Living in Tents in Hilo (Volcano: fit in, condo, houses)

[teachertype]

When I lived in Hilo 15 years ago there were people living in tents by the harbor, like a little tent city. Was that legal? Are they still there?

[mdand3boys]

They were there until recently. A couple weeks ago, while driving by the area, we noticed that almost all were gone. Have not seen anything in local news about the exodus.

[Balad1]

Camping/living in tents in state or county parks is illegal without a permit. Not to say that some homeless people don't; it is especially a big problem on Oahu were people camp/live right in Waikiki.

[nwcountrygal]

Not gonnna comment in Puna if you pick up your trash. If you don' t than pau.

[teachertype]

That was one of the most annoying things about living on the Big Island... the conflicting assumptions of cultural superiority, the adoption of a little Hawaiian language and custom by haoles from the mainland desperate to fit in, the dirty looks, ambiguous rude and condescending comments and, worst of all, the claim that there is no racial pecking order in Hawaii, "you bring that with you from the mainland."

A place in serious denial.

I simply asked if they were still tenting out down there. I lived in a 3 bed condo, but I knew some tenters as friends and have lost touch with them.

[firemonkey53]

What's wrong with living in a Tent it is HAWAII. They were living in just fine before they saw the first white face. I was thinking about tenting it for about a month to check out all the islands before I make a choice.

Now I know that a sanitation system has to be in place, I'm not suggesting tent city, but you should be able to pitch a tent for at least a month or two.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by firemonkey53

What's wrong with living in a Tent it is HAWAII. They were living in just fine before they saw the first white face.

Actually, no, that's a misconception. Native Hawaiians built houses using local materials, just not the kind of houses we build today. And they still can, under special provisions for permitting traditional cultural preservation.

Originally Posted by firemonkey53

I was thinking about tenting it for about a month to check out all the islands before I make a choice.

Well, you can. You'll need to book space at campgrounds, pay the fee for permits in advance where required, and observe the limits for how long you can stay at any given place.

Originally Posted by firemonkey53

Now I know that a sanitation system has to be in place, I'm not suggesting tent city, but you should be able to pitch a tent for at least a month or two.

Well, that's the thing. The authorities have had to crack down on unrestricted camping, because tent cities would form and overcrowd and sanitation would get out of control. So now camping is limited to specific numbers of users, in areas which do have sanitation, but only within specific time limits.

Here's the link to the State of Hawai'i, Department of Land and Natural Resources website for reserving camp space in state parks and forest reserves.

https://camping.ehawaii.gov/camping/...D842EAC.olomea

And here's the Hawai'i County (Big Island) system. Each county has one:

https://www.ehawaii.gov/Hawaii_Count...exe/campre.cgi

And here's info for National Park at Volcano:

Camping - Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

There are also a few private campgrounds which you can easily find with an online search.


Good luck!