Are you ready for reservations required? Hawaii legislators seek to create more hot spots visitors can only access like this.
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Are you ready for reservations required? Hawaii legislators seek to create more hot spots visitors can only access like this.
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Ahhh, another hurdle. It’s bad enough with high cost of everything else, now pay $25 just to visit, now use an App to enhance your stay. I wonder how many pop up ads you’ll have to endure to make your reservation? here’s a thought, you want to jam those visiting Hawaii? How about paying to leave? base it off your final destination, going to NYC?…. $250 … going to Bozemam MT… $200 … this works both ways…
Disneyland is a gated amusement park. Ha’ena State Park (Ke’e Beach) works because there’s only one road in/out, so the State erected a guardhouse and gate. But how would this work at other public beaches? It would require a lot of fences & gates that would completely change the vibe. You live on Kauai like me. Would you want to see Poipu Beach fenced & gated? Or Salt Pond? Or Ainini? Or Hanalei?
Good point. I was just thinking of the Marriott in Waikoloa, it has direct hotel access to the A-bay beach. how would that get enforced?
If that happens we will quit coming to Kauai. We go specifically to enjoy our beach time. It is crazy to expect visitors to know what days and times they want to visit the beaches. What happened to spontaneous fun on vacation? Way too much work. No thanks!
Hi! We are going to Kona in June, when we typically travel outside of busy season. Tickets prices are okay but not great ($500+ for main cabin out of LAX, LGB is $$$). Do you recommend waiting a bit or buying now? For So Cal to Kona. Thank you for any advice!
Hi Tracy.
Probably best to book now. That is a fair price for summer. If you wait the options may be fewer and the prices could go up instead of down.
Aloha.
Thank you! I so appreciate your advice!
Aloha, I get the app for the State Parks but the parking might be a problem. I think it is great if you can prepay for them but we all know that someone is going to either over stay their parking time or someone is going to park there that didn’t pay and you will still be driving around looking for a place to park. I think most people that want to go to Hanauma Bay would sign up and take the tour bus or vehicle from their hotel. Way easier than driving yourself. Then you still haven’t said who gets the money for this charge for the tourist. That will be another issue between the parks & beaches & the State of Hawaii. Are you going to charge every tourist that visits Hawaii who might not use these parks. A lot of questions to consider.
So after the airlines that are charging extra for bags now, plus isn’t there a $25 environment fee or soon the be? Then the hotel taxes etc you are out a couple hundred before you set foot on the ground. Ouch
How far in advance do you need to reserve your precious beach spot? Are they going to limit the length of time you can stay on that beach? Will they refund your money if they close the beach for some reason? Will they dictate what time you must arrive, and if so do they give your spot away if you happen to get delayed? Vacations should be low stress and not having to have a set schedule. Locals like to accuse tourists of treating Hawaii like Disneyland. Funny, that is where they got this crazy idea from.
I defend tourism every day and our rights as US citizens but people with your mindset and tone are the problem. You do not need to come to Hawaii. There are many other choices for you. We have to do something to protect our “precious beaches” and this was just an idea. We need to manage tourism somehow. We need solutions not criticism without the facts.
Limit the number of flights if you want to control tourism numbers.
They can’t. They tried that during Covid, and it was not possible. They don’t have control over the air traffic. They made everyone quarantine instead. That was enough to keep people away.
Mahalo for the “mindset” similar to the “accused” who feels the same way as everyone. Call your “governor” if you have ideas better than this, which is another way to gouge the tourists you say you defend.
30 days (if you want a spot) Yes you are given a time slot. No refunds to my knowledge? This is exactly what the State is doing on North Shore Kauai at Ha’ena State Park ( known for Ke’e Beach)
That’s The Hanalei Initiative doing that, not the State.
You are wrong. The state is doing that. The Hanalei Initiative is contracted by the State to manage the parking.
Being a Hawaiian Native who returns for a couple months every year, I have been less than pleased with the restrictive permitting system. It has marked the end of spontaneous trips.
Another big issue: Monies raised by these fees go into a “Black Hole Fund”, never earmarked to maintain or improve the roads, parking lots, or restrooms of the sites you are paying these fees to visit.
So typical of our Hawaiian Politicians.
Aloha
The app sounds great…at first thought. The problem is all these beaches are outdoors. Who wants to prepay to go to a beach and on your turn to go it’s cold and rainy. Many times when I lived on the islands I would plan a beach day for the next day only to wake up to bad weather.
