It starts on the plane, where lines for the restroom can stretch through the cabin. And once on the ground in Hawaii, the search does not always get easier.
Clean, open restrooms can be hard to come by, whether at a busy beach park like Hanalei, pictured above, or along the Road to Hana. For some, it is an inconvenience. For others, especially families, seniors, or anyone with medical needs, it can quickly become stressful.
At the recent Kauai resident meeting about tourism, locals voiced the same concern that visitors have about more and better facilities.
Visitors often expect that hotels, restaurants, and stores will step in when public restrooms are lacking. The reality is different. Signs that say no public restrooms are common, and the few park or roadside facilities that exist may be locked or out of order.
Residents know the workarounds. They stop at certain grocery stores, shopping centers, or familiar fast-food chains. Visitors, on the other hand, often spend part of their vacation trying to solve a problem they never thought about before boarding their flight.
This story looks at why Hawaii’s restrooms are so often a problem, where the four worst pinch points are, and what solutions exist. It is not just about complaints. It is about finding practical answers, highlighting what works, and asking what could be done better. We are also asking you for your opinion on the matter at the end of this article.
Waikiki’s Kuhio Beach mess.
One of the most visible examples is the restroom next to the Prince Kuhio statue at Waikiki’s Kuhio Beach Park. That facility has been repeatedly shut because of vandalism, clogged plumbing, and damage to its underground pump system.
The City and County of Honolulu has already spent more than $40,000 since 2022 on repairs, yet closures continue to this day. Lifeguards, whose tower sits only steps away, have said they are left scrambling for alternatives when the restroom is locked. Visitors, meanwhile, often come across out-of-order signs at one of the busiest stretches of beach in Hawaii.
Hotel lobby access in Waikiki is mixed. Some properties keep lobby restrooms behind key access, while others are more accessible, so visitors cannot rely on hotels as their only fallback.
The problem is not isolated. Waikiki’s basic infrastructure has long been under pressure, as seen in Visitors Hawaii’s Dangerous Lack Of Sidewalks. Both issues show how the simplest public amenities, from sidewalks to restrooms, can undermine the visitor experience when left neglected.
Road to Hana facilities close.
Maui’s famous Road to Hana is marketed as a once-in-a-lifetime drive, but those who attempt it know restroom stops are few and far between. When one of the limited facilities shuts down, the problem becomes acute.
Puu Kaa State Wayside, one of the small state stops with toilets, was closed this spring for nearly three weeks for repairs. That left visitors surprised with even fewer options along an already challenging, long drive. Travelers are advised to plan ahead, since restroom stops are scarce and closures can happen without notice.
On the Road to Hana, bathrooms exist, but they are easy to miss. Keanae Peninsula and Twin Falls usually have options; Hana town hall sits across from Hana Beach Park, and the Kipahulu District of Haleakala National Park has facilities past Hana town, but long stretches after that offer nothing.
The scarcity of facilities has even led apps like Shaka Guide to build bathroom warnings into their audio tours, alerting travelers where to stop and how long until the next one. Packing hand sanitizer, toilet paper, tissues, and paper towels is always a good idea.
Big Island demolishes old bathrooms.
On Hawaii Island, the problem sometimes goes beyond temporary closure. At Mahukona Beach Park, officials determined that the restrooms and pavilion had deteriorated to the point of being beyond repair. In January 2025, the county closed the park to demolish the structures. While the beach later reopened for day use, the facilities themselves are gone. Portable restrooms are the only option, and there is no running water. Until new construction happens, visitors and residents have no choice but to plan accordingly.
This type of deferred maintenance aligns with the broader conversation, where a lack of reinvestment is a recurring theme.
On Hawaii Island, as on other islands, many strip malls use shared restrooms that require a door code. Any business in the complex can usually provide it, but most visitors have no idea to ask.
Hanalei viewpoint restrooms have limited hours.
