Longtime visitors who always planned to “go big someday” are rerunning the numbers. For many, the answer is surprising, and it’s forcing decisions they never expected to make. Something’s happening with Hawaii’s most loyal travelers. They are checking old trip budgets, comparing condo rates then and now, and recalculating vacations they’ve been dreaming about for years. And increasingly, the math is not adding up quite the way it used to.
“I redid our Hawaii budget last month for the first time in three years,” reader Karen M. told us. “Same two-week Maui trip we’ve always taken every other year. The total jumped by thousands. I sat there staring at the numbers thinking, when did this happen?” She is not alone.
Across reader comments and emails, the same theme keeps surfacing. The extended Hawaii trip many visitors had been saving for, the one they planned to take when the kids were grown or retirement arrived, now looks different. More expensive. Less certain. For many, the question has shifted from “when should we go?” to “should we still go at all?” And it isn’t just Hawaii, even as it remains the focus.
The tipping point that’s forcing the conversation.
It isn’t one thing. It’s everything at once. Hotels and condos that once felt affordable now come with nightly rates and service fees that make even a short stay feel extravagant. Car rentals, restaurant tabs, groceries, and activities seem to cost significantly more each time.
The fees keep multiplying, too, from parking and resort charges to new reservation systems for beaches and parks that used to be free. One reader told us the same rental car she once booked for $40 a day now tops $100, and that simple realization made her wonder what else had changed while she wasn’t looking.
Visitors used to plan these trips like a celebration. Now it feels more like they’re preparing for some kind of tax audit.
“We always told ourselves we’d do a month in Kauai when we retired,” reader Tom S. said. “That was the carrot. But when I looked at prices recently, I started thinking what else could we do with that money?”
The trip that once felt like a well-earned reward is starting to look like a financial gamble. People aren’t tallying receipts as much as they’re noticing the feeling that the same dollar buys less ease and more friction. The tone in messages we receive has shifted from celebration to careful calculation.
The recalculation.
For longtime visitors, this isn’t just about money. It’s about value, meaning, and whether the Hawaii vacation still feels worth what it takes. The same Hawaii that once promised comfort and familiarity now comes with more rules and more uncertainty. Vacation rental restrictions are creating worry that favorite condos could vanish from the market. Others point to rising restaurant costs and shrinking availability for excursions and beaches that used to feel wide open.
“That’s when it hit me,” reader Janet L. said. “We’d been so locked into the idea of our big Hawaii trip that we never questioned whether it still made sense. When I realized we could stretch the same budget over more time somewhere else, the decision became harder.”
Visitors say it’s not about chasing bargains abroad to any significant degree. It’s about wondering whether the version of Hawaii they fell in love with will still be there when they’re ready to take that long-promised trip. The conversation has changed. It’s no longer about saving up for the dream. It’s about making sure the dream still exists when they’re ready for it.
The three paths people are choosing.
Talking to longtime readers who are redoing the math, three clear patterns are emerging:
1. Some are moving their plans forward and going now, before it’s too late. “We were going to wait three more years,” reader Michelle R. told us. “But after seeing prices jump again and reading about more rental restrictions, we decided to take our month-long trip this fall instead. We’re taking unpaid leave and making it work. The fear of waiting too long outweighed the fear of the cost.” Travel agents confirm a rise in “now or never” trips, especially among travelers in their late fifties and early sixties who don’t want to miss their window.
2. Others are letting go of the dream entirely and redirecting the big trip somewhere else. Reader Liz K., who has been to Maui eleven times, finally priced out the extended Wailea stay she had been planning for retirement. “I couldn’t justify it,” she said. “For the same money, we could spend months in Portugal or Italy, see things we’ve never seen, and still have something left over.” Randy W. shared a similar story. “We love Maui, but for our big retirement trip we wanted something new. We chose Japan. It wasn’t anti-Hawaii. It was pro-adventure while we still can.”
3. Another group is scaling back rather than giving up. Instead of one long stay, they’re visiting more often but for shorter periods. Instead of oceanfront, they’re choosing garden view. Instead of Maui, they’re exploring the Big Island, where prices still can run lower. “We decided to do a week in Hawaii every year instead of saving up for one big month-long trip,” reader Dan said. “It worked better for our budget, and it takes the pressure off. We’re not putting all our eggs in one expensive basket.”