The Hawaiian government and HTA have made it clear that they do not want visitors. Well, let them reap what they have sown. Hawaii residents will get what they want in lower tourism, less crowed roads, easier parking at beaches, but also higher prices for Everything.
I lived in Hawaii for 14 years and eventually had to move back to the mainland because of the high cost of living. The cost of living is going to go even higher under these proposed rules and people like me will spend our vacation dollars elsewhere; where we are welcomed and not price gouged.
Good Luck Hawaiian residents, you’re going to need it if you keep electing the same failed politicians to office.
I’ll wait and see.
1. I have very little confidence in Hawaii managing anything well.
2. This issue seems well down the list of problems to be solved. If lodging stays at the current high prices, I won’t be in the islands at all.
3. One of the goals is to make money!? You’re bleeding me dry already! Back off!
If any of these proposed fees are to become valid, The State needs to step up and really fix the infrastructure of roads, parks, beaches, and all state owned facilities. So much has been lost in the place where I was born & raised, esp the aloha spirit. I am so embarrassed. Auwe!
In addition to this being an absolutely ridiculous idea… another concern I have is what would prevent locals from reserving spots without the intent to use them so they can limit numbers at beaches and other areas (I am assuming they won’t have to pay), the same is true for visitors making reservations at multiple locations so they have a spot reserved in case they decide they want to visit a beach.
With that said, it seems the only way to make this equitable and prevent locals making reservations to limit numbers at beaches or other areas would be to charge locals a fee to visit those areas as well. As far as preventing visitors from making reservations that go unused, I am not sure how that would be controlled.
Exactly! This is precisely what is already happening with reservations for Haena and we encountered it a couple years ago at the black Sand Beach in Hana. I guess the locals love it because they can keep us out by grabbing all the reservations. The entire procedure was quite stressful and I’m not going to do that again. There are so many other places to travel that are just as enchanting and beautiful without all the extra added stress and expense.
David,
Hawaii already closes off beaches to locals usage only during certain times of the day. They are looking at adding more beaches to the list of doing this. They do not have to pay for parking.
I am sure they are doing this for some beaches, I personally have not seen this on Kauai. Also, I don’t see how this would prevent people from working the system in their favor to further restrict visitor access by making reservations they don’t intend to use.
Visitor fees are not unique to Hawai’i. They are quite common in resort destinations in coastal California. Moreover, the Federal government charges fees at National Parks. Hawai’i has every right to charge visitor fees just like other states do.
Visitor fees are Not common in coastal California. I live here and have never heard of a fee just for Visitors/Tourists.
It’s about time. California State Parks and many Federal National Parks and Monuments require reservations or sell passes to enter their parks. Why Hawaii hasn’t done this is a mystery. They could make money selling passes and reservations online and alleviate a lot of congestion and overcrowding at popular sites. Naturally we could sell passes at ka’amaina rates with proof of residency.
Maybe we should send our legislators on junkets to the Mainland to see how other states do things. Infrastructure, traffic management, building code enforcement and other civic matters might work better if we had ideas of how it works in other states. After all we are a state and should look to others on how to do somethings better.
The problem is your State Parks are free in Hawaii for residents and don’t require any special reservations (thinking about Kauai). Visitors meanwhile get charged big money and require getting up in the middle of the night for reservations. California State Parks treat everyone the same. Thats a bad comparison.
100% agree with this, most states charge locals and visitors alike. In most states, It costs residents less because they can buy a yearly pass, but both have to pay, there could even be a resident and non-resident fee that is structured differently (ka’amaina rate as mentioned above).
This is how it should be in Hawaii as well, no free ride for residents and both residents and visitors should have to make reservations, if that is how things are structured (there could be a pre-defined amount of passes set aside for residents so they don’t have to compete with visitors for access).
Finally a positive solution that makes sense and should be accepted by all. It also shows that they are accepting tourism as our necessary source of income. It makes sense to find a way to manage it rather than the crazy irresponsible talk of banning it. I can support this and promote this. I have been disappointed and embarrassed by our government until this idea. Mahalo to Sean Quintan!
Very true regarding being embraced by all… if this was to be implemented, this process should be put in place for Hawaiians and visitors alike to reserve a spot, we wouldn’t want only visitors to benefit from this perk. There could be two fee structures as well, $5 dollars for locals to reserve a spot and time and maybe $8 for visitors to reserve a spot and time to visit the beach or state park.
