Kealakekua Bay is now open to the public — as long as the public applies for a special use permit and promises not to land at Kaawaloa.
The Department of Land and Natural Resources announced Wednesday the availability of special use permits, almost six months after closing the bay to all recreational activities because of ongoing illegal kayak vending and concerns about damage to cultural and historical sites at Kaawaloa. To get the permits, recreational kayakers, standup paddlers and paddlers in one-man canoes will need to email the department, at Jacqueline.M.Velasco@hawaii.gov, to request the free permit. The permit, once issued, is good through December, Parks Division Assistant Administrator Curt Cottrell said.
“Most of the people who want to get back in the water have no intention of landing at Kaawaloa,” Cottrell said. “Anybody can get a permit.”
DLNR won’t be unlocking the gate at Napoopoo wharf, which Cottrell said may also help cut down on illegal kayak vending, although reports indicate some of those unpermitted vendors have moved to other areas in West Hawaii.
“I’ve heard it’s already happening from community folks,” he said. “Guys are trying to set up shop at Honaunau. That’s a systemic problem throughout the state. Tourism is going off the Richter right now.”
Enforcement at the bay will continue to be on a random basis, Cottrell said. That has been the most effective way to check for violations, because the department doesn’t have the financial resources to fund full-time enforcement at Kealakekua. Illegal vending was an issue at the bay for years, with disputes over the state’s decision to issue permits to a handful of kayak tour companies. People would sit at the entrance to Napoopoo wharf and ask tourists if they needed to rent a kayak, then help the tourists launch from the pier.
The permitted companies complained about the illegal vendors not just because of lost income to them and a lost revenue stream for the state, but because legal companies believed the unpermitted vendors didn’t give tourists proper instructions on how to land at Kaawaloa or how to act once ashore. With no comfort stations available, kayakers and hikers would urinate and defecate anywhere, Cottrell said.
State officials are working on a new master plan for Kaawaloa that includes highlighting the need for a comfort station — possibly composting toilets — and parking on state property. Right now, hikers park along Napoopoo Road’s shoulder at the top of the trail.
Kealakekua Bay recreational users will need to carry their permit with them when using the bay, Cottrell said. He acknowledged that the new system does present a delay for someone wanting to use the bay, so a Kona resident can’t decide at the last minute on a weekend to kayak down there. But the trade-off is that the department isn’t imposing a daily limit on the number of noncommercial kayakers, which Cottrell said he and other officials wanted to do. The state Attorney General’s office informed the department it didn’t have the authority to impose that limit under its existing rules.
