A visitor surcharge for parking on Kauai is set to be implemented.
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289 thoughts on “Should Visitors Pay New $10 Kauai Beach Parking Surcharge?”
A visitor surcharge for parking on Kauai is set to be implemented.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
No doubt that this would eventually happen. My question is: Do you pay $10 every time you visit the beach? If so, I would suggest they sell a 5 or 10 day beach pass you pay one time. Maybe $10 & $20. I think tourists like myself could swallow that one.
BOB D… Completely agree! YOu could buy a pass for “X” days and then not have to worry about it – plus it wouldn’t feel as painful!
No – and yes. No to any additional parking charges for visitors. Yes to everyone.
After-all, Hawaii has the lowest real estate taxes of the 50 states, we owners have to soak people for taxes and fees somehow to maintain this paradise.
I pay more in property tax for my 960 square foot condo in Poipu than I do for my 3 bedroom home in Santa Barbara, California. When a unit sells at my property for more than the last, all of our taxes go up! In terms of parking fees, when they started charging at the lots in Santa Barbara near the volleyball courts at East Beach, people just started parking on all the side streets. Hate to think of all the “no parking ” signs that would be put up in Poipu to make everyone use the pay lots.
But do you rent it out and make money on the condo? Or do you just leave it empty when you are at your home in CA? The vast majority of those who save to visit for a week or 2 are perhaps able to afford 1 home, if they are lucky.
Absolutely not! Why should I have to pay extra above my real estate taxes and all the taxes and fees I have to pay to visit Kauai. Parking fees should be neutral, applied to all parkers. How many Kauai residents park in the Brenneke’s parking lot but do not support Brenneke’s by eating there? Maybe Brenneke’s should charge $10 to park there, refunded to patrons. Again, parking, such as at meters and lots, should be neutral and applied to everyone – just like it is in my hometown.
Hawaii seems to be trying it’s hardest to run away all tourists. Once that happens, it will be difficult to get them back. Other places will step in that want and welcome tourists. I just left Wainapanapa State Park and their insane two and a half hour parking rule that has no practical way of being enforced. And I won’t go back. They lost me.
Aloha BOH,
Can’t wait to arrive in Kauai in a few days. Haven’t heard much about wristbands lately. Are they still needed to be able to skip the lines upon arrival into HNL? If yes, do we get these at the airport we depart from?
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Hi Jim.
Yes, wristbands are highly desirable to skip the lines on arrival from the mainland. Whether your airline will be doing them is hard to predict, given the staffing issues they are having at the moment. You should get them from the airport from which you depart to Hawaii. Hope it works – let us know.
Aloha.
We came in on SW Airlines and we got a wristband in Phoenix after we had filled out and complied with the Safe Travel info. Someone indicated though that not all airlines have someone available to complete the info and get a wristband check with your Airlines before you leave.
Who carries cash these days? Debit or credit cards are the new currency. Knowing that another use fee is probably going to occur, and a further irritate to visitors, might there be some consideration to just selling a Kauai visitor debit card for use at parks and entry events requiring a payment? Your point on “where do all these use fees go”, would be nice to see the accounting. Also, since Costco sells other debit cards e.g., Starbucks,etc, just add the “Kauai Activity Debit Card”.
I personally wish every beach was this way. Why? Because you want to have visitors who are more conscientious and grateful about the privilege to be in such wonderful paradise. So many ppl take this for granted and out beaches an oceans can take a boost from all of us who enjoy them. Hopefully this will deter those who care less from visiting.
Tourists that go to Kauai go there for the beauty of the island and appeaciate where they are–after all the money they spent to get there. So many times it’s been my experience that’s it’s the locals that leave the trash. Not fair.
We have been coming to Kauai since 1980. We used to feel so welcomed and part of the Ohana. However, every year feels less welcoming and more and more we feel like we are being nickel and dimed to death. . It breaks my heart because we love the island and the people and have always tried to be good stewards of the wildlife and beaches. Now, we feel unwelcome. So, maybe we need to find another place where we feel more welcome. It will never be the same.
The parking fee at Disney is already there, not cheap, and had been in place for years. Sorry, but it does not benefit you, it benefits The Disney Co. Many places I have visited in CA also charge for parking, and roads like the one through Joshua Tree make you pay $25 even if you are literally driving through to reach I-10 not stopping at any park sites. Perhaps you need to turn your attention to things at home and leave the state of HI and our governance to our local residents.
I live in California and visit the islands frequently, especially Kauai.
But I will rethink any more visits to Hawaii. All of the islands are adding more visitor fees and I am fed up with it.