I have not doubt the locals will appreciate the convenience of being able to reserve a spot and time at the beach or other state parks ahead of time.
Ok old people welcome to the new norm when it comes to travel to any popular destination including Hawaii the days of unrestricted travel is over.
Feel fortunate if you were able to take advantage of the golden age of travel to Hawaii. Cheap water front condo’s, dining at local family owned eateries, uncrowded beaches and the like are all in the past and over.
We travel regularly to Hawaii, Las Vegas and Disneyland all require pre-booking restaurants, activities and shows far in advance of travel.
If you can’t adjust then you’re right just stay home.
I admit I did not read every word…..that said. I know we need something! I prefer limiting the people coming somehow. If this idea comes to pass they Need to make residents a priority with open spots at any time. We moved here to enjoy the ocean and it is seriously a drag not to be able to park, or have to go at the crack of dawn-burrr now – to get a parking spot. Residents need a sticker so we can go whenever for free. We pay taxes!!
Thanks
Ane T
Visitors pay taxes too. Likely more than residents. Just real estate taxes on timeshares are $14.40 per $1K valuation in comparison to $2.51-$2.61 per $1K for owner occupied dwellings. That’s just the first one that comes to mind.
I’m fine with having a “queue” as to not over populate an attraction, but having different rules for locals vs visitors is where the problems start.
We own on Kauai and so are financially and emotionally invested here. We are nearing the end of a six week stay. Despite a concerted effort, we got only one afternoon at Ke’e to hike and snorkel. Locals that I talk to feel like the Ha’ena SP system is working, but the parking lot is Never more than 60% full! Often it is 30-40%. So “working” means keeping visitors out. Yes, officials hope everyone will take the expensive shuttles, but then chairs and other beach equipment are ruled out.
We have seen the aloha spirit fade, but felt like it was making a comeback among the folks we interact with, but the government seems to not feel the same.
Mr. Mkt has already fixed the tourism problem as witnessed by visitor declines nbrs, in response to unaffordable hotel and car rental rates. This purely a revenue grab to turn hi into nj where you pay big $ to goto the beach, which if enacted will just have ppl go elsewhere where govt doesnt tell you where and how long to spend on your vacation. They should have stopped at dumbney just watch any of the youtube vids showing showing expensive, not working and therefore turned off ppl are turned off. Its one thing to schedule for a 2 minutes ride quite another thing for a beach day.
We would think that people that actually care and understand their impact to our eco system and environment would want to be part of the solution on this one. I would love to know if a beach/park was already full before wasting my time going there. It will help optimize a visitors vacation while protecting Hawaii.. I am against higher taxes and shutting down all of the STRs but this idea is a positive palatable one for all.
The people that are responsible for the eco system problems in Hawaii are the residents that live there. Take a drive along the Hawaii coast and see how many abandoned vehicles are sitting by the road or large heaps of garbaged piled up. Those are from local residents not tourists.
It’s going to be fun watching Hawaii decay when tourism drops signifantly and residents look at themselves in the mirror and have no one to blame.
Since we began making our reservations a year in advance to take a trip to the Hawaiian Islands for our 50th wedding anniversary I am getting the distinct impression that Government has not kept up with the times. Being that we had planned to to try and coordinate our round trip air travel plus the Pride Of America Cruise plus having Rental cars available at all ports of call and then for another three days upon returning to Oahu to visit with old friends, Who would have dreamed that we would have last minute difficulties to to find a place to park those rental cars depending on our location. And then the Ultimate slap in the face after making reservations at the top Luxury Hotel locations on Waikiki, that overnight parking costing extra.
They’ve charged over night parking for decades at the hotels.
Look, I am from MA, and it is supposed to be a tax-happy state with a lot of regulations. However, to charge 50-100 dollars per night for parking in an already quite expensive hotel in the middle of nowhere (i.e., Waikaloa on the Big Island)? Sorry, but what value are we getting for this money? Are there gangs of car thieves who steal those cars to Southwest Asia? Is there are Vandal tribes who burn cars just for sport? Do cars generate toxic runoffs or take up too much space? No, no, and no, to my best knowledge. That money is already on top of the daily rental fee, which allows one to rent a car for a week in New England or Florida. And most importantly, what value you, Hawaiians are getting out of this money? None, I suspect.
This reminds me of the old proverb – “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”. I may be wrong, but reading the recent articles on BOH, I get an impression that Hawai’i authorities and politicians are turning into skilled tourist repellents, rather than boosters to the declining visits and worrisome economic trends.
