Travel between islands--Superferry (Kahului: environment, weekend getaway, rental car)

[cynmkolohe]

A few threads have included questions about travel between the islands. The new Hawaii Superferry is very much in the news right now and is scheduled to begin service bet. Oahu/Kauai/Maui later this summer, with service added to the Big Island in 2009. Not everyone is welcoming this added method of transportation, with several vaild concerns being voiced, but it looks like it will soon be taking its place as an option for inter-island travel.

There is a website with updates on the arrival of the ferry in HI, reservation procedures, employment opportunities, etc. (Search "Hawaii Superferry")

[Jungjohann]

You know damn well that Young Brothers, who have had the monopoly on interisland transport for decades, are fighting this tooth and nail, both above and beneath the table. The implication now, on Maui, is that the arrival into Kahului Harbor and the unloading of vehicles will cause all kinds of traffic problems. Well, the traffic problems already exist, and the arrival of flights into the airport here, unloading of hundreds of passengers and the picking up of hundreds of rental cars creates problems of it's own, just in a slightly different location. Car rental companies are probably not too happy with the superferry either, but it's an idea that is way long overdue.

Aloha,
Thomas Praetzel
Like that "Kolohe" sig!

[orangecat]

Rental cars wont be allowed, only travelling passenger owned or owner notarized vehicles will be let on. Not meant to appease rental fleets either, just standard practice. This factor alone wont make it very attractive to non-residents but should appeal quite a bit to resident families looking to take a quick vacation. Seems like a win-win situation to me if residents are given an incentive to hop island to island rather than taking their money to Vegas.

[KimoJimo]

I seem to recall that many years ago (1960s-ish) this was done. They thought it would be good for the tourists, but then they found out that the ride was actually long and boring, and the people got seasick. They stopped the service very soon, in fact I think they went broke.

Anyone else recall the details better?

[Jungjohann]

Yea, that was a semi hydrofoil back in the late 70's, carried passengers only, was inexpensive compared to flying interisland, and had a nasty tendency to break down mid-channel, hence the seasickness. I tended bar at a beachside spot on Keawekapu, recall seeing them going by, and then stopping, brokedown.

Aloha,
Thomas Praetzel

[boneheader]

Does anyone remember Seaflight? That was back in the 70's. Lasted what? If I remember that lasted for a year or so. I think that this will cause more problems than good. I would love to load up my truck and go fishing on the Big Island. I wonder what the Big Island boys would say? Would they say "hey Maui Boy! Welcome to my home! I see you And your buddies wen grab my spot. No prob I just go somwhere else" or would they say "Fu^$%g Haole! I going call my cousins and we going KILL YOU!!!!!!.....Hmmmm. Looks like the Superferry has no use for me. Bummer.

[Jungjohann]

Bonehead,
Da Braddahs would probably "share" the spot, maybe even offer you a beer. In my 32 years here, I've been hassled more by haoles than locals. Superferry will be the best thing that has happened over here transportation wise in decades. And yea, i believe it was named Seaflight, think it lasted a little over a year.

Aloha,
Thomas Praetzel
And you're gonna run into jerks wherever you go, being a jerk has no racial or cultural barriers

[Squidpuppy77]

I just moved to Oahu less than a year ago and I think that the Superferry this is going to have a positive impact on island travel. For starters, it's somewhat camparitively priced as far as bringing your family and your car or flying and renting. It's not too different in price depending on the length of the trip. The longer you visit some place and you have your own car with you, the more you'll potentially save by not renting a car while there. I look forward to this addition and being able to see the other islands without the stress of renting a car and being crammed into a turboprop to see all that Hawaii has to offer!

[LovinMaui]

I haven't really had much of an opinion of the superferry so far as I didn't know that much about it.. so I thought I would learn a little.

I went to the website to check it out.... I pretty much only go to other islands as a weekend getaway. I save my weekday vacation days for mainland trips. Well I was so surprised!! First of all I picked a random weekend in November... For my boyfriend and I to go to Oahu with the car would cost $464!! My next problem was the times... Going from Maui to Oahu wasn't a problem as the boat leaves at 11 and arrives at 2... But going back the boat leaves at 6:30am and arrives at 9:30!!! And while I don't know what time you have to arrive to the dock by, I would guess it to be about an hour early as they have to load all those cars on the boat. Getting up at 4:00am to get to the dock in order to make it back on Sunday morning is not something I would really want to do. Especially for a weekend vacation. Maybe there are some morning people out there that don't mind, but I hate traveling that early.

So then I went to the Aloha Airlines website and picked the exact same days... For my boyfriend and I with the typical $39 fares the total was $180 (and there were about 15 different times to choose from). I have never had a problem renting a car for under $30 on priceline which brings the trip to a grand total of $210. Less than half!!!

While I can see how people who hate to fly would like it... as well as people going to and from for business who would need to bring a car load of equipment. Just to go over for a weekend though... count me out... I would rather fly any day...

I guess we will see what happens. I have only addressed selfish reasons for not liking the superferry. I haven't even bothered to touch on all the environmental and traffic complaints. Good luck superferry, you are going to need it!

[Jungjohann]

Leavin Maui,
I don't know where you're getting the interisland rate info, but looks like Oahu to Maui is around $200 round trip, passenger and vehicle, if you're travelling interisland that would save some bucks as opposed to renting on a day to day basis. And I do hate flying, used to do it all the time.

Aloha,
Thomas Praetzel