Hawaii Hitchhiking
 

Is hitchhiking illegal in Hawaii? I'm going to Maui in 3 weeks and don't want to rent a car.

Is it dangerous to do this?

We saw many people hitchhiking while on Kauai. Is it safe? Who knows, but if you wouldn't do it in your home town then I wouldn't do it in Hawaii.

Rental rates for cars in Hawaii are pretty inexpensive compared to the mainland.

glimmer, what part of Kauai were you on? I didn't see a single hitchhiker in our 5 days in the Poipu Beach area.

We split our time between the north and south, which I loved. We saw many hitchikers while on the North Shore.

Are you nuts? I don't know if it's illegal, but hitching a ride is never safe. Just because we live in paradise, doesn't mean we're devoid of the same weirdos that live in the rest of the country. Rent a car. If you're really that cheap, try Priceline.com to get a better rate.

Rent a car for gosh sakes! We have been every year since 1997 and seldom if ever see any hitchhikers and sure would not stop to pick any up.

Wow, so far the answer is no, I thought it would be different. I pick them up 70% of hitchhikers on Kauai and I know quite a few people that do. It really depends and I haven’t had any problems, SO FAR. Now, ask if I would pick up a hitchhiker in the mainland – a’ole!

If you’re looking for a cheap rental, there are rusty beach rental cars on craigslist for $75/wk, too risky for me.

The irony of it all...

Until this post came up, I have to say I haven't thought of hitchhiking for a long time. Haven't seen a hitchhiker for a while now on any of the islands we frequent, or here at home on Oahu. When times were safer we used to have hitchhikers, but not so much any more. I have found people on Maui to be the friendliest of all the islands, though, so perhaps you will be lucky in getting rides. These days you never know, though. You take a chance with every ride you catch. We're not the sleepy little state we used to be...

I have never (in 30 years) seen anyone hitchhiking in Hawaii, on any of the islands.

As someone who hitchhiked a lot in my younger days, I thought it odd when I first arrived here, but later realized it just wasn't done in hawaii- safe or not.

In this day and age, I don't think it would be at all safe.

Certainly I'm no expert as I've only vacationed on Maui one time, but I didn't see anyone hitchhiking.

Safety issues aside, why would you want to risk wasting precious vacation time standing by the side of the road in the hot sun hoping that someone might pick you up?

imaq, my thoughts exactly. I wouldn't want to spend vacation time standing on the side of the road. Most of the people we saw hitchiking looked like locals or residents. We saw a young woman just outside of Princeville one night quite late, well 10:30 pm, late for Kauai.
I wanted to give her a ride just in case some crazy picked her up. I might have if our daughter wasn't with us.

You're going to spend all that money to come to Maui and are worried about the cost of a rental car? Play it safe and smart. Rent the car.

Judging by the answers your getting. It might not be dangerous at all, doesn't seem like you'd be getting a ride.
I'm curious, do you hitchhike on the Mainland? How does that work out for you? I never see hhs and I imagine it's because they quickly turn into Walkers.

Is there any public transportation on Maui (bus)? I know you can get from the airport into Lahaina on a shuttle.