I’m all in favor of controlling the overcrowding, inconsiderate parking patterns, disrespectful and obnoxious visitors, and protecting the natural resources, but this? What about kamaʻāina? Will this also restrict access to certain beaches and parks for the locals? Will everyone need to have an app from now on in order to enjoy the beauties of Hawai’i?
What a bad idea… the last thing that I want to deal with on vacation is being on a schedule and having to reserve access at a specific time to visit a beach or other attraction.
I really like that fact that this article touched on how Hawaiians take offense to being treated like Disney and frequently comment on this, they can only blame themselves at this point and that feeling of visitors treating Hawaii like Disney will only get worse.
There is going to be a lot of resentment from visitors and unfortunately the locals will probably start to sense a lot more friction, frustration, and stress from visitors. If this is how the locals want to treat me as a visitor, I won’t make it a point to go to locally owned businesses.
🙂 ha, ha, ha. HTA what a joke. So far you have only been “part of the problem, driven by greed for money over the care of the islands.
Right on Tom! There’s a big difference here, Disney and Vegas are moneymaking machines. Every time I’m at Disney my tagline is ‘Mickey loves money’. Disney nerds, such as myself despise the system.
I am currently on a virgin cruise in the Caribbean. We are having the best time on the ship. Everything included! The best vibe! The Caribbean people could not be nicer, or more giving. The scenery and the beaches are beyond stunning. After reading this, I’m ready to book again for next year.
Yet another slap in the face to tourists. Hawaii is already becoming increasingly difficult to vacation at. Now they want to implement visitor taxes and reservations to the beach? This is ridiculous. They’re either doing this in purpose so that the islands will only be for the elites or they really are that incompetent and out of touch with reality. Regardless, this is a move in the Wrong direction
The reality is that there have been more tourists than our infrastructure can handle. Our island must be protected for the residents and those that truly care about Hawaii’s conservation. The costs are real. The over crowded beaches, parks, roads and restaurants is real. We all have choices; to live here, visit or not. We need a plan to manage this and it will come in the form of cost. This is not meant to be a slap but your comments seem to be. Negative comments incite more of the same from both sides. Hawaii residents have more rights and privileges as it should be. We are looking for a plan that will allow tourism without destruction.
There are also more residents than the state can handle…hence the housing crisis and the massive cost of living (The latest statistics are there are more native Hawaiians on the mainland than on the islands). The natives have been pushed out of their homeland by haole. I only lived on the islands for 2.5 years and I could see the us vs them mentality. I left because the government can’t get their act together and residents keep voting the same buffoons into office. Having been both a resident and a visitor I think Kamaʻāina should pay something. They need to have some skin in the game.
So why do the local governments approve more and more large hotel and condominium projects. They are allowing more and more visitors to come and stay, paying a pretty penny but as you point out the infrastructure isn’t there to handle it and additionally it overtaxes the environment. This is really a local issue and no one wants to address it. Same as the lack of affordable housing. This has been an issue for decades but what has been done about it…absolutely nothing. This has been exasperated by the fire and now everyone is screaming it’s the tourists fault. Please look in the mirror at your local politicians. We love Hawaii and come every year, we hope the locals can overcome the obstacles they face in housing and over tourism. Mahalo
Sorry the reality is that the State of Hawaii is run by a bunch of incompetant fools that get voted in by gullable residents that think driving tourists away is going to solve their problems.
The amount rididulous taxes that tourists already pay gets wasted by politicians that couldn’t run a hot dog stand if their life depended on it.
Kim.
The first time I visited Maui and saw the long lines at the restaurants, the beach parking lots full and not finding a spot.
I thought, this must really suck for people living here.
I would not like so much tourism if I lived there.
Dynamics are so different than any state on the mainland vs on an island out in the middle of an ocean.
Along the way, greedy humans have turned the islands to what it is now. The big question, how does it go backwards?
In the end Hawaii belongs to God and nobody else.
Thank you Tom!
At this rate we need to charge Hawaiians a “special tax” when they visit the Mainland.
If you live in a piece of paradise that has greater demand than supply with limited resources or of which you do not mind losing or having destroyed, then you may be right.
Vegas would be perfect example of this… very limited resources when it comes to water, maybe we should start taxing Hawaiians there.