On Kauai, confusion exists at the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge Viewpoint, which opened in April 2024. They have new vault toilets. The catch is that they are only available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Anyone stopping outside those hours finds locked doors.
That frustration echoes what we have heard from many readers. One who visited Maui said the lack of public restrooms was frustrating, especially given the significant amount of tourism money that flows into the state. As they put it, “all the tourism money and none of it goes to the people.”
Why businesses say no.
The frustration is evident in the messages we receive from travelers who feel unwelcome after spending thousands to be here, only to see the sign, “No Public Restrooms.”
One reader wrote in defense of businesses, arguing the opposite: “They had restrooms for paying customers, not freeloaders who spend nothing but expect to be allowed to use their facilities. Why should a business make its private restrooms available to someone who does nothing to support that business?”
That split captures the heart of the debate. Visitors and residents want Hawaii to offer the basics, while business owners feel stretched thin and unwilling to absorb more costs.
Should businesses in visitor zones be required to provide limited public access, or should access be restricted to customers only? While you’re debating that, here are some tips to help:
Quick Tips For Finding Restrooms In Hawaii:
Larger grocery stores and some gas stations will have restrooms that are open to the public. State and national parks typically provide facilities, though they may close for maintenance without much notice. In smaller towns, look for shopping centers, libraries, or even fast-food chains as reliable stops.Plan fallback stops at grocery chains, big box stores, and major shopping centers, which are the most reliable across the islands. Hotel lobbies sometimes work, sometimes not, but on Oahu many require a room key, so pair that tactic with a nearby supermarket, Starbucks, Target, or Walmart.
Where do you go?
Hawaii public restroom closures touch everyone from lifeguards on duty to families on vacation. Years of underinvestment, combined with vandalism, limited hours, and sometimes outright demolition, mean that bathrooms are often missing just when people need them most.
Please share your tips below, whether it is a hidden gem restroom you have found or a spot you avoid at all costs. Your input could help other travelers and residents and even spark change in the places most in need of attention.
Photo Credit: Beat of Hawaii at Hanalei Bay, often ranked one of the best beaches in the world.
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Enough, hawaii can tax the $#%# out of tourist but can’t provide a bathroom!
On the Big Island bathrooms are very difficult to find. The county does not manage and maintain the bathrooms that are located at state beaches and not all gas stations have bathrooms. They are dirty, broken and water is a huge issue. For all the taxes which visitors pay for parking and taxes paid by home owners and locals we wonder where all the funds for bathrooms end up! If we don’t want people going to the bathroom anywhere they find a spot someone in the county needs to look into a plan to fix the problem before it becomes a health hazard!
Provide a place to use the bathroom or deal with public using the outdoors to do their business. Ugh! Then definitely no one will visit there.
This article is truly on point!! I had to walk to the end of town at Paia to use the bathroom at a public park. Meanwhile we had to pay for parking. The gas station in town doesn’t have a bathroom. I saw about a dozen people do the same u-turn I did. We went up to Hookipa to see the turtles. The public bathrooms there are terrible. It’s such a beautiful place but the public amenities are just not there. We usually vacation in Destin Florida with the white sand beaches. It coats way more for Hawaii and the public parks haven’t kept up. The tourism board is going to have to figure out how to guide tourism. If you want people to stay on resorts, then why Hawaii, there’s dozens in Mexico. If they want tourists to view Hawaii’s parks and land markers spending money along the way, provide adequate infrastructure to do so. This is going to escalate quickly and the impact will be devastating. There’s so much more competition out there.
Aloha
Public bathrooms are a basic human need and should be available to all. Whether it be a portable or at a store. Enough money is spent by all who live there and visitors to make this a priority.
A store is not a public facility.
And using a bathroom is not a luxury
We did the road to Hana in July. The Kaumahina State Wayside had no running water but the restrooms were not locked. The quickly turned into a nasty situation where toilets were used but not flushed. Fortunately the Ke’anae peninsula is close and had working restrooms.
