"camper unfriendly incidents" (Hilo, Anahola: rentals, condos, fingerprinting)

[CyberCity]

Originally Posted by GsisRockks

Miloli'i and Whittington Beach Park are both located in the Ka'u district of the Big Island (south side) and most tourism advertisements and real estate agents will boast the incredible ocean views and great fishing, snorkeling, and diving spots for both locations. However, what they fail to share with visiting tourists is that Miloli'i Beach Park is at the end of a subdivision with local families that have lived there for generations, so any outsiders would stand out like a sore thumb and the shorelines are rocky at best.

There are three areas of Milolii: the acerage lots on the road as you first leave the highway towards the shore, then the "Beach Lots" subdivision, and then the fishing village.

The Beach Lot subdivision has some nice vacation rentals, some with incredible ocean views, or near/on the oceanfront. It is a safe and pleasant place to stay, quiet and rural. It is a great "value" for the money, but it is very far from any sort of evening or nightlife.

After passing the Beach Lots, the road continues on through the fishing village. It is the last remaining fishing village in Hawaii, and you can only own there if you have a history of ohana (family) in the village. It is overseen by the state. At the end of the road is the public beach park. Although I am very comfortable recommending the Beach Lot area for visitors to stay (in a rental home or B&B type place), I would not recommend overnight camping at the beach park to visitors.

[CyberCity]

Originally Posted by JoDan

Spencer Beach ... Anyone have any information to offer about this?

Spencer is ok, safe enough that even our older teenagers camp there when they cannot get in to their more favored areas. [Sorry, no, I'll not share those favored areas online, because the lack of crowds is part of the "good" about them.]

[HiloDiver]

Campers robbed at knifepoint at Kolekole Beach Park Wednesday

[CyberCity]

Kolekole is very remote, and almost asking for trouble. I cannot believe I camped there in my late teens with girlfriends, we were naive, and lucky that all went well.

[HiloDiver]

And there was a robbery at Rainbow Falls today and an attempted robbery at Queen Lili Park the other day.

Having lived in two incredibly high crime areas before moving here...I'm starting to feel right at home!

[CyberCity]

Perhaps we have a "one man crime spree" going on. Somewhat related, that is often the case when there is a rash of burglaries going on (well, that is sometimes actually a tag-team crime spree).

[oregonwoodsmoke]

I'm sorry to hear about this. I've camped all my life and I claim that campers are the very best sort of people. The further away from civilization, the better the people are, but even the folks in the huge motor homes are good people.

But maybe the troublemakers at the beach are not really campers. Maybe they are there because they can't afford a motel and not because they like camping?

I know that many beach towns, probably all over the world, have a problem with drunks and party-ers who go to the beach because they want to be loud and make trouble. With nice beaches, perhaps Hawaii is suffering from too many of the loud party type. They are there to get drunk and be rowdy, not to enjoy the beach.

[CyberCity]

The problem is often from troublemakers who come in to the campground, just to make trouble (not campers). Although you might also run into a bit of a problem if you are camped next to a bunch of drinkers (which would be the same situation .... a problem .... no matter what state you are in.)

Many so-called "remote" campground in Hawaii are easily accessible via a road, meaning it is not a long hard hike or drive to get to. Thus, although the campground might be remote in the sense of "nobody else around", it could be just a fairly short drive for troublemakers to get to. This is the situation with Kolekole.

[JoDan]

Originally Posted by nwcountrygal

I will also add all my bad experiences camping on this island have not been from locals anywhere on this island. At this moment there is a freak that hopefully the cops are going to take care of. And he is not a local.

OK countrygal...you sound like you don't like visitors and appear a bit argumentative, but I'll not be involved in that. FYI, I have 26 years "camping" experience in the Army.

Also, here's why I put "unfriendly" in my original post. Just trying to find out what that meant. wasn't putting anyone down, that's not my nature. I just love nature and do everything I can to preserve it and protect it.

[SIZE=+1]Parks & Camping on The Big Island[/SIZE] Camping on the island of Hawaii is available, but probably should be done as a last resort, or as an option only if everything checks out when you get here and ask around. Some places, like Whittington Beach in the Kau District, Milolii/Honomolino, and Spencer Beach are especially noted for "camper-unfriendly incidents". There are at least a dozen camp spots around the island, ranging from primitive camp sites with no water to rustic little cabins with housekeeping. Some places are pretty camper friendly, but you should check around locally before counting on camping in a certain area.

[hotzcatz]

Kolekole has a spooky feeling even in mid-day, I'd not camp there at night. The camping is just off the parking areas and cars can drive right up. At least they didn't drive over the tent but since they took the camper's rental car, maybe they didn't drive there at all? I dunno, but hopefully the police will nail the perp to the wall and leave them hanging. I'm not sure why Kolekole is that way, perhaps because it is also very close to the main highway. Other camping areas such as Laupahoehoe or Kolopa are much further off the main highway so trouble makers have a lot further to go to get there? I've never heard of trouble at those two areas. Kolopa also has a resident care taker at the entrance and it's at the end of the road. Same as Laupahoehoe. At Kolekole, once you get out of the small park, you can go either direction on Old Mamalahoa and then get to the highway again pretty quickly.