Bugs? Mosquitos in Hawaii??
 

are there alot? do you need repellant?

Just got back from Maui and never saw one.

Olicia, that's great..tell us about your trip please. Where did you stay, blah blah blah?

Almost no mosquitos by the beaches. Mosquitos can be found inland, but not a problem.

If your worried about bugs, rent a gecko. They are cheap and effective

Don't Worry -- Nary a one like in the AWFUL Caribbean!!

Are you going hiking, especially at the Lyon Arboretum? If so, then yes, you need repellant.

We went to Maui in '99 and were fine until we did the road to Hana where it is very tropical. I woke up the next morning with about 20 bites on each leg. Watching our video when we got back, I noticed that our shots of me during hiking back into see the waterfalls and lush landscape, that I was itching! But other than that (by the beaches/resorts) you should be fine. Have fun!

Hey Tim, with the $ I'll save going to the Carib instead of Hawaii I can buy an AWFUL lot of bug repellant.

Well, "Hawaii," enjoy all the bug spray and savings you can -- while you're surrounded by all the SLUMS of the Caribbean!! (Grand Cayman and St. Barts EXCLUDED!!)

Been to Oahu, Kauai, Maui, and the big island. The road to Hana in Maui is the mosquito pit. We went on a rain forest hike - used up a whole bottle of bug spray but still got bunch of mosquito bites. Got 1 bite by mosquito in Kauai - that's it. <BR> <BR>I'll definitely take bug spray to Hana...

Just back from Maui. I agree you will need bug spray on the road to Hana. Lotions seem to work better than a spray. We did a lot of hiking and I only got bit once.

I never saw a bug or mosquito in Maui until we took that *##* drive to Hana. I no more stepped out of the car and my legs were covered with bites from insects I never saw.

We went on the road to Hana in 1999. <BR>Got so many bites both of my legs became gangrenous and fell off. <BR>Haven't been back there since. <BR>

There are wild boars, but no indiginous snakes. There are no mosquitos when there is a breeze blowing, but once the breeze dies down, (and it does when you least expect it), be sure to have your OFF on. Hawaiian mosquitos have the ability to leave scars, too!

I was in Hawaii (Maui and Oahu) last May and the only place I noticed any mosquitos or biting bugs was when we took some forest hike on the road to Hana. Unlike others who have posted, I didn't notice mosquitos in other places on the road to Hana at all - only when we went into the deeper forest (it was a 45-min hike if I recall), and even then it was only 3 or 4 bites.

I just got back a week ago from Maui. We wore heavy duty mosquito lotion from EMS. I got bitten like crazy. I got several bites without lotion the first night 5/21 at Pacific Grill at Four Seasons (It had just rained). My husband got none though. The road to hana we did some major hiking (with tons of lotion on) and I had a ton on me, husband had none. Bottom line, if you tend to get bites you probably will.

Just remembered that a shopkeeper on Kauai sold us some pure lavendar oil last year....it helps with the itches... You can usually find it either in health stores or else around incense type-of-stuff....

Sheesh, that s/b lavender!

Leave us insects alone! The nerve! We live here doing our own thing, and what right do you homo saps have in invading our territory and bugging us with all that spray? Stay home in your sterile air conditioned apartment if you can't respect the environment!!!!!!!!

This is to Cock Roach: <BR> <BR>There wasn't any mosquitos when Hawaii was first discovered. Why the heck you bugs/insects want to pest this paradise? <BR> <BR>Get pff those beautiful islands, you pest!

I'd love to now where all of you who never saw a mosquito were hanging out on Maui...they find me no matter where I am. Even at water's edge in bone-dry Kihei I've been eaten alive in my condo as I slept, because there was no air conditioning. <BR>For those of you who are mosquito bait like me, or allergic, remember that the variety of mosquito that can survive above 2500 feet elevation has never made it to Hawaii. So driving upcountry to Olinda, Poli Poli or Haleakala Caldera will bring relief from both heat and mosquitoes.

richard, i've been to maui when the mosquitoes have eaten me alive and when i didn't see any the whole time there (after coming armed with 21% DEET). all instances were in summer and with visits to hana. i asked someone at the hotel on my last trip why this was and was told that the mosquitoes are not active when it gets windy because it's hard for them to travel in high winds. thinking back, yes, it was windier the times i wasn't bitten. i don't know if this is true, but thought you might find it interesting.

We have been to Maui in April, September, November, and December. We stayed in Wailea, however, we drove around the island. Never to Hana. <BR>We did not see ONE mosquito. We sat on the lanai well into the night, without seeing one mosquito. For the people who experienced mosquitoes, what month did this occur? <BR>In my opinion, bugs of any kind are definetly not a problem. Hana may be a different story. I do not know.

There were mosquitosin Hana but that didn't bother me what bothered me were the cockroaches in Hana the size of battleships.

Skeeters by the ton on the big island, you're right about the cockroaches - big and plentiful. But the winner has to be the spiders - as big as the palm of my hand, no lie!!! Yes, Hawaii has snakes, imported from other islands. Nasty ones, too!

Sylvia, <BR>Spoken like a true Florida/Caribbean travel agent. <BR> <BR>They do have an occasional problem with brown snakes coming in on board military planes and other cargo planes. <BR> <BR>Of course you have your Fla travel agents shipping them over, too. They'd like to make it as much like Florida as possible.