On a recent trip to Kauai I felt very unwelcome and would not go back. Are all Hawaiian islands like that?
March 10th, 2010 | 
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I think that was the intended effect, that you visit once so they can get your money but not too often and don’t even think about moving here. I got the message and I won’t be back. Just wondered if people were any friendlier on any of the bigger islands.
You have a real combination of folks on all the islands. But some of them, like Maui, are more oriented towards tourism. They’ve been trained to greet you with a smile, whether they feel the aloha in their heart or not, just like the kids at McDonald’s anywhere else.
You understand the attitude a bit better if you understand the history of the island over the past couple hundred years and current economic trends.
For example, people who work full-time or even a couple of different jobs may never be able to afford to buy a home in Hawaii. This is partly because a handful of missionary families came to own most of the land in Hawaii more than a hundred years ago. It’s partly because jobs in the hospitality industry don’t pay a whole heck of a lot.
And it’s partly because people who live in a places with more vital economies, more opportunities and a lower cost of living like to buy houses in Hawaii they’re not going to live in full-time. Sometimes it’s a vacation home. Sometimes they’re snowbirds. Sometimes they know they can sit on a house or condo, sell it a year later, and make more money than if they’d been working in Hawaii for a year.
I have a friend who is 6′2" and has curly blonde hair. On the Molokai ferry, some local braddahs cornered him and wanted to know the answer to one question.
"Are you coming to Molokai to buy up land?"
My friend laughed at this question. "I can’t afford to buy land on Molokai!"
They gave him a beer.
I’m living on my third Hawaiian island, but still haven’t visited Kauai. Always either too broke or too busy to go visiting. Reckon I’ll hafta just move there one day.
Posted in hawaiian islands
There’s a real underbelly to the state of Hawaii that most visitors don’t see (drugs and alcohol addiction). If you live there you soon learn which areas are safe and which areas you don’t venture into, especially at night. I’m curious, who didn’t make you feel welcome?
I lived on Oahu for 3 years.
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You have a real combination of folks on all the islands. But some of them, like Maui, are more oriented towards tourism. They’ve been trained to greet you with a smile, whether they feel the aloha in their heart or not, just like the kids at McDonald’s anywhere else.
You understand the attitude a bit better if you understand the history of the island over the past couple hundred years and current economic trends.
For example, people who work full-time or even a couple of different jobs may never be able to afford to buy a home in Hawaii. This is partly because a handful of missionary families came to own most of the land in Hawaii more than a hundred years ago. It’s partly because jobs in the hospitality industry don’t pay a whole heck of a lot.
And it’s partly because people who live in a places with more vital economies, more opportunities and a lower cost of living like to buy houses in Hawaii they’re not going to live in full-time. Sometimes it’s a vacation home. Sometimes they’re snowbirds. Sometimes they know they can sit on a house or condo, sell it a year later, and make more money than if they’d been working in Hawaii for a year.
I have a friend who is 6′2" and has curly blonde hair. On the Molokai ferry, some local braddahs cornered him and wanted to know the answer to one question.
"Are you coming to Molokai to buy up land?"
My friend laughed at this question. "I can’t afford to buy land on Molokai!"
They gave him a beer.
I’m living on my third Hawaiian island, but still haven’t visited Kauai. Always either too broke or too busy to go visiting. Reckon I’ll hafta just move there one day.
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I’ve lived on the Big Island for ten years now and I can tell you that if you show up on the BI with a bit of humility, respect for the locals, and not acting like a pushy main-lander you will find aloha most everywhere you go. It really irks me seeing tourist being disrespectful to the people and the land of Hawaii. For those who come in with aloha I want to share mine and then some. There is something cool about sharing true aloha with someone who might not experience it often.
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I came here as a tourist & liked it well enough that I moved here within a few months of my vacation. I’ve been here now for 33 years. Have I ever been on the receiving end of racism? Sure, but not often. In fact, I can’t recall the last time. Must’ve been years. There were way worse problems with race relations where I lived before.
I’m sorry you had a bad experience here.
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I live on Kauai and I’m sorry you felt that way about this beautiful island and its people. I am curious to know where you stayed and what you did while on vacation. I imagine there are some unfriendly people here, but Kauai needs tourism, just like the other Hawaiian islands do. If you stayed at a hotel and did typical tourist things (ATV rides, catamaran tours of the Na Pali coast, snorkeling, etc.), I’d be very surprised if you were treated badly. But if you stayed in a rental house or condo, ate at places frequented by locals, and did the stuff locals do on their time off (surf, hang out at the beach, etc.), I can see where you might be looked upon as an interloper. That’s unfair, but it happens. If that was the case, it’s too bad that you had that experience. Care to share more about what happened on your visit? You can email me if you want. Maybe I would have some insight as to why you were treated poorly if I knew some specific information.
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Aloha from Kauai
A couple years back we were in a hotel in Maui. That hotel room had a rodent in the room because it ate our food. The hotel staff laughed at us and eventually moved us out. The point I am trying to make is don’t let one bad apple ruin it for you. We have been to Hawaii 4 times and will go back again. In life there are rude people everywhere but Hawaii is different. Most people are quite nice and yes they want your tourism bucks too but it is paradise.
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I have never been to Kauai, but in May we visited Maui and Oahu. Every single person we met was simply awesome. They always had a smile and went out of their way to help us. I can’t speak for the people on Kauai, but I know for sure the people on the 2 Islands we visited were the most friendly people we have ever met anywhere in the world and we have travelled extensively.
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