When the Hawaii dream slips away.
What’s slipping away isn’t the trip itself but the dream behind it. People are still coming, still spending, still loving Hawaii, but the hope of finally settling in for a full month and living the rhythm of island life often feels further out of reach. “I wanted to wake up in Kauai for thirty mornings in a row,” reader Beth K. said. “To have a routine there. To feel like I lived there, not just visited. That’s what I’ve been working toward for fifteen years. And now I’m realizing it’s probably never going to happen. Not because I didn’t save enough, but because Hawaii got too expensive while I was saving.”
Some readers aren’t giving up. They’re adapting. They’re finding smaller condos and traveling in shoulder months. The dream isn’t gone. It’s just evolving. Still, many admit that something fundamental has changed, and the idea that patience and loyalty would one day be rewarded with the Hawaii trip of a lifetime no longer feels guaranteed.
Which visitors Hawaii is losing.
These are not casual tourists booking on impulse. They’re longtime visitors who’ve spent years learning Hawaii’s rhythms, supporting local businesses, and returning again and again, sometimes dozens of times. They were the visitors who planned to deepen that connection, not take a quick Instagram selfie and leave. They wanted time to slow down, to explore the corners they’d missed, to experience Hawaii as more than a vacation.
Now, as they reach the point in life when they can finally afford to stay longer and spend more, they’re running the numbers and deciding if the dream still fits. Some are stretching their budgets to go early, others are redirecting their plans abroad, and many are scaling back expectations altogether.
Hawaii keeps saying it wants fewer, better visitors. But the rules and costs driving that shift don’t always separate the careless from the careful, and that’s where loyalty quietly starts to crack. The visitors who respected Hawaii most are now wondering if the feeling is still mutual.
The question Hawaii hasn’t answered.
Hawaii has been clear about wanting fewer, higher-spending visitors. The question is whether it’s getting them. The travelers doing these recalculations aren’t short on money. They have savings, good incomes, and real travel budgets. What’s changed is their confidence that Hawaii still offers value for what is now seen as a significant investment. For more and more longtime visitors, the answer is no longer certain.
They aren’t leaving angry. They’re leaving reluctantly. Still in love with Hawaii, still dreaming about it, but realizing that the version of the trip they’ve been saving for might not exist when they’re finally ready to take it. The question isn’t whether Hawaii can still attract visitors. It’s whether it still wants the ones who built its reputation in the first place.
Where are you in this calculation?
Have you been planning a big Hawaii trip for retirement or a future milestone? Have you revisited your budget recently? Are you still confident it will work out the way you imagined, or are you starting to adjust?
Whether you’re accelerating your plans, scaling back, or rethinking the dream entirely, we’d like to hear what changed for you. Every one of those stories helps tell Hawaii’s story, too.
Lead Photo Credit: Beat of Hawaii at Kekaha Beach on Kauai.
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I wanted to take my twins ashes back to Hawaii to be scattered but it looks like it’s going to be a bit longer to do this. We used to go there every year for 13 years and would love to see it one last time. it has been quite a few years so it will be like I’ve never been there.
My wife and I have just returned from Oahu. Our 4th trip to this island. We stayed at the same resort the last 3 times. They reduced the price for return visitors. But the price hasn’t gone down.
The Hawaiian visitors board has increased taxes. These taxes seem to increase every year. We are now rethinking about next year.
My wife and I are Canadians from the Prairies and have vacationed and enjoyed the Big Island, Maui and Mexico. We always thought we would spend a winter month in Hawaii when we retired as teachers.
As new retirees, we weighed our options. We could go to Hawaii for a couple weeks, or go the Puerto Vallarta for six weeks for the same price. In Hawaii, there are new service charges, taxes and fees on all sorts of things that we can’t even keep track of, and we don’t like surprises. In Puerto Vallarta, while prices have increased, we know what our expenses will be and we are appreciated and welcomed by the locals.
It was an easy decision for us. A five hour flight and we will be at the pool or on the beach in PV.
While we love Hawaii, we also love the quaint Mexican towns. We will make our winter home in Mexico until Hawaii and the US can figure out their issues.
Aloha, Thank you.
Although there are tourists that could be “better educated”, tourists are mostly respectful and crave cultural education. That’s why they come here.