Keep on charging for everything. Your greed will destroy the islands. People will go else where leaving your economy in the tank. But, then that is what you want. Destroy, so people can’t live there unless it’s millionaires that can afford it. Slave labor of locals. Another Emtsen, island
This is a great idea, for people who are technically minded (i.e. young people). What about the elderly who aren’t all that “great” with technology? My 94 year old mother would Never be able to manage that app. For that matter, she doesn’t have a phone that will even run it.
We haven’t had a problem on Kauai. Got back last month from our 30th visit to Hawaii, most of them have included Kauai. I’m not sure what this increase in bureaucracy is supposed to fix, but it strikes me as another tax increase for visitors.
The devil, as always, is in the details. Will this be just another money grab? How will locals react when tourists are redistributed to alternate, less visited sites that have been the haven away from tourists for locals? Again, the devil is in the details.
I had the same thought… tourists will now start to seek out areas that they may not have in the past, this will really upset some locals.
We have been coming to Kauai for 20 plus years. We come twice a year for two weeks. I assume they are working to simply stop visitors from wanting to come. Once this is fully implemented I believe we will be looking for another place to vacation.
Great-let’s turn Hawaii into a some predigested theme park.
Forget spontaneity. “Sorry kids, couldn’t get e reservation to go for that hike”
Terrible idea from legislative “Ivory Tower Idiots”
We’ve been visiting for a month every year–time to re-think.
Yes, I’m sure that would help. Not! We’re in our early 70’s and travel quite a bit but never did figure out the app for Disney World last year. But then, I’m sure we’re the only people lacking tech-savvy. Again, Not!
Just another reason for us to vacation elsewhere.
Tragic & senseless about the death of Mr. Ruiz! Condolences to the family! I have walked / run along the roadway at this location dozens of times just like many people do! Despite reduced speed limits in this area, vehicle speeding is common along this roadway, some enforcement would be appropriate. Also, a sidewalk immediately adjacent to this roadway would probably not have prevented the accident. The sidewalk would need to be set further back off the roadway …and there is plenty of room to do that in this location! Why did the vehicle leave the roadway in the first place? Speeding, inattention, driving under the influence of alcohol / drugs, etc. Sounds like there could be severe negligence on the part of the drivers!
The park reservation idea takes all the sponteaity of a relaxing holiday. Having everything rrserved and scheduled is taking much of the fun away. I think all these measures suggested by the HTA are going to further discourage the waining visitor numbers. With so much regulation combined with exhorbadent hotel prices and anti- tourism attitudes, the overcrowded places will be less crowded by default.
42 times over 21 years we have visited. Never going back. Too crazy
Aloha. It sounds like Disney performed their magic to secure a consultant arrangement. As a Florida resident, I hear and read complaints about the Orlando system a lot. I hope it works for Hawai’i, otherwise the travel numbers will be down more. I would suggest a HTA member book his family and take a trip unannounced to see first hand how it works before locking it in. But, the idea of having a place in line in advance is good. Mahalo.
I am a regular visitor to Hawaii/Maui. I would hope that Hawaii authorities would treat people, visitors and residents, fairly and equally. That is how we do it in FL and other mainland states, even the heavily visited spots. I have seen both tourists and locals misbehave and both should be held accountable for their bad behavior. Blaming visitors for the majority of problems and assessing fees or penalties simply because one came to visit is both irresponsible and misplaced! I observed many locals abusing pristine beaches, shore land and public areas with apparent disregard for the area. Much of this was in plain view and continued for over a month without any interference from authorities. Then it seems all blame falls on visitors.
I despise the app for Disneyland and I will absolutely despise the an app for Hawaii. I don’t go on vacation with a scheduled itinerary. First of all people need to get off their phones and enjoy the moment! And this whole reservation thing is a joke and a ripoff! We had to cancel a scheduled reservation for Diamond Head because someone was ill. You must reschedule within 30 days or they keep your money. Ripoff!!! We were only on island for a week and not able to reschedule within that week so the state kept our money. Absolute ripoff!!!! We like to drive around the island each trip. Are they going to charge a toll every so many miles now? Or we can’t just stop.for a few minutes a various beaches along the way without a reservation???
You are making to many rules and telling us how to behave, and it is making it very unattractive to go to Hawaii. I have been to everyone of your islands multiple times and enjoyed my self and felt wanted. Your feel is no longer there. Also the hotel rates are so much higher and all these taxes you have added increase that. I will be going to Costa Rica again from know on.
That would be Quinlan, not Quintana, an AI over-reach.
Sean Quintana, part of the problem, not the cure