You have gone too far in taking advantage of us.
What will it cost to implement the program and monitor compliance? I am a permanent resident in Poipu. Taxes and fees are getting out of hand. I see these fees at Poipu hurting the adjacent restaurant and surf shop. Enough already!
They already do this on Hawaii Island. The fee is $10 to park and $5/person. That is only for non residents. If I choose to ride my bicycle or walk to the beach the charge is still $5. In my state and the neighboring states of Idaho and Oregon we charge everyone for the privilege of parking.
Who is there to enforce this on Hawaii? Even for people who walk or ride their bikes to the beach?
If it is a privilege to park then it should apply to everyone. Enough of gouging the tourists.
I live in Southern California but visit Kauai. I am writing the Governor of California asking California to charge Hawaii residents a special fee when they visit Disneyland, Huntington Beach, The Wedge, Mavericks, and other popular places for Hawaiians to visit.
If there is a parking cost implementation imposed, I totally agree with ED. C. it should be modest and not give the visitor the impression that they are being overly gouged. That already happens with the excessive other taxes imposed upon them. Folks start to take offense when they think they are being taken advantage of. It’s not their fault Hawaii couldn’t get their act together regarding COVID for over a year.
I agree 100%. It seems like many residents has the attitude of we were here first; we moved here and if you guys just come to visit we’re going to screw the hell out of you.
So much for Aloha spirit!
OMG that’s a really bad idea! The concept of penalizing tourists who come to Hawaii for her beautiful beaches while giving locals free parking is insane. It’s the locals who often live close to the beach. Also, it’s easy to get the locals to agree with an insane ordinance like this because we don’t have to pay! Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t there already a tax per day on all the rental cars? My relatives are disabled and find parking on all islands challenging. At least exempt the disabled!
We’re heading to Kauai for 5 weeks starting next week. We will already be paying through the nose with taxes (that we didn’t vote on – we aren’t voters in Hawaii), rental car, etc. I will be pushing for going somewhere else in 2023 if this nonsense continues.
We are visitors staying with residents, using their spare car. Where does that leave us?
Parking enforcement in Kauai? Sounds like “locals only “ on the mainland … sad story for us and feeling more unwelcome now. Sorry to crowded . Love to you Kauai … missing you. Aloha
bye bye Hawaii, its been good to know you ……. another nail in the coffin, prices have already skyrocketed …. Im headed elsewhere ……
Good Grief pretty soon you will tax visitors and travel for walking on the sidewalks. When will our society go back to enjoyable vacations and not just money money money remember what goes around comes around so Hawaii travel to other states will do the same eventually. Pretty much better off going to foreign country to enjoy vacation becoming much cheaper.
My relatives are looking at Aruba in the Caribbean (under Dutch rule). Apparently the beaches are gorgeous and both airfare and hotels are very reasonable. I will miss them visiting me, but then again I might go meet them there! Wonder if there’s Pirates in the Caribbean? LoL
This sounds like a real mean-spirited regulation, and just a way for the powers-that-be to make another bunch of quick bucks. The pandemic has already screwed up tourism in the islands, and now this!?
Our beaches should be for everyone and not just for those off-Islanders who can afford $10 to go for a swim or do you have a nice day at the beach
We are currently visiting the BI. We were going to visit Hapuna, but changed our minds because of the fees. I don’t like the double standard HI has set. Other states may have fees, but they include everyone. When you visit an island, it seems incongruous to pay for the beach especially when you’re being taxed to the hilt just to visit.
They already have this on a couple of beaches on the BI when we were there in August. The biggest issue we had was that it was $10+$3 per visitor. Can get pretty pricey quickly. Personally, we just avoided the charge by going to the beach in the late afternoon when nobody was there collecting the $$$.
I am a resident who would use a shuttle service-I agree with the idea of a shuttle service and additional public transportation;bike lanes and bike parking racks at beaches.
Looks like I don’t need to visit Kauai 😢. Pretty sad
I’ve owned a timeshare with deeded land there for over 30 years am I a visitor, I pay property taxes yearly.