Everything changed during lockdown when young people experienced the island free of tourists for the first time. The resentment and frustration with tourism has intensified since that point. Tourists need to be better educated about the plight of the Hawaiian Kingdom and younger locals may benefit from a deeper understanding of the nuts and bolts of the Maui economy (and different potential future economic outcome models) before the damage is irreversible, if it’s not already. Local government has tunnel vision and is slow to adapt without much consideration for the outsider interpretation of their words. America is fighting to remain a democratic nation at all while Maui is craving distance from America. No one seems to be looking at the bigger picture and the island as we knew it has died. When you can’t go back to where you were it’s clear you have to build something new, let us be thoughtful about our goals and honest about our mission
I understand what your saying about young people experiencing Hawaii without tourists but what they don’t understand is how the economy works. You can’t go back a 100 years. If they think they can ask them to give up cell phones ,computers and internet. Most would be unwilling to and except for some agricultural items what economy would there be ?
As with many relationships, there is first a courting period followed by a honeymoon period. I think it’s safe to say that those have now ended between many tourists & locals in Maui. I’m not yet sure if tourists & locals are now divorcing or just separating for a while? Some relationships get stronger when you realize what you’ve been missing. That could still happen here. Then again, other relationships also result in finding new partners.
We got the message…go home we don’t want you here. We just didn’t acknowledge it before. It makes me sad and then very angry. Who are these people?
I was in Maui for 2 weeks end of August to mid-September this year. The prices of food and drinks ($10-$11 for one bottle of beer) at the resorts have doubled. It just really upset me how much they were charging and of course tips are important for the service employees so keeping a straight face was hard. The planed excursions kept getting canceled because of short of workers or guests (I was told). This happened 2 times and I gave up after that. I did make it to one excursion, and the owner/employees were bagging for more business. The airport at departure (Sunday) was like a ghost town. I’ve never, ever, seen it empty, Zero lines through security. Locals are hurting there, and all the Government is focused on is more fees for tourist. Such a shame.
I’m going to be an outlier here. Every time I read an article like this one, I just can’t relate. We go to the islands 1-2x per year and just returned from a week long vacation in the Big Island. The rental car was $230 for the whole week. We stayed in a condo with free parking, free wifi, no fees, and a full kitchen. We went to Costco. We went out for dinner ONCE and ate out for lunch a few times. All other meals prepared at the condo. I say all this for the purpose of encouraging people to do their research and shift aspects of their vacation to fit their budget. Don’t stay at the expensive hotels. Don’t eat out at the fancy restaurants and instead have more meals in, or explore the mom-and-pop and food truck options. Instead of dropping hundreds of dollars on a snorkel tour, rent the gear and find a beach with good snorkel options.
And we’ve never experienced the negative behavior from the locals. We come with aloha and pono, and have received the same in return.
You all have it wrong. You think its all about money. It absolutely is not! Having lived many years in the islands, we go back 2 or 3 times a year for a few weeks. It’s not the cost. Having lived there, we absolutely Love the locals are extremely careful of their customs and way of life. On Maui specifically, not just was the kindness not returned, we were treated so rudely and literally told they hated us “tourists,” and we were no longer welcome. We will never return again. Thankfully we are very welcome on Hawaii and Kauai, so we now stick to those Islands only. I was absolutely shocked a few months ago while there. As I said, we are very mindful of those living there, and treat them with utmost respect. Maybe they will figure it out eventually. Not all tourists are bad people. It broke my heart to make the decision to never return to that island. I loved the people and their Polynesian culture the most!
Not to mention the politicians padding their own pockets with raises, new buildings and trying to take away rentals, while all along for years doing very little for the locals and the housing crisis. Hint…it wasn’t the fire, it was poor management.
I see a lot of people commenting that they come each year but that they don’t like the $500-$1000 per night hotel rooms. Have they even consider short term rentals? Condos cost a half of that money and are much more livable. Our condo just took away the $25 per night extra fee for parking and use facilities. Why don’t people do their homework?
Big Island here. We just had a packed Ironman week. And now the snowbirds are landing again and the lines and traffic are filling up again after a nice Summer break. There will always be visitors here. The disparity between the haves and have nots is increasingly growing.
But there will always be enough of the former to keep the tourism engine purring along.