We spent two weeks on Kauai and never noted an issue anywhere we went. Maybe luck? I’m sure a fair amount is we’re staying on the beach so most of our time are the beach is at our home resort. We did spend an afternoon near the Hanalei pier, and that has a nice new bathroom.
When the government fails to provide basic services you have to ask where is the tax money and who is getting rich. Hawaii seems like a dumpster fire that resents the only people that keep it alive. Hard pass on ever visiting. Take your tourist dollars somewhere they appreciate you and is not corrupt.
Even making a purchase doesn’t mean you’ll have access to a bathroom. After I bought lunch at a plate lunch spot in a very busy strip mall in Kihei (Maui), I asked for they key to use the mall’s restroom. They said they’d lost the key. When I suggested they could ask the landlord for a new key, they just laughed at me. Real fine aloha spirit there.
I struggled with the lack of soap in a public restroom. On the north shore, at sharks cove, I searched for a restroom with hand soap. The grocery store nearby didn’t have a restroom for paying customers which is odd coming from Oregon where all grocery stores have public restrooms. After calling a bunch of places I found a restroom in Haleiwa that had soap and running water. My issue was getting my contacts and having clean hands is necessary. After this, I started carrying my own soap bottle. I wish more public restrooms had soap and running water.
1. I bet many who go swimming do #1 in the surf of big beautiful Pacific Ocean. After all fish and other marine life do it. 😀
2. Otherwise do your biz at the hotel (or home) before you go… especially #2.
3. The article has good advice in regards to shopping malls, fast food chains, bigger stores, etc.
4. Businesses have the right to limit restroom access.
5. Be prepared. Bring a change of clothes and if you are not too familiar with local food, eat with moderation.
Paying small businesses to open their restrooms for public use might help some of the bathroom crisis. Requiring hotels to have public bathrooms would also help. But just having more portable toilets around would satisfy an emergency.
My family from Maui came to visit me here in Wisconsin and they were so happy that you can go into any gas station, grocery store, or store and use a restroom! I thought it was funny until one day I had a “close call” and was grateful for knowing that I immediately had access to the restroom.
It isn’t just Hawaii that has this problem but the supposedly upscale state of California does as well. On a recent trip up I-5 to Lake Tahoe, several rest stops were shuttered for “repairs. When we stopped at fast food locations we were met with “costumers only” restroom signs with locks. Many of our local state parks only have porta potties which obviously have only sporadic cleaning.
We keep ours closed to the public; it costs money to operate restrooms. We only allow paying guests, and I will not apologize for it.
How hard is it to place portable honey buckets around on busy visitor paths like road to Hana, food truck locations, parks, etc. Charging tourists to use restrooms IMO is crazy. Anything more Hawaii can charge or make a buck off the tourist on? Oh Yeah Island Oxygen. I guess everybody has to breathe too.
Why not put in pay public restroom kiosks like those found in Europe? Charge just for cost of upkeep or have a card. That way anyone ( visitor or local) pays per useage. I have a medical condition which requires frequent use of restroom and would gladly pay to have it available. Otherwise, plan on buying something from small businesses to use restrooms… we always do anyway.
How do expect to have decent public restrooms when the individuals in charge of public restrooms don’t use public restrooms.
Definitely plan for long gaps when driving on the Big Island…it’s a big island! It would be amazing if apps would start including bathroom locations along with other tourist stops.
There is an app called Flush that does just that, but I agree it would be good if Google Maps etc. could filter for public restrooms.
Don’t force a public issue on private enterprises. The state or county government needs to invest more in infrastructure and build more bathrooms that are regularly cleaned and maintained. These can be within park systems or entirely new rest stops along the highways, like in the mainland, that drivers can pull off into and use the facility, get a travel brochure, and even have vending options.
It is time to take after Europe and have fees for public restrooms. In some cities in Europe, it costs $1.50 to use a public restroom…. And those are the cleanest restrooms I have ever been in!
