Lanai residents look to limit access at popular beach park inundated by tourists - Hawaii News Now

LANAI (HawaiiNewsNow) - Every day visitors travel to Lanai to enjoy its pristine beaches and laidback lifestyle.

The island has a population of just over 3,000 people. There are no stop lights there, just one gas station and one public school.

Some Lanai residents said their small island is getting overcrowded with tourists, and they are now looking into limiting visitor access at their only beach park accessible by a paved road.

“I’m sure for visitors that come here, they would think, ‘That’s not crowded, are you kidding?’ But for us, it is. For Lanai residents, it’s crowded,” said Kelli Maltezo, Hulopoe Beach Park council chair.

Maltezo said the Hulopoe Beach Park Council Chair was created in the 1980s to ensure the beach park, which is privately owned, is always accessible to Lanai residents.

“It’s very special to Lanaians,” Maltezo said.

The council held a community meeting in July and discussed the idea of limiting visitor access to the beach park.

Maltezo said majority are in favor of the idea.

“But it wasn’t a mentality like no non-residents ever. Ideas were thrown around: Do we do something similar to Hanauma Bay, do we do a reservation system? Do we do a fee system?”

The landowner, Pulama Lanai, said it supports the Hulopoe Beach Park Council’s efforts to gather community input about the vision and usage of the park.

As visitors continue to flock to the state, residents worry areas that were not crowded before may become overrun by tourists.

Maui resident Lee Alameida took video of a crowd of visitors at Makena Landing this past summer. He said he goes kayak fishing there every week and gets there at 3 a.m. just to secure a parking spot.

“It’s just inundated with commercial activity. I don’t know what the solution is really. But I know it’s a problem,” Alameida said.

Maltezo said that is why Lanaians are acting now, and they are asking for more community input to prevent similar situations from happening on their island.

“We never want to see it get to a point of a beach on Maui or on Oahu,” she said.

Meanwhile, the visitor count is dropping.

Hotel industry leaders said tens of thousands of hotel rooms have been cancelled since the governor’s plea for tourists to stay away as COVID cases surge.

“We have about 52,000 room cancellations right now and that represents about $22 million in lost revenue,” said Maui Hotel and Lodging Association executive director, Rod Antone.

Antone said those who work in the visitor industry are once again worried about income.

“People are nervous. This is their life. This is how they pay their bills,” Antone said. “Of course, we all want to be safe. Public health and safety come first. But paying your bills and being able to put food on the table has to be a close second.”

Antone said visitor industry leaders are working on finding the right balance and encourages everyone to get vaccinated.

Copyright 2021 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.

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