With over 100 engaging comments. What’s ahead in Hawaii travel needs your input too.
224 thoughts on “New Fees, Fines And Systems Coming To Maui and All Hawaii Visitors”
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With over 100 engaging comments. What’s ahead in Hawaii travel needs your input too.
Comments are closed.
Don’t get me wrong but I think the idea of impact fees is ridiculous! First and foremost, we love Hawaii and respect and honor it’s culture, environment and people. We have been coming to Hawaii from Minnesota for nearly 25 years at great expense to travel and stay. We never complained about the added cost to test for COVID before and after we came this spring. This additional fee will be one less golf tee, or one less restaurant meal. Consider the impact on your economy.
Hi Beverly.
Thanks for your many comments and the input on traveler fees.
Aloha.
Aloha Rob & Jeff!
As always, thank you for your excellent newsletter & keeping us all informed on current events on the islands.
I’ve been visiting the islands since 1979, when over tourism wasn’t nearly the problem it is today.
(and I’ll bet that the locals & visitors that were there in the 60s were horrified at how things how changed by the 70s).
It was quite a few years ago, but I remember deciding on the spur of the moment to toodle down to Ke’e beach.
There were very few cars on the road, & I was able to find a parking space within minutes.
In 2018, I was in Maui & drove to Hana with very few cars on the road with me—in fact, there were long stretches where I
was the only car on the road.
It’s hard to fathom how tourism has ballooned so much in just a few years.
In 2019, Rome implemented hefty fines (250-400 euros) to people who soil, deface or damage any historic or artistic sites—as well as lounging on the Spanish Steps—in an effort to avert unwanted tourist behavior.
Venice Italy is thinking of putting up turnstiles to limit tourism.
Maya Bay in Thailand closed because over tourism damaged the environment & killed the coral.
Beside the sheer number of tourists, part of the problem is lack of respect for the environment & ecosystems.
I’ll be back on Kauai in 2022, & I can’t believe I have to buy a ticket 30 days in advance to “pop over” to Ke’e beach.
It’s truly disheartening, but Hawaii will likely need to take some extreme measures to limit tourism & begin seriously enforcing
acceptable behavior with regard to the environment, or risk permanently destroying the islands.
Hi Dayna.
Thanks for all your comments. We’re glad to hear you’ll be returning here to Kauai soon.
Aloha.
If this happens, we will just choose to travel elsewhere. It is already a trip that we have saved up for for the last few years, adding on an extra fee just to get there just seems like a way to keep Maui available for the excessively wealthy. We are very respectful travelers and have always been conscious about our footprints/presence in places that are not our home. Extra fees to visit seem like a punishment and a deterrent to coming— which might be what they actually want. We love Maui and want the best for the island, but these extra fees are not the way to do it. It just sets it apart for the priveledged.
Agree. The rich will always pay to play. Seems like the more they pay, the less regard they have for the environment.
Pretty sure that this can be looked at as interference with interstate commerce. Expressly forbidden by the founding fathers. The people of Hawaii need a new PR firm immediately. Every single thing you have done for the last year + has made you look either bad or idiotic.
We leave for Maui and then to Kauai in three days. It may be our last trip. I understand it must be hard to have so many visitors at once but nickel and diming visitors to death isn’t a great idea to keep the tourist industry going. We respect and love Hawaii but it sounds like it will become only an island for the Uber rich and there are so many other places to go and see. I’ll think we’ll plan our next trip to the Caribbean or Costa Rica instead of Hawaii.
If the fees are used to improve the support facilities, improve (not necessarily increase capacity) of roads, preserve land and restore the ecosystem then I would support them. If it is just a way to collect more money for “general” use, then no,
Wonder if the same will apply for inter-island travel for Kamaʻāina.
Aloha,
Well goodbye Maui, it’s been fun!
I would not return there to stay ever again if I’m charged an extra $100. The state and separate counties need to work with the airlines on limiting flights and number of incoming tourists, not raising prices and adding fees to anything and everything, as they seek their “higher class of tourist”!
