Park Controls Topic of Peter Greenberg Show

What’s happening at Haena State Park on Kauai is an excellent example of regenerative travel, albeit not without controversy. Travel writer Peter Greenberg came here to report on his recent PBS Series, Travel Detective: Hidden Gems, which features Kauai. You can watch his show in today’s post below. This type of travel paradigm is new and surprises and upsets some return visitors. A case in point is what Bruce wrote in a comment:

“We looked forward to returning to Kauai after 6 years. The biggest shock were the fees being charged by state parks ($10 per vehicle and $5 per person) and the need to reserve a spot at Kee Beach just so you can walk along the Na Pali coast. It turns out the reserved spots had been taken within minutes of their being made available! So how are you supposed to get to enjoy that area?? Besides, the whole reservation system seems ridiculous. It was never needed before the pandemic. So much for welcoming tourists back to Hawaii.”

On the other side of the issue, we, too, remember what it was like before. Almost 3,000 cars a day visited the area, so many people were vying for a spot on the beach. It was simply out of control. We’d given up on going there. Fast forward to what it would look like today in 2022, with our increased number of visitors. Something seemed to be needed, which led to changes that reduced cars to 900 daily.

It was reported that the Kauai Visitor Bureau, part of the recently fired HVCB, paid for travel writers including Greenberg, USAToday, and others to participate in what is colloquially called a “Fam” trip. These familiarization trips are helpful when it comes to sharing new travel trends such as this with writers. The objective is for visitors to feel more trust in the information disseminated by a writer following the trip.

Haena State Park’s new visitor rules.

A New Day at Haena is the phrase that was used after the park underwent significant improvements after historic flooding in 2019 and led to the creation of the reservation and shuttle system, parking controls, and limitations. The re-imagining of tourism also underwent tweaks and further consideration during and after park closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

These changes include mandatory visitor reservations for access to the park by car or shuttle and include Kee Beach and the famous Kalalau Trail. There are currently three parks in Hawaii that all have similar systems in place, the others being Diamond Head on Oahu and Waianapanapa State Park on Maui. All require an advance reservation for visitors only.

Governor Ige’s announcement said, “Last summer, national television travel host Peter Greenberg spent several days on Kauai producing an episode of The Travel Detective: Hidden Gems, which airs on public television stations around the country. The program has begun airing and is the latest to focus national attention on what’s called regenerative tourism.”

The state said its State Parks Administrator Curt Cottrell met with Greenberg at Haena State Park and explained how they “re-imagined visitation to this popular park.” Cottrell said, “Public land managers are looking at solutions to curbing what has been called over-tourism. We are grateful for and need the national media to help tell the global visitor industry there’s a new normal. Make your preparations before you come to Hawaii.”

Parking or Shuttle Reservations are challenging to obtain.

This is part of the problem for visitors who may not know of the rule changes and those who do not plan ahead. Reservations open online 30 days in advance and go quickly, sometimes within minutes. The first to sell out is parking, and the second is the shuttle. If you don’t have a reservation, you’ll simply be turned away.

“The problem we have on a global scale is entitlement.” — Peter Greenberg.

Greenberg said, “People think they’re entitled to visit a place and do whatever they want. They’re entitled to be responsible. And once that happens, then they can be entitled to have a great experience. Community management has come into play, not necessarily as a matter of regulating but as a matter of educating. Once you do that, the regulation takes care of itself.

Just last week, the Board of Land and Natural Resources approved a second, one-year-long revocable permit for Hui Makaainana o Makana to manage visitors at the park. The community group helped lead the new management paradigm at the Haena and Napali parks.

Chipper Wichman, one of the group’s original founders, said, “We created the hui back in 1999 to create a mechanism for us to be able to take care of this sacred landscape. We had the vision to empower the community to help take care of this area, as it was crying out for care. We wanted to restore the integrity of the land and build a relationship with the DLNR so our community view would be recognized and allowed to co-manage the area with the Division of State Parks. That is one component of regenerative tourism.”

Where do you stand on this issue?

Parks Administrator Curt Cottrell concluded, “There is no one recipe on how to manage sensitive cultural and natural resources and fluctuating visitor industry. However, we have shown that being innovative and trying to reduce the impacts to park neighbors and rural communities empowers them to help us manage these once hidden but now highly sought-after gems. There are a lot of moving parts to work with, and that’s the adaptation part.”

Greenberg added that what happened at Haena is essential and can be modeled worldwide at other natural, scenic, and cultural sites that have or are experiencing over-visitation.

