State to Take Over Hā‘ena Beach Park to Restore Resident Access

State ownership of Hā‘ena Beach Park is intended to end years of tourist-driven parking congestion and restore beach access for local users, officials say, as a nonprofit builds a new comfort station and DLNR prepares to integrate the site into the state’s online portal. DLNR’s case study states, “Transfer of this property from the County of Kaua‘i to the state will allow full integration into the online portal and restore community use of this popular resource area.”

Construction of park improvements will temporarily reduce the number of parking stalls at the end of Kūhiō Highway, but officials expect alternative arrangements. “While the number of parking spots will be reduced during construction, it’s anticipated that residents and visitors can be accommodated via the modified parking plan and increased shuttle capacity,” Governor and DLNR materials say. Hui Makaʻāinana o Makana and The Hanalei Initiative, which have operated Hā‘ena’s parking and shuttle since the park reopened in 2020, are the groups coordinating shuttle service; Kauainownews quotes “Guy”: “We hope both our visitors and residents will plan ahead and consider using the shuttle instead of driving down to the end of the road and trying to find a parking spot.”

The transfer responds to a long-running access squeeze at the shared main access point for Hā‘ena Beach Park and Mākua (Tunnels) Beach. Civilbeat reports the county-owned Hā‘ena Beach Park had “fewer than 40 public parking spots fronting the main access point,” creating a decades-old “parking roulette” between locals and visitors. DLNR’s post-flood work included what the agency describes as a “constructed a flexible, 100-stall parking lot to accommodate fee-paying and fee-exempt users.” The supplied materials do not specify whether the 100-stall lot replaced or supplements the fewer-than-40 spots at the main access point.

Legal and enforcement tools have changed since the April 2018 floods that closed access for more than 15 months and prompted the May 25, 2018 Board of Land and Natural Resources approval of the Hā‘ena State Park Master Plan. Act 601 created a new parking enforcement position in the Kaua‘i police department that was hired in fall 2022 to address illegal parking “by the dry cave” and at other hotspots. DLNR says future work will include legal testing of “Kaua‘i resident parking” and notes that “staffing for State Parks Division and funding of the lifeguards are issues that must be solved.”

Nonprofit stewardship is central to the transition. Hui Makaʻāinana o Makana is funding and preparing to build a new comfort station at the parking-lot arrival area; Kauainownews calls it “a first-of-its-kind project unique for a couple of reasons. First, a nonprofit community group led the design and planning process for improvements in a state park. Second, it’s also paying for the entire project with non-government funding.” Hui Makaʻāinana o Makana plans to turn ownership of the completed improvements over to the state, and Assistant Director Billy Kinney prepared a Ka Pa‘akai Analysis to evaluate cultural impacts and site selection that “will not impact any cultural sites,” the reporting notes.

Momentum for the county-to-state transfer has political backstory: Civilbeat reports Mayor Derek Kawakami has made the transfer a priority he hopes to complete before his eight-year mayoral run ends next year. Some community members remain wary; Wichman said, “Our community has always expressed healthy skepticism of the state government simply because it’s a centralized bureaucracy headquartered on Oʻahu and it’s just harder to engage with it,” and added, “We generally tend to think of the county as more community-friendly.” DLNR and county officials have not published the effective date or legal instrument for the transfer; for more information DLNR lists Dan Dennison, Communications Director, Hawai‘i Dept. of Land and Natural Resources, 808-587-0396.