Mahalo !
Stop building on Maui is a start, the more places to stay the more cars to get there! How many Westin’s, Hyatt’s and Hilton’s does it take to ruin this beautiful island? There’s plenty of people that can afford these fees, it will not help control the tourism.
Many Florida Counties,eg, Collier, have installed parking pay stations at the Gulf beaches. Residents & out of state property owners are exempt however they must obtain their annual free parking pass vehicle sticker from the public libraries and other sources. All others pay via credit card at the beach’s parking kiosk ($1.50 per hour). The County religiously checks for violations. In addition because there are numerous streets near the beaches, the County has made various Beach access locations off limits to vehicles (no pay kiosks available). So this has cut back crowded streets near beaches and forced tourists to park at the designated beach parking lots instead of city streets near the beaches.
Honestly, the additional fees are minimal. The bigger issue is what are they going to do with the money. I live here, I am a Hawaii resident and I would hope that the fees would go to those areas directly impacted instead of some administration and regulation of the fees. That being said, a $35 fee for parking in a no parking area is a joke. No one‘s going to care, people spend more than that on lunch. It needs to be significant. That way it’s a deterrent otherwise people see the $35 free ticket and they’re going to throw it in the trash.
For those that say the added fees are just one other reason that they’re not going to go to Hawaii… Good, we don’t need you.
I think a fee for non-residents to drive the road to Hana is long overdue. That road is a favorite of ours when we visit, and we have noticed that the wear and tear over the years is taking its toll on roadside vegetation and trails. The last time we were there, the seven pools area was closed due to overuse and abuse by vacationers. The Park ranger we spoke with said they just can’t keep up with tourists who don’t respect the land.
It’s quite common here in Utah to pay a fee to drive up canyon roads, visit state or national parks, camp, or park at major trailheads. People have come to expect to pay whatever the fee is, whether it’s $6 for a canyon pass, or $30 for a national park.
The trick is not to overdue “fees”. Hopefully there is an equitable solution to be found. 🙂
Will visitors paying an impact fee get a kiss along with getting s@#$%&d?
And really, the goal is “to create a higher level of respect for the islands?” Create respect by charging people extra for it? Likely not.
From a flatlander’s point of view, I’m all for increasing fees, requiring advanced reservations, and enforcing parking violations. It makes me angry that law enforcement has to make a decision between responding to calls for assistance and enforcing parking. Much too often, tourists feel entitled to do whatever they want because they “paid a lot of money” to go to Hawaii. I understand they paid a lot to get there. That doesn’t excuse the ignorance I’ve personally seen or the disregard for posted signage.
I also understand that 100 mainland families can come through and show proper respect for everything that is Hawaii and that perception can be ruined by one entitled jerk. Ultimately, I think Hawaiians need to enact the kinds of rules and structure that best preserves their beautiful islands and I fully support their right to do so.
Will the total number of people these fees discourage from coming to Hawaii really have that big of an impact? Likely not.
Why not sell a set number of Hana HWY passes per day? Make it a lottery type of pass. Many hikes in AZ are by reservations only. Antelope Canyon is this way. Once the passes are given out no one else can come in. Locals of course don’t apply with that.
Ugh-I didn’t realize the parking for Kee Beach sold out a month before-I was thinking there were released 2 weeks before the date-I guess we won’t be able to go there in July
Concerning the Road to Hanna I would love to see all traffic banned and only have tour companies on that road. First it would limit the amount of traffic, cut down on illegal parking and stops and increase revenue for the locals. I do not believe that any cars except the locals should be on that dangerous road.
Hana is my favorite place and I’ve had amazing, unbelievable experiences as well as meeting people who became family.
I hope when I come back in fall it will be peaceful and not crowded. It’s something I dislike.
Hopefully these tourists respect the land and don’t litter.
It’s always good to bring a trash bag and gloves to clean up some of the beautiful locations just to give thanks to the island and keep it clean for others.