Watch The Travel Detective: Hidden Gems of Kaua’i with host Peter Greenberg:

Leave a Comment

Comment policy:
* No profanity, rudeness, personal attacks, or bullying.
* Hawaii focused only. General comments won't be published.
* No links or UPPER CASE text. English please.
* No duplicate posts or using multiple names.
* Use a real first name, last initial.
* Comments edited/published/responded to at our discretion.
* Beat of Hawaii has no relationship with our commentors.
* 750 character limit.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

79 thoughts on “Controversial Haena State Park Controls Topic of Peter Greenberg Show”

  1. Used to be my favorite place on the planet will never go back they have ruined Ke’e beach and the North shore in a very greedy and unhawaiian way. Such a shame! Such a change! There’s other tropical places with even clearer water That’s where I’m going for now on.

  2. Once again, it has turned into the playground of the wealthy. Thinly veiled in the article, but not outright stated, is that the permits “disappear” within minutes of becoming available. That’s because they are ending up in the hands of the weathiest, highest bidder. What’s wrong with allowing those who get there earlier get to stay? The fat cats in the expensive hotels would have to get up early. Follow the money and you’ll see who’s illegally hoarding passes!

  3. Hi David B, the simple Fact that I hear is that the bridges need replacing, The Engineers should have said their plans and when it became confrontational walked out. Build the bridges and have them Blessed, no need to give in to mob mentality.

    1
    1. It’s hard to explain the dynamic that went on in our neighborhood for at least the first year of the road closure. Think Lord of the Flies; Not Robert’s Rules of Order. Keep in mind the background of identity/grievance politics, and Hawaii is a deep blue state. I don’t know what eventually got worked out, but those families wanted to get paid before those bridges could be touched. Buy the way, the bridges were all repaired/replaced in the exact dimensions and load carrying capacity as the old bridges.

      2
  4. I am a 40 year Kaua’i resident and have spent 30 of those years on the North Shore. I have slowly watched the increase of tourism and what has come with it – the traffic, lack of parking and most importantly the erosion of the delicate infrastructure on our little island and realize that something had to happen especially for our precious and isolated North Shore. I absolutely support these changes and believe we need more of them around the island.

    3
  5. Hi Marie, deciding to stop most of what you have enjoyed for 3 decades is aweful. To do so because you don’t want to upset, offend or enrage the “locals” shows that They are the true problem, not You. Aloha. Must truly be a lacking sentiment amongst that elitist crowd and shows how much distance has come between Them and Us. If Tourism disappeared from that Island imagine the displeasure that would turn against Them, an interesting and appealing thought. Enjoy the Island and don’t give up a thing.

    2
  6. I’ve been visiting Kauai for almost 30 years. I no longer drive to Kee Beach, hike the Napali or even waste my gas money going to Hanalei. I don’t want to burden the locals or the environment. The charges for parking at the canyon make the hiking undesirable. I don’t even eat out so that the locals can feel safe from any virus or germs I may have. I still enjoy the island, especially since I don’t have to spend very much money there. Aloha to all!

    8
    1. I’m a 36 year Kauai resident who lives the same way-I live in Lihue,walk and swim at Kalapaki,Kauai Lagoons and no longer drive to different areas—it seems like a hassle,,somehow not fun anymore-but maybe it’s not a bad way to live -pick an area and remain in that vicinity

      3
      1. Maybe ten years ago, I was getting a haircut at Kawamoto’s on Rice street. The barber and I did the usual chit-chat. It came up that I was living in Wainiha (far north shore), about 35 miles from his shop. He stated he had not gone past Kapa’a in 25 years. Said that he’d gone to the north shore back then, didn’t like it, and had never gone back. But to be fair, we rarely have gone south/west past the Costco in the last several years. It’s a relatively small island, but with all the traffic, a 50 mile drive can take (at least) two hours.

        1. Hi David.

          Based on your locale and travel, and ours, we aren’t likely to run into one another, even on an island this small. Funny, we’re more likely to see you traveling to and from California.

          Aloha.

          1
  7. “There are currently three parks in Hawaii that all have similar systems in place, the others being Diamond Head on Oahu and Waianapanapa State Park on Maui. All require an advance reservation for visitors only.” The part I have a problem with is “for visitors only”. If you are trying to control crowds then locals should have to follow the same rules. I imagine it would be extremely hard to gauge how many visitors you can allow if locals are not included in the numbers. It also creates another instance of us vs them.

    14
  8. All in all, the Haena situation has improved mostly, but now that people without reservations get turned back they all pretty much end up in Hanalei. So now Hanalei is very congested. There are not enough restaurants, beach parking and infrastructure to allow all of these people in this small town at one time. Hangry tourists and residents trying to carry on with their daily life tasks etc is kind of a hot mess.

    13

Scroll to Top