We have a feeling that Hawaiian Airlines is not concerned. Did you ever ride the last SuperFerry?
22 thoughts on “Feasibility of a Hawaii Island Ferry”
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We have a feeling that Hawaiian Airlines is not concerned. Did you ever ride the last SuperFerry?
Comments are closed.
Hi, We are going to Oahu for the third time and would like to go to Maui and Kona or any other islands around. Which would be our best option, is there any like a day trip?
Aloha
Hi Leo.
Physically doable, but we high suggest you don’t try to do an island day trip. It is really a half-day project just to fly and get a car or connect with a tour.
Aloha.
I lived in a high rise on Oahu where I had a birds eye view of the Super ferry coming and going. I rode it once from Oahu to Maui, $378 round trip to transport my SUV, dog and wife. It took around 3 hours each way, the seats and tables were lounge type, inexpensive snack bars, it was a great deal! Packing was wonderful as we did not have to cram our things in a suitcase! Contractor vehicles, military vehicles, bread n dairy trucks, etc. would be on the ferry. Travel was economical, fast, and turn around accomplished the same day. However, this was the downfall of the Super ferry: IT WAS A POLITICAL TAKE DOWN, simple as that! Hawaiian Air, Young Brothers, Car Rental Co. and hotels, took a financial beating because the ferry could do the job fast and cheap. The environmental impact statement that the ferry never obtained, was the main issue as this process would take years to obtain and case tied up in court. Issues bought up were silly like, the vessel creating danger for whales, people blocking piers and water ways making it difficult to load and unload were all part of the reason for shut down. The legal process was long and lengthily. The owners of the ferry could not survive the financial loss of having the ferry parked and not in operation. They even kept a full staff employed, for months, hoping that they would be given permission to operate again. I felt sorry for the owner as I slowly watched his business fail, with a tremendous financial loss. I personally do not support the Super ferry, only because I want the charm of the neighbor islands to remain as such. Making it easy access for contractors, developers, building materials, investors and hoarders; would surely mean a disaster. I welcome Southwest Airlines and support their application for interisland travel. Competition is surely needed on the ocean as well, perhaps someone will give Young Brothers competition.
Took the ‘old’ ferry service between Maui and Molokai and at the time there were more than a few local commuters who lived on Molokai and worked on Maui. We did the car rental package and spent the day driving around Molokai, then returned a couple of years later to spend a week there. It’s a special place and some sort of ferry service SEEMS to make sense for an island area where interisland travel can be costly.
What about the hovercraft service I keep hearing about?
The entry of Southwest Airlines into the Hawaii Market would be a boon to EVERYONE living in Hawaii if the playing field is kept level. They have proven it over and over again in many markets on the mainland. Just think of what it could mean if they were to enter the interisland routes. . .
There can always be found bureaucratic reasons why this wouldn’t work (and, to be sure, a few practical ones, like seasickness).
But, as was already pointed out, lack of such service restricts interisland movement (especially if you really dislike Hawaiian Airlines, as many do).
The superbly ridiculous and incredibly costly Honolulu light rail system — not even providing service to Mililani, UH, or Hawaii Kai — makes a mockery of any State cost-effectiveness study. The State (along with Federal tax dollars) is subsidizing a wasteful and inefficient system for Honolulu, but the rest of us get squat, because it’s ‘too wasteful.’
Typical.
Approach Pasha and subsidize a combo passenger cargo ferry to run a route from Oahu to Maui to Hilo or maybe Kona using there leased wharfs and scheduling expertise. Keep it simple! Good time to try and get an exception to The damned Jones act. They did it to help get aid to Puerto Rico
I like your idea!
Hi, we love the website. It is helping us plan our April trip. I keep reading here and other places this year will bring big changes in pricing and flight frequency. As I said, we are looking to fly from Denver to Honolulu just after Easter for a couple weeks. While I track prices several places and see lots of fluctuations I’m not sure what price is a great deal, good deal, or average fare. I would appreciate any help in judgement of prices.
Thanks so much, keep up the good work!
Grace
Hi Grance.
Thank you. How long a connection are you willing to endure? There are non-stops and there are fast connecting one-stops. Then there are more stops and much longer durations. All options.
With a relatively quick connecting one-stop, best hope is probably mid $500’s. For non-stop, about $200 more. There are some of those fares out there already, depending on your travel dates.
We are expecting more flights from Denver to Hawaii, but not in your time frame.
Aloha.
And yet they build a rail that will never be functional and will cost more than 30 billion when all is said and done cause traffic delays while being built take money from buses and other transportation. Encroaches upon peoples land, cost billions in legal fees, blocks views and ruins the skylines. Seems a 100 million is nothing in comparison. I was living there and watching the super ferry from the 30th floor of an apartment building. It was a marvel to watch how nimble and advanced it was. It turned on a dime in the harbor and was environmentally friendly to ocean life and the rest of the environment.
Wow, at $90 a piece those were darn cheap boats 😉 I think I might order one myself for cruising around the California coast.
Jokes aside, I don’t really have an opinion on these particular ferries, but I fondly remember taking the ferry from Maui to Molokai for a day trip during our honeymoon. We rented a car and explored the island that we otherwise would have probably never seen, and the boat trip itself was fun as well.
Everyone would benefit….. from the residents and a tourists….
to the State of Hawaii from the taxes…..