Security/Theft Issues in Hawaii
 

My husband and I will be going to Hawaii next month, and the guidebooks that I have read repeatedly warn against storing valuables in a rental car, especially at the beach. This will prove to be a huge hassle for us. For example, I thought that one day we could go to Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial, then drive up to the North Shore. It's too inconvenient to drive back to our Waikiki hotel, so we'd have to bring the camera/camcorder with us on the beach, and only one of us could go into the water at any given time. I think that this is ridiculous. How involved are the local authorities at preventing theft? Has anyone had problems with this? Is it really that common? Would we be asking for it if we do leave something valuable in our car? How do you get around this? Thanks in advance.

Proceed at your own risk.
Obviously there are thousands of tourists at a time renting cars and only a small percentage are victims of theft, but you could always end up in that small group.
Local authorities can't possibly oversee all the parked rental cars on the islands, nor can they watch beach towels etc.
If you decide to store things in a car, make them as inconspicuous or well hidden as possible.

But advice like you read in the guidebooks is there for a reason.
Car break-ins happen every day.

No matter where you go, it's best to heed any warnings, no matter how "inconvenient", lest you be relieved of your valuables. The "local authorities" are as diligent as they can possibly be, but it's up to you to do likewise.

On my trip to Hawaii in April, my boyfriend and I were unfortunately victims of theft, on a beach, where we left our belongings in a rental car. When we were relaying our message to some of the locals, a lot of them told us that it happens often. So there is definitely a lot of truth in those guidebooks. The police were helpful but did nothing out of the ordinary. I do think that there can be preventative acts that can be done on their part. Rarely did we see patrol cars on the premises of the various beaches we went to.

There are baggage checks in Pearl Harbor since bags of any kind are not allowed inside the Arizona Memorial. So you can bring them with you to avoid traveling back to waikiki. However, I do recommend being extremely cautious with your belongings.

Good Luck

Geez Sheryl, let the Hawaii police dept know what day you're coming and maybe they'll beef up the security for you that day so it wouldn't be so INCONVENIENT for you. So you think theft is ridiculous? Have you read your own post?

Theft happens everywhere...even in paradise. Europe, Africa, Asia, South Pacific, Carribean, Mexico and even here in the good 'ol US of A. Use some common sense and don't leave valuables unsecured. Don't let theft spoil your vacation but don't allow the paranoia over theft threaten to do the same!

It is bad here because of the high cost of living and we have the highest ICE addiction. They know which cars are rentals and usually hit those. I may sometimes leave a camera hidden in my local car. I never leave anything on the beach. Don't ever let anyone see you putting something in the trunk or digging through bags in your car. Cops can't do anything. They try to park in different beach parking lots. There just aren't enough police here due to low pay. We lost our whole car and all my husbands $2,000 of tools in the trunk.

Bluefan, my husband and I have traveled quite a bit and are aware of theft issues everywhere. And no, I don't think that "theft is ridiculous," I think that the inconvenience is ridiculous. The fact that it would be safer to leave my car on a Baltimore street overnight (where we live) as opposed to a Hawaiian beach for a few hours is sad.

Thanks to everyone else for your advice.

I don't see hundreds of thousands of tourists flocking to Baltimore, but maybe they should if everyone has such a difficult time dealing with theft. You're probably the first person to go into a detailed synapsis of how theft could be such a hassle for you on your Hawaiian vacation. Millions of people have dealt with it.

I'm not aiming to just shoot your post down, just hoping to provide a different perspective. It is truly a sad reality, but each city, state, country has their own set of unique or endemic problems...why would you expect it to be absent in Hawaii?

As much as I love the islands, it's not ALL paradise. Just search out theft on this forum, go with awareness, and you should have a beautiful, unspoilt vacation.

Why don't you just go to the North Shore another day? I know what you are thinking--Pearl Harbor is kind of on the way to the North Shore so why not keep the momentum in that direction, right? Actually, since you will be spending some time at Pearl Harbor, you may be better off spending the rest of the day at another attraction in town or shopping. It takes 1.5 hours or so to drive to the North Shore from Waikiki, and once you get there you have the beach plus exploring quaint little Haleiwa Town, maybe also Waimea Bay, Waimea Falls Park....at least. You will probably spend an entire day on the North Shore so maybe you shouldn't plan on having it the same day as your Pearl Harbor trek.