As a child, I remember going to NYC to visit relatives & had to pay for public restrooms. There was always someone in there cleaning. Living in Texas for 5 years, we’d stop at Buc-ees when possible. Restrooms were so clean, you could eat off the floors. Not exaggerating, either. Now, we take Saddle Road, stop at the state park, restrooms definitely need upgrades. Waimea Canyon on Kauai, restrooms are filthy.
This is one more reason why we’re not looking to returning in the years to come. Access to restrooms is just common sense.
I understand perfectly how businesses feel about offering free facilities. Nothing is free for them: cost of toilet paper, paper towels, soap, water, sewer charges, maintenance/upkeep/repairs of the restroom, janitorial services, etc. are on them. And I’ve seen some women who may look decent but are absolutely disgraceful in behavior: irresponsible, callous, entitled, disrespectful, slovenly, and ungrateful for facilities. Perhaps public restrooms should be like vending machines…fee to unlock the entry doors? Self-cleaning after each use? Not sure if the concept would work in the USA, but other countries have tried it.
In Portland, OR. we have several self cleaning restrooms downtown and in some commercial neighborhoods, They are free but quite expensive for the city to buy. The best invention I’ve seen in a long time.
I’ve been a Maui Northshore resident for 40 years. Hotels and businesses should be required to chip in to a fund for bathrooms. Pa’ia has no central bathroom. There are many in parks that the county just closes and never opens again.
There’s a new one in Haiku by the community center that has not been opened for months.
This needs to be addressed by the state and local health departments. Portables are not the answer.
Providing restroom facilities is not the responsibility of any business except the government. Our taxes should be providing for restrooms for public use! BTW, I’ve been many places in the world and in the US and this is not just a Hawaii thing.
Hey travel writers, here’s an idea. A Hawaii guide to public restrooms! Sounds silly? Well heck no as we all know how hard it is to find them, and when you do more often than not, yuck. For me and my bunch having spent winters on the Big Island for many years we know where they are, especially the hidden unknown ones like at a garden center in old towne Hilo, etc. Such a basic need that goes overlooked.
When you see information like this, as a non-HI resident, it is one more thing to consider when thinking about a trip to HI. Lets not give potential visitors another reason not to go.
I experienced the lack of facilities in Hilo. I wrote to the Hilo mayor about this issue. I never received a reply. Some of the tourist fees should be allocated to this issue.
Aloha!
I resonate with this article and the timing is impeccable! Kauai lacks public restrooms the most IMO and we are deciding if it’s worth taking our company trip there knowing it’s a problem. While it is known as the garden aisle, and we truly appreciate the beauty and nature, what is very stressful is when nature calls and you can’t find a bathroom! Many “no public restroom” signs and we are more than happy to spend money to use the bathroom, but sometimes even that is not an option! There are more companies who can solve this problem with self cleaning mobile bathrooms and Hawaii tourism could truly benefit from these services. Part of the tourism taxes that are charged could fund these types of bathrooms.
urbenblu.com/en/smart-and-self-cleaning-public-restrooms/
Mahalo!
The Kuhio Beach facility opens at 6 am (if not shut down), the rest facilities at the Waikiki Police Substation are open 24/7 If not closed for repairs. The McDonald’s in Waiks does not have open restrooms. If you travel farther Diamond Head, the 2 facilities located along the path across from the Zoo and by the Aquarium are also open at 6 am subject to maintenance closure.
Best Regards
Tough as a visitor…At least on Maui I know where to go at every location on the West side from Olowalu to Kapalua if I’m not around home.
For a the guys in an emergency there is a lot of vegetation to water but if you are dealing with dirt snakes it’s a different game!
Kahalui is a given with all the fast food restaurants, Costco, etc.
This statement from the article says it all – “Years of underinvestment, combined with vandalism, limited hours, and sometimes outright demolition, mean that bathrooms are often missing just when people need them most.” This topic sums up the complete utter incompetence of the Hawaiian goverment.
And it’s unlikely that the vandalism is coming from tourists.