Hi everyone,

I have been lurking on this forum for awhile and have found all the information from the locals et al a GREAT help in assisting me in planning our first trip to Maui, Oahu, and the BI in May. The first of many I hope!

In my web surfing I ran across some information that maybe of interest to others..... beginning in July there will be an alternative to interisland travel when there will be a "Superferry" that will offering daily service between Oahu and Maui, Oahu and Kauai, then in 2009 betweeen Oahu and the BI.

According to www.hawaiisuperferry.com the travel time will be approximately 3-4 1/2 hours and with advanced web fare purchase will be $42-62. They also will transport cars, SUVs, canoes, surfboards and EVEN cats and dogs!!!

Looks like if you are not crunched for time and want a relaxing, different experience when traveling between the islands this could be the way to go for you. Check it out.

Also, since this is my frist post I would really like to thank all the locals and regular Hawaii travelers for the MASSIVE amounts USEFUL information posted that has helped me to make informed choices/decisions that I am sure will make our trip AMAZING!!! So please keep posting because I know that there are people out there, like me, who read this forum but do not post.

THANKS,
MARVINA

Don't rush to book a trip on the SuperFerry just yet -- both Maui and Kaua`i governments are questioning why this was approved by Gov. Lingle, without the necessary (and Federally mandated) Environmental Impact Statement. Federal funds were used to bankroll this multi-million dollar project, with little or no forethought as to the social and environmental impacts these ferries would have on our fragile islands.

Here is just one of the most recent news articles about this topic:
http://starbulletin.com/2007/02/15/news/story08.html

Many Hawaiian residents are not in favor of it and I probably would not use it. I read somewhere that there may be more delays due to construction issues.

"Ferry? We don wan no stinkin ferry!"

Hmmm puzzled that INTRAisland ferries might only be operable within Kauai

Don't make any plans around the Superferry. There are huge potential problems with it. It is far more expensive than flying, and there are lots of issues, environmental, parking, traffic, rental car agreements or prohbibitions. It is also too expensive for locals, once you add in the cost of a car, so the business plan is also very much in question.

20 mins by air vs. 3-4 hrs minimum by ferry?
Cuts into my Sand Bar time!

The Oahu Ferry (one that will bring commuters from the west side of the island to downtown) is more beneficial. We have no mass transit on Oahu, making rush hour horrendous. By alleviating the vehicle traffic with a ferry, transit times should decrease quite a bit. I'm not sure about the interisland superferry, though.....

I think it's most beneficial for locals who want to drive their own vehicles on the other islands. And like the OP says, cats, dogs and caones.

For visiting tourists, it may not be that attractive.

It always amaze me why there are numerous ferry routes in the Mediterranean and none among the Hawaiian isles. If they're that polluting and environmentally unsound, you'd think the Europeans will be building airports and shut down the ferries themselves

Good question, though the Med doesn't have humpback whales everywhere, or ultra fragile reef environments like Hawaii's. I think a big concernt they don't have to face is the unseen import export of drugs and unknowingly tranfering different invasivce species to each island. There are a lot of down sides, though some companies are trying to make it a bit better. www.hawaiiinterislandsuperferry.com is a new company trying to get ticket sales rolling where a large portion of the money goes to the environment. I guess they figured that if you can't beat them, join them and lessen the impact. Hopefully this is a good solution.

Welcome to the forum Franky

Let me guess, you're intimate with Natalie the photographer. Advertising is a definate no no on this forum.

But it was nice to get my blood boiling again about the superferry, which could have a devastating impact on the island people and sealife. I guess rkkwan doesn't realize how messed up the Med water is!!!

Stick around, just stop the hard sell.

I was all in favor of the SuperFerry when first announced -- we even took the tour of a sister-vessel when it was here in the islands last year. But then as more and more of the negative impacts came to light, I became a supporter of the anti-ferry folks.

Disregarding all the environmental and social issues, is the ferry really a positive alternative way to travel the islands? Let's take a look:
http://www.hawaiisuperferry.com/rese...s/default.html

Say we want to go to O`ahu from here on Kaua`i to do some shopping (an annual one-day trip for us), the only departure is 7pm with arrival in Honolulu at 10pm -- gotta get a hotel room. Hmmm...take our truck, or rent a car?

Roundtrip for 2 passengers: $248 PLUS 30.8% fuel surcharge = $322
Hotel room: approximately $125
Take truck roundtrip: $228
or rent SUV 24 hours: $55
So I've spent a MINIMUM of $428, 6 hours each way, and had to stay overnight.

The alternative? Fly roundtrip for free (using my Hawaiian Air miles); rent an SUV for $55; leave in the morning and be home on Kaua`i by dinner time.

SuperFerry??? Not so "super"...

I'm sure the ferry will be a great help to those carryiong heavier stuff inter-island, but as far as Kauai is concerned I can't help imagining it docking and unloading all those vehicles onto the roads around the dock area

It would be cheaper to go to Young Brother's and get a g-can to ship that heavier stuff on the next barge than it will be to take your truck back and forth to move those items. Sure it takes a few more days, but still much cheaper. I order things from O`ahu and have it barged over for less than the cost of my round trip ferry ticket, not counting the car and the hotel room.

I dive and many of my diving friends were eagerly anticipating the ferry. They had visions of many weekend interisland dive trips, being able to travel with their cars loaded with their dive gear and tanks, which is a huge hassle to do when flying. Renting dive gear is expensive and not preferred.

After the fares came out and a lot of price comparison scenarios were done, it was apparent that the ferry (at least for now) offers no price benefit as opposed to flying. I know of a lot of disappointed people.

Not sure what the status of the Ferry is right now, but when we played the Kiele Golf Course at Kauai Lagoons in Luhue 7/19/07, the Superferry was there making practice runs in and out of the harbor for several hours.

I too looked at using the super ferry this coming Feb 08. I was going to book a trip from Oahu to Maui and then back. When I enquired futhur as we will be renting a car. Rental companies are not authorizing their vehicles to go on it. Therefor we thought we would fly one way and ferry it back witha car rntal in both cities. Then we realized we would have to hand carry all of our luggage for a 2 week trip. Does not sound like fun in my eyes. I have booked a return trip by air. Hope this helps.

When we lived on Kauai I was intrigued by the Super Ferry concept and thought it would be convenient as I went to Honolulu several times a month and had to rent a car. But when you start adding up the hefty fees, the time involved, and the fact that it leaves Kauai at night it started to sound not-so-convenient. The harbor area is already choked with cruise ship traffic, the Super Ferry loading and unloading is going to make matters worse.

(Though it would have been great when we took our daughter to college in Honolulu and flew with 11 checked bags and boxes which had to be loaded into a rental car, LOL. Would have been sooo much easier to load it all in our van and thake the ferry. This was a few weeks before 9/11, it was the annual Kauai exodus to UH, and the local airline let us take as many bags as we needed for free. Aaaah, those were the Good Old Days.)

I don't know about "relaxing" 3 hour trip...them are some ROUGH waters!