Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Musings: Beaten Paths

I saw my first whales of the season yesterday, spouting and flapping and frolicking in lusciously glassy water off the eastside coast, just beyond the place where perfect barrels were collapsing on the reef.

I saw a monk seal, too, but it wasn't “stealing” anybody's fish, just catching a few winks nestled among rocks that provided perfect camouflage beneath the shade of a heliotrope tree. Ironically, I did see a spear fisherman — or more accurately, a guy carrying a snorkel and spear, who told me, “I've never been to this place before,” to which I replied, dubiously, “it looks a little rough to go out” — trying to “steal” the seal's fish.

But it really was too rough to go out, so after getting banged around for a while, the guy returned to shore, empty-handed.

The school vacation, big waves, sunny skies and warm temps on the tail end of the holiday season prompted a lot of people to hit the beach yesterday — so many that four born and raised North Shore boys headed south to get away from the zoo at Hanalei, and stopped by my house for a visit.

“The whole town is just choked with tourists,” said one. “You can't go anywhere.”

“Pine Trees get so many people it's sick,” said another. “You can't even move. We had to get out of there.”

We spoke of a mutual friend who lives in Wainiha, and they mentioned they hadn't seen her for a while. “That's because she holes up at times like this, when the crowds get thick,” I said, and they all nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, you don't even want to go out when it's like that,” said a third. “That's why we came down here.”

Once again, I was confronted with locals who are being displaced by tourism, made to feel unwelcome in their own backyard, or too uncomfortable to want to enjoy it. And once again I found myself wondering, when it comes to tourism, at one point do we cross the line between enough and too much? Have we already crossed it? I'm sure those four guys would say “yes!” Is anybody even reflecting on that delicate balance? Or is the plan to just go gangbusters so long as there's money to be made?

And I thought back on Monday, when I went to a beach that I consider pretty remote and wild, a place that is lightly used, and mostly by surfers and fishermen. Coming up, at the top of the path, I encountered a group of tourists lugging tripods and cameras, their eyes on the big, beautiful surf, oblivious to me and my dogs trying to get past them on a steep, narrow, badly eroded trail.

I was surprised to encounter a small throng in that place, but didn't give it much thought until I saw, parked along the access road, a van with a PUC license advertising photography tours. Great, I thought, yet another wild place — a place that most tourists would never go — is being opened up, commercialized, so somebody can make a buck. And I was pretty willing to bet it wasn't a local running the enterprise.

Sure enough, it's not. According to an Associated Press article posted on the company's website, it was started by a D.C. transplant in 2009 “when the sluggish economy cut into his fine art sales.” Now it takes out some 1,500 people per year. Which is great for him, but what about the rest of us, those who cherish our quiet, private, untrammeled spots? As the article notes:

Tours last about five hours with a maximum of seven people in a group. They include up to 15 stops, some of which are so far off the beaten path that the hikes back to the car leave you winded enough to realize it's been a few months since your last trip to the gym.

Tour guides swaps out locations depending on the weather, time of day and year, and keeps adding new stops into his rotation as he discovers them.

[W]e stopped at waterfalls, walked into taro fields, waded in lagoons, climbed over lava rock, hiked down to one of the island's most dangerous beaches, and ended in time to catch a dramatic sunset over Hanalei Bay on the island's north side.


Perhaps the company has the proper permits to take people to all these out-of-the-way places. While only a handful of Kauai trails are approved for commercial use, the state is much more lax when it comes to commercial activities on beaches. You can conduct weddings, and perhaps photo tours, too, on all these beaches — if you have a permit.

In other words, pretty much the entire coastline can be used for commercial purposes so long as you pay the state a fee. Or chance `em, because what are the odds of getting busted given DLNR's scanty enforcement budget?

Now, I've got absolutely nothing against tourists. I understand and appreciate their value to the local economy, their desire to experience this beautiful place. I think it's grand when they indulge their sense of adventure and exploration and find some cool, special spot on their own. But it really kind of grates when they're led to the few relatively unused places by someone who is exploiting these locales for kala — even if they do have a permit. As the testimonials noted:

We saw some amazing places that we would not have known to even look for.

[T]ook us to some places that we would have never found in any guide book.

[T]ook us to lots of fabulous locations which even with all the guide books I wouldn't have been able to find.


Which is just what the company's website promises:

Mostly off-the-beaten-path, difficult to find hideaways. See where these many beautiful places are located & return to enjoy on another day

So in other words, soon they will not be off-the-beaten-path, difficult-to-find hideaways. Instead, they'll become like the all the once off-the-beaten-path places that are now on-the-beaten path, easy-to-find places that locals try to escape because they're overcrowded, overused.