If the locals can park at these beaches free of charge, there will be days where no tourist will have the opportunity to enjoy them. For a tourist to have a chance to park, they will have to visit on weekdays only when the locals are working or in school. Knowing that the economy of Hawaii is primarily based on tourism it would appear that Hawaii is more interested in obtaining the dollar than the care of the beaches and land. I think everyone should be charged..a tourist price and local price
Taxation without representation. In NH we have a hotel tax. Doesn’t matter if you are a resident of NH or not. You pay it. Kauai and all the islands are going to find out one way or the other what it is like to have all the visitors start telling them they can spend their money on other Islands and not Hawaii. Hawaii is already getting bad press. Way to go Kauai……
Hawaii is so Expensive already, add more fees etc, will hurt instead of help
Unfortunately the people who this “tax” would impact have no say whatsoever other than visiting elsewhere. Sure $10 won’t break the bank, but a fee won’t curb overcrowding since people will find a way around it. How is it planned to discern locals vehicles from visitor’s? Fees will only go to pay for enforcing them. A vicious cycle. Maybe Mon-Wed-Fri for residents and Tue-Thur-Sat for visitors.
As you stated “Kauai visitors already pay a fare share in high taxes.
BTW see you Saturday! B4 fees!
I know the fees won’t break the bank if you’re just a couple hitting the beach for a day or two. However, if you’re a family the per car then per visitor charge adds up. If you’ve brought kids, they want the beach everyday. You know the fees won’t end with just a few select beaches, it will expand.
Totally fine as long as Kauai residents get charged extra fees when visiting California. Every “tourist only” fee feels like a huge slap in the face. I am fine paying extra fees as long as the locals pay the same.
You can bet people will try to get around paying the parking fee by parking on the street etc. Isn’t reducing street parking going to inconvenience locals too? Probably soon Hawaii will learn the hard way the story of the nene who laid the golden egg?
This is just horrible. Of course Kauai council again votes to “stick it to the non-voters”. This makes no sense and will hurt the private businesses that also rely on these lots for their clients. Such as at Poipu Beach, people are not going to want to pay $10 to get a Puka Dog or go to Brennecke’s restaurant. I fear that our condo complex in Poipu is going to have outsiders using our parking lots – so now we have to monitor this?
As a visitor, it doesn’t bother me. I realize that tourism is most if the economy, but I think residents should have some perks. Pretty much anywhere I like to travel has some sort of parking or access fee. I would like to see some sort of weekly pass, though. Like some of the national parks, or even some state parks.
I think this could have been spun more positively, too. New parking fees at the beaches…and residents get free entry… something like that.
I’ve been following you since before COVID and it’s been an interesting read every time. Never responded until now. A $1000 fine to tourists is definitely putting me off from visiting Kauai. That’s 100 times the parking permit itself! It very much seems like biting off the hand that feeds it. My folks lived on Oahu but I’ve never been to Kauai and sadly, probably never will with that kind of policy.
Aloha!
Crowd control is different than income generation. I Ustinov the real motivation for the $10. Who will there to collect the $ and monitor??
MaryMargaret from Maui
Taxes should be coming from people with second and third homes in Hawaii. Property taxes in Hawaii are ridiculously low. If you don’t generate income there not including rental or live there 6 months out of the year your property tax should go from 2500 on a 900k home to 12,500.
One of the cool things about Hawaii is that no one can own the beach. I know that these are parking lots, but how does it work that the Visitor is charged and not a Local. As outlined in this article, we the Visitor are charged for everything … we pay your sales tax at the Restaurants and Hotels that we visit. We pay it for our Rental Cars and on and on. One of the free family outings is a visit to the beach. Wow we really aren’t welcome. Where is the Aloha there? Get the $ from the HTA.
I wouldn’t have a problem paying a “reasonable” parking fee (not $10!) charged to everyone regardless if they are residents or tourists IF the fees went to building new lots and restrooms. Kaua’i should be ashamed of the condition of the majority of the restrooms at the beaches. The new ones at Hanalei could be a model for every beach park.
Poipu beach has restaurants and businesses. How on earth would an attempt at enforcement be able to distinguish between customers of those businesses and anyone going to the beach?
So now I have to cancel dinner at a local restaurant or not make another purchase so I can pay to park at the beach? I am a us citizen too. Why wouldn’t everyone have to pay then? Other states are equitable with fees and don’t just expect tourists, that you rely on, to fund everything. This is sad.
When I’m on Kauai I often go to Poipu, then to Brenneke’s for happy hour. So the parking fee turns into an add on to Happy Hour expenses? I don’t mind paying under $5. But not more. These islands seem to be nickel and dimeing tourists and it’s getting really old and annoying. Hawaii is expensive to go to and stay at, real people have to save and work extra to go, all these fees will add to the difficulties of going.
So what happens when me the tourist who drives a rental car, takes my friend who lives on the island goes to the beach? Pay or not?
Why not just collect a flat rate for this parking at the rental office? They could keep a tiny portion like 1% for the trouble of remitting to the government.
Purely another cash grab from tourism which accomplishes nothing unless it is proven to be used solely for roads/parks maintenance. Dumb.