We have been coming to Maui every year for the past 25 years. This year we came in March for our last spring break trip with our kids before our youngest graduates from college. We love it here so much that we came back in October to just get away and relax and enjoy the island. We have always spent our days at Slaughterhouse Beach and have enjoyed it amazing views, snorkeling, boarding, and relaxing. When we arrived on this trip to find out that we now have to pay $25 a day just to go to the beach, I was shocked. The amount of money we already pay for all of the taxes we are charged for being a guest to Hawaii is one thing. For us this is the straw the broke the camels back. Not sure who came up with this idea, but it is one more example of how poorly the travel industry is run on this island. For us we will be changing our future plans for travel to Hawaii\Maui. Maybe the leaders should learn to appreciate those that travel to Hawaii vs despise them.
Next month will mark the fifteenth straight year my wife and I visit Hawaii (usually two or three week trips), and sadly it will likely be our last. My feelings echo many of those from others – our mainstay hotels have gone from $500/nt to $1,000/nt+, many of our favorite dining spots have vanished or can’t get us in, the golf courses have doubled in price, and Hawaiian selling out to Alaskan and the changes in loyalty were the last straw. We live on the beach at the Gulf in Southern Alabama, and I’m sad to say it just isn’t worth the effort or the expense any more.
My wife and I have gone nearly every year since 1985. Multiple stays of a month. Skipped this year. We’re just not feeling the Aloha of old. My guess is it’s a minority making the noise. Not sure we’ll be back
Your guess is very accurate.
One thing I do know is that Short Term Rentals on Maui are much cheaper than they were 2 or 3 years ago. Tourism is down 25% and there are a plethora of rentals on the market…even in November & December.
Bingo! It seriously has very little to do with cost. It may take some time to figure it out. It really is too bad.
Latest figures from Hawaii Tourism Authority show a majority negative resident sentiment toward tourism. You can be the best, most respectful visitor in the world, but most people will see you as part of the overtourism that is the result of decades of mismanagement. With time, we may achieve a better balance and resident sentiment may improve, but we have a ways to go.
Unfortunately, I think you are right about this. Although visitors should always try to be respectful, efforts to do so won’t make much difference in the general anti-tourist attitudes. Also exacerbating it is that residents feed off of each other on social media.
This is harsh, but reality. Hawai’i is getting dumb. Dumb in the context of financial and fiscal management. The state continues to ask for more, cannot manage it’s own budget, underpays everyone, gives out too much free stuff for freeloaders and then scratches its head on why just taxing the same things to death isn’t working. I’ll say it again – we need to diversify our income streams! You’re going to tell me we couldn’t setup business licenses and a tax structure for online gaming? Poker, horse racing, whatever? Are we going to continue to pretend we don’t send millions to Vegas? We don’t already see card room busts in Oahu on the daily news? If our leadership can’t do math, then we need to find those that do.
The politicians who are taxing the hell out of tourists for every pet project they can dream of; and who are passing laws to restrict tourists from enjoying their time in Hawaii (see, e.g. the straw bans, container bans, utensil bans, parking fees at beaches, Homeless encampments, etc.); who are trying to literally putting small businesses (ie. STR owners) out of business are killing the goose that laid the golden egg. What are these wizards of smart going to do when tax revenues plummet from a drop of tourists as well property that was taxed at the highest rate (ie. STRs) gets reclassified to the same tax rates that everyone else pays? There is no industry in Hawaii due to costs. No data centers or AI centers either because there is no electricity or water to fuel them. It’s like they have taken the worst ideas that keep millions of people away from California and adopting them.
100%
I was born in Honolulu and we lived for years upcountry Maui. It’d be nice to go back regularly to visit friends, but you’ve priced and ruled and taxed yourselves right out of the market. We were lucky to have lived there when we did. I guess everyting changes. Not always for the better.
Despite loving and longing for Hawaii, it has become so complicated and tiring to chase the good prices that we put off our month-long milestone anniversary and birthday trip indefinitely. Years ago I used to justify costs by spending part of our trips by working remotely but now it would feel like I was wasting “expensive” time. Even our favorite sandwich shop has more than doubled prices in just 3 years. We might consider hitting the retro motel life along the gulf coast. Easy-in, easy-out and easier on the wallet. The undercurrent that Hawaii doesn’t want us is counter-aloha. Glad we have lovely memories to recount.