There are things you can do to keep your car from looking like a rental. Some people swear by placing a bumper sticker on the car when you rent it, and then throwing dirt over the sticker to make it look old.

I thought in Kauai all the rentals started with the same letter too. Maybe not.

In Kauai, ALL cars (not just rental cars) have plates that start with the letter "K". Similarly, all cars on Maui start with "M", all cars on Oahu start with "O" and all cars on Hawaii (the Big Island) start with "H".

I've never been to HI, but I live in Fort Lauderdale/Miami area and am well aware of crime. A good tip my neice taught me long ago was to put everything you want secured in the trunk BEFORE you get to your destination (and if you are shopping and want to dump stuff in the trunk and continue shopping, get in the car and move it to another part of the parking lot so whoever was watching will think you are leaving). Of course, never leave valuables in sight. Keep it neat inside so thieves don't think you are using a garment or towel to cover something up. If they don't want to break into the car, they won't get into the trunk.

In Florida, our rental/lease cars used to start with the same numbers, then they changed it due to the hazardous situation it created for tourists (it's like painting a bulls eye on the car!!) The bumper sticker/decal idea might work... but it still has that bulls eye on the license plate.

Be cautious, but above all, HAVE FUN on your vacation.

Hawaii is the leads the nation by far for property theft. Problem seems largely the judiciary which makes it hard to make charges stick, especially related to non-residents. There is an attitude by judges that theft is almost a first-amendment type of right. Police, prosecutors, and other residents can't overcome this since the judge-picking process is disfunctional and fairly immune to citizen feedback.

Funny Bluefin! I would like to get the lei patrol ready for my visits!

Sheryl

I live on the east coast and I think I would never leave anything visible in a car in Baltimore. I think when people stop being cautious that is when theft happens. You are also far more likely to be the victum of a violent crime in Baltimore.

I never take camcords to Hawaii and discourage it when I go with guests. How many times are you going to view that video? Think about how often you flip through other vacation/party videos. A camcorder is bulky, heavy and annoying. A 35mm camera will do the trick and you can enlarge photos. Just a thought.

I have been going for about 8 years now. I have never had a break in. Again I am well trained in NYC and would just follow the simple rules of no valuables in the car and nothing that looks like a valuable (bags from a department store).

Have fun!

um.... no .... my Oahu cars start with F and in Kauai it was something else.

Islandmom, why do most (but not all) plates conform to the format of beginning with "M" on Maui, "K" on Kauai, etc ? Why are you an exception ?

I'll look around tomorrow and take note.

Sheryl-Don't pay any attention to the wisecracks. I would write a letter to the State Attorney General's Office, the Director of Tourism and the Governor. Having been the victim of theft myself in Hawaii it's time they got off their bureaucratic butts and did something about their rising crime problem. They are getting enough revenue from tourism to boost security on the Islands. A vacation is for relaxation. You shouldn't have to worry about some ICE crazed idiot robbing you blind..

Myrna, that's very noble of you to suggest writing to legislators, but seriously, ya think that'll change anything by the time Sheryl arrives?

Why don't you look at the many helpful comments by Sarah or myself re Hawaii before generalizing us as "wisecracks."

I do take theft seriously, so I take reasonable precautions along with millions of others. So step back into reality and realize that it's a minor hassle taking precautions but a MAJOR one if you don't, as you unfortunately can testify to.

And since you're sending out complaint letters, why don't you mail them to most of the countries in the Europe, islands of St. Thomas and Jamaica and a few others in the Carribean, and a whole slew of other places where they receive much revenue from American tourist dollars. You'd think they should've solved theft issues after all the money we've spent there. If you have such a problem with it in Hawaii because it's part of the US, maybe you should flock to safer and manufactured destinations like Disney and Vegas.