Big Island Report/Gripes
 

This was our first trip to the Big Island during late January (we usually go mid-October to mid-November), and we were hoping that the holiday crowds would have subsided by now. Boy were we wrong. Snow bunnies everywhere! Kailua was absolutely packed, the Waikoloa resorts only slightly less so, and traffic going into Kailua was backed up several miles every day during rush hour (the fact that Kona even has a rush hour is sad in itself). The state really, REALLY needs to do something about that situation -- Hwy 19 just isn't cutting it any more in South Kona.

Recent storms have reclaimed many of the best beaches on the west side of the island. Over half of Hapuna Beach is gone. We were stunned to find the point between Hapuna Beach and the Hapuna Prince is no longer there, and is navigable only via a hike over the gravel road to the hotel. The beach is now just a shadow of itself, one can walk from end to end in about two minutes. Hopefully these beaches will recover later this year.

One other note, as of 2/1/04 Hawaii has implemented a strict no-smoking policy at all bars and restaurants -- no smoking is permitted within 15 feet of either type of establishment. Unfortunately we were there the day the new law took effect and ran into a near riot in downtown Kailua. I can understand restaurants, but BARS? The only thing worse than a bunch of drunk sailors is a bunch of drunk sailors having nicotine fits.

Sad to say, but between the traffic, noise and silly laws, bit by bit Hawaii is being converted into just another version of the tightass mainland. For the first time in 15 years chances are we won't be going back this year, and will opt for Fiji or another non-U.S. vacation destination.

Human population tends to speed up things like beach erosion.

Christmas through Easter is peak travel times for any warm weather destination.

I heard about the no-smoking thing the other day. The fact that much of the beach is gone is sad. That often happens however in the winter on that side of the island due to storms, although it sounds as if this was a particularly bad year. It wasnt' that long ago that there was no Prince hotel there and the beach was absolutely gorgeous and clean! Now it gets some run-off from the resort but it's still beautiful (when there's sand). The island has become MUCH more populated as they all have and I agree that the roads need to keep up with the crowds. The summer months tend to be less crowded.

The Prince was one of the hotels I was considering for my August honeymoon, in part because my fiance and I are big beach people and this beach sounded wonderful...Should I rethink our decision, or is there a chance the beach will recover befoer August?

Beachgirl, I didn't mean to give the wrong impression -- Hapuna is still there, it's just smaller. The north/Prince side of Hapuna seems to have suffered less erosion than the other side -- probably because a larger part of that side faces more south than west.

As for recovery time, I have no idea. Other beaches such as Magic Sands in Kona seem to recover very quickly every year, so I assume the same will be true at Hapuna.

Hapuna is the largest white sand beach on the island. It's normally quite large. I've never seen the sand completely gone...ever...even in the winter. It should be fine by August and there is always Mauna Kea Beach as well (just a short drive away).

I totally forgot, we had taken some pictures while we were there. I've uploaded two of them. As you can see there's still quite a bit of sand left at Hapuna. (The other shot is of Mauna Kea's beach). Both pics were taken on 1/29/04:

http://www.mindspring.com/~fdecarlo/

Now if we can just get every other state to ban smoking in all public places...Less disease in innocent bystanders due to second hand smoke... BI has never been my favorite island. Before you give up on Hawaii, what about trying Kauai?

Been there, done that. Way too much rain on most of the island, and not enough nightlife to keep us interested for two or three weeks.

The west side of Maui and the Big Island got hit by major waves in late January, the largest waves in 7 years, and according to friends on Maui, bigger than the wave they got when sideswiped by Iniki in '92. We were amazed by the loss of beach from Keawakapu to Makena (Makena looked great but all of the Wailea beaches btwn Keawakapu and Makena were in bad shape.) In the eight days that we were there they started to fill in again. While its pretty shocking to see, the sand does get pushed back in again. And, yes, the big resorts don't help with all of their run-off and shoreline changes but mother nature is powerful and the surf can wreck a little havoc every once and awhile.

If nightlife is one of your main concerns - better not go to Fiji, unless you are staying in the armpit capital - less nightlife than Kauai by far!!!! If you want nightlife and smoke filled bars, you can always go to Cancun (YUCK). Bravo to Hawaii for the new law - wish more states would be that brave.

Thanks for the tip about Fiji.

As for the new no-smoking law in Hawaii, as I said before it's just one more step towards converting a laid-back paradise into Tightass Central. I can certainly understand such a law in restaurants, but to prohibit smoking in places where people are consuming a narcotic (alcohol) is absolutely ridiculous IMO.

I am so glad that Hawaii has passed those no-smoking laws. I hate going out and coming home reeking like cigarettes. I have family in NY and California and I love visiting there and going out to the smoke-free bars.
Since I've never been in a restaurant that's nearly as smokey as a typical bar, I'd say the law is MUCH MORE needed for bars.

They passed a smoking ban in bars here in Maine on Jan 1st 2004 and now we have lots of cig butts on the streets and sidewalks outside the bar room doors. :^/