I have a nice, but modest time share on Maui, north of the Kaanapali resort complex for 20 years. I have watched the increase in fees rise to where before, they averaged a little less than half of what the Kaanapali hotels were charging per night, to now they are at least 3/4 of that cost. Some owners in the complex are selling their time shares, some for as little as $1.00 for a week’s stay annually. I may well find that that is my best option. I really like the ocean front unit I stay in, and really detest the pricey hotels like the Westin where you get impersonal staff and charged for the ‘air’, so maybe it’s time for me to change islands, or just go elsewhere to spend my money. Sad.
Best to leave Hawaii in peace to heal. Over development is killing her.
Fool me once. Shame on you. Fool me twice. Shame on me. If I get ripped off or taken more than once then maybe it’s time to look in the mirror.
After retiring in 2015, at 69, and what began as 2 trips a year in ‘86-‘87, then became 5X/Yr. Business and Pleasure, in retirement it became a 10 Day in the first Quarter, through Covid, nothing since, and now as a Widower since May, no reason to go back, my memories of our times, great friends and Clients cannot be replaced as Governor Green tries to manipulate what he an Ige have screwed up royally. A Hui Hou is a long way off.r
I was lucky enough to go to Kauai for my husband’s and my 50th wedding anniversary in 2018 and even then I noticed a big change in Kauai. We had been there 4 times before that. We were never rich and had saved for years for our trips there. We always did what we thought was right for Hawaii. We always picked up trash left by others, stayed our distance from the monk seals, didn’t walk on the coral and so on, while watching others ignoring all courtesies to the islands. My husband passed away in ‘23 and all I can say is that we were blessed to have gone in ‘18. We were planning a trip to Maui and I have thought many times that I wanted to go back, but I’m afraid I would be terribly disappointed in not only prices, but feeling unwelcome and seeing others destroying your beautiful islands. I’m sorry you are going through this. I hope you find a way to solve all these issues and maintain the tourism that you so rely on. God Bless you all!
My wife and I have spent 3 months each year on Kauai for over 18 years. We volunteer with Kauai Lifeguard Association each year and spend much of our time maintaining rescue tubes on North and East side beaches. My wife studies Hawaiian all year long. We adore the culture and have many local friends. A number of years ago we heard Kauai’s mayor say what was wanted was fewer tourists that spend more. They are now getting that and it shows in how rude and self important many of their target audience is. The taxes levied on all tourists are awful, and no break on TAT and others for long time stays. The rental companies are also complicit in this ripoff with higher and higher reservation fees etc.
We can still afford to come and will for a while but now look at the tab each year.
That mayor said he did not want “coupon clippers” on Kauai. Even though we can stay at the cottages at Barking Sands, like we always did, we just say on our Hawaii Island. We live across from the National Park & Pele provides a spectacular show every 10 to 14 days.
I love your comment about the visitors. “ They are now getting that and it shows in how rude and self important many of their target audience is.”. I wanted to say the same, but couldn’t figure out how to say it nicely. It’s true though. Their audience is used to having someone pick up after them and are used to doing as they please. Those are usually not the ones that care about the Hawaiian ways and culture.
My wife and I are taking path #2. We have visited Hawaii 17 times now and the cost has gone up significantly over the years. More importantly, we no longer feel welcomed. From our first visit 14 years ago, until our most recent visit earlier this year in March (16 days), Hawaii has lost its Aloha spirit. Paying more for a place where you no longer feel welcomed and used makes no sense to me. My wife and I are learning that we can get much more value at other places and feel welcomed. Sadly, we love Hawaii and will miss it until we find our next happy place.
This (upcoming) is our last trip. Yes, part of it is our advancing age and the difficulty of planning for these trips. But part of it is the increasing feeling that we’re judged as visitors by the size of our wallets. I liked the comment above that this “new” Hawaii seems to be driving away those who do respect the lifestyle and attempt to fit in. We have always stayed in small rentals in relatively remote areas. I first visited Hawaii as a teenager in the mid-1960s and we’ve always sought to recreate that experience. While we could always find pockets of the “old Hawaii”, they are swiftly disappearing.
Enough is enough! Tourists are being forced to look elsewhere. Residents complain of to many tourists as the local business’s continue to close. Not enough local housing yet the Hawaiian, Maui, government has not allowed residential building for years without unreasonable restrictions however they blame everyone but themselves. Time for Maui government to look in the mirror, be big enough to take some of the blame for what you have created.
STR’s, tourists, like it or not, they are your bread and butter. Maui, you have No Other industry to generate revenue.
Oh my goodness everything has changed! My husband & I booked a Norwegian Pride of America cruise in February 2026, planning on staying in Oahu for 3 before cruise and 3 days after. But truly I am finding excursions, hotel and food to be so expensive I am considering cancelling the cruise before the final pay date in October. We visited Oahu and Maui for our 25th Anniversary and so wanted to go back before our 50th Anniversary! But this trip will honestly break the bank and I don’t know if it is worth it! We have and can cruise the Caribbean for a lot less!!!
My sister and I had planned a month long trip to do family research and for me to show her areas historically important to our family. Appointments at Bishop, then to Moku o Keawe. After looking at all our options and cutting back where we could, she was offered a chance to go to the Mediterranian for about 1/2. So, I’m sure you can guess what the choice was. I guess we aren’t the type visitors the Gov’t. wants in Hawai’i. And she got to fly on a wide body that had great service and not in first class. And she said that everywhere she has gone, the locals are friendly, beaches are clean and the food is fantastic.
We used to plan our trips with more spontaneity and excitement. Now it feels like we’re running more calculations than ever, instead of just counting days. Something important is being lost in that shift.
I still think Hawaii is worth visiting, but only if my expectations change. Shorter stays, smaller and less costly places, less pressure to do it all. That might be the only way to keep it sustainable for me.
I live in California, and Japan has become our new go-to. Longer flight time, but better value, and incredible hospitality. Hawaii could learn something from that.
And Kyoto will start imposing a high tax on visitors soon. Japan is also running near max capacity. Certainly they are more gracious, but Japan may soon suffer a similar situation of overcrowding.
I’m retired now and used to think that meant I’d be spending more time in Hawaii. Instead, it’s actually less. The numbers just don’t add up anymore at my age, and that’s the disappointing reality.
We’re one of those families doing the “go now before it’s too late” thing. It doesn’t feel great rushing the dream, but waiting to return feels even worse.
Every year the prices creep up, and every year we say, “maybe one more time.” I don’t know if next year will still be that time. I’m torn between love, nostalgia and common sense.
For those who feel unwelcomed here. I was born and raised here. We go to Puerto Vallarta cause the Aloha there comes from the heart. The younger generation here don’t have the Kupunas we had growing up. Those who spoke of greatness, appreciation, family,
Aloha! Now all they hear is podcast, YouTubers, tik toks, and leaders who lie. Awe, how can they show aloha, when they never experienced aloha? And this is not only in Hawaii… it’s in all States!
The people who respected the islands most are quietly walking away while the ones treating it like a theme park still show up. That’s both bizarre and the real loss.
Paul, that’s exactly what’s been going on for decades. Discriminating tourists left long ago. Maui is no longer “cool.” It’s understandable that locals are now reacting negatively to being treated like the staff at Disneyland. “Can you move so I can take a picture of that rock?”
I agree that Hawaii could be losing it best travelers. Some of us are highly respectful of the islands. I’m not sure that the locals are as respectful of us. Some locals are super nice and others, well, not so much. I still say that the politicians and lahaina strong types are shooting themselves in the foot. By taking away the condos and short term rentals they are taking away jobs from their own citizens. They just don’t understand the economics. True that some money leaves the islands but why would you favor hotels where All the profits leave the islands?
So we travel back and forth between Hawaii and the mainland monthly, and also enjoy traveling to other places.
The two things I’ve noticed are:
1) airfares anywhere in between the coasts to/from Hawaii that were $500 round-trip are now $1,000 and the planes are packed.
2) as we travel around, we’ve noticed that hotels that used to be $500 are now $1,000+ a night; it’s not just Hawaii. So now we’re opting for hotels that were previously $300 a night, which puts them at $500+ a night now.
Costs are crazy expensive for everything now. $1,000 is the new $500.
Not only the prices once you land but the prices of airfare to get there are changing the calculus. Fly once and stay longer or fly multiple times and stay shorter periods. Or don’t go at all.