44 comments:

Anonymous said...

My sentiments exactly. I think we've hit our max. The balance is tetering in favor of the industry. All we need to do is analize room occupancy over the year and we can see we have lots of vacancies in our current inventory. We have no need for any more hotels, timeshares, condos. With all the vacation rentals added to the mix, we have more than our fair share of accomodations.

The quaint little town of Hanalei once consisting of mahi'ai and lawai'a is no more. Like so many of our special places, lost to a by gone era. No different from any other tourist trap in any other tropical location. Day by day we loose what makes Hawaii unique. A little bit of our history erased w/ each generation, our 'aina and culture prostituted for money.

Anonymous said...

You're right. Our island economy is too dependent on tourism. Many of the wild & natural places are being destroyed by development. The Walking Path for example is destroying so much of the natural elements that made Kauai, Kauai. We need to diversify our economy. These tourists buy property and flip them (e.g., Will Smith) and subsequently raise the price of living for those who were born here. Even the improvements to Kalalau Trail have created a traffic jam of hikers there. The natural environment that we love so much is being destroyed, too often at the price of making a quick buck.

Anonymous said...

No going back now, once it has been set in motion. Hasn't this been the bane of Hawaiian history? Kauai is one of the most beautiful places on earth, and like anything that is beautiful it will garner much attention. They do not have this problem in Detroit. Would you rather live there?

Anonymous said...

Will Smith's house is NOT effecting YOUR tax value or raising prices in your housing market. Stupid.

Anonymous said...

A double edged sword for sure.....
making money from the Natural resources / trying to preserve those special places and natural resources.

It's happened before in other "cool and special places" that I had to leave, just wanting to enjoy peace, quiet, a simple life without chainsaws, leaf blowers, lawn mowers, and gated communities.

People make money then they want to "capture" the place and make it exclusively their own. "keep the locals and the locos out"

People want to exploit the Beauty because they have no other business and the demand is growing...so, why not make some cash? Then when the business goes "crash" they leave the island, but their "smell" still lingers. Aye...Koloa town trees!

Our leaders sing karaoke, and play their ukulele's, come to events and parties and smile, shake hands, and make friends with those that send them money. Useless!

We have been talking about growth issues for at least 20 years if not longer. We have NO leaders to lead. They say "its about the economy stupid!"

Dr Shibai

Anonymous said...

Who amongst us would not do what is necessary to put food on the table, clothes on the backs of our children and a roof over their heads? Given these ESSENTIAL BASIC needs, not one of us would balk at the income generated by these visitors. So what is the central reasoning for the unrest and resentment? I would guess the need for MORE THAN the ESSENTIAL BASICS. The person who started the photo tours will be out of business as soon as someone publishes the locations of the NEW not-so-remote places. Karma. Will Smith's home sale... not too hard to figure the median price level of homes just went up (Must be a Realtor to call that earlier comment stupid.. just be honest about your bias and quit calling names or own up to it with your identity... stupid!). Regulation of visitor numbers does not work... since they don't regulate it anyway. So what does? Community outreach and education is one way... such as this blog. Talk story more with others. Spread the word. Sit down with the people who visit. I bet they would have the same sentiments if they lived here. Raise your voices to the business owners who are also our neighbhors. Let them know that the scale will start to tip in an unfavorable way for them because their homebase support will be whittled away. The true test will be those off-island business and property owners. That's where our legislature will have the most impact. Let them know that this should be their focus or we won't tolerate their okoles in those seats.
'Nuff said for now. Aloha ~ tim

Anonymous said...

How to appraise a home value 101.

1) Comparison (other similar sales)
2) Cost (Replacement Value
3) Income

your 3 bedroom house on 7 acres along the coastline = Market value, what those who are willing to buy, will pay - this is based on the Cartwright supreme court case...

Will it raise prices for similar houses, yes, do you live in similar houses, no?

Anonymous said...

Tourism on the scale we have now will work as long as fuel prices permit the airlines to stay in business. In a near future this will no longer be the case.
Tend your gardens folks

Anonymous said...

I am the owner of the photo tour business being written about. I was sent this post by another photographer. I will address some of these issues written about us here. An article written like this, which often fans the flames negativity and worse, would be better off if the writer had tried contacting the people she is writing about first.

It has not gone unnoticed that the writer who disparagingly remarks that the owner of the photo tour business is "a transplant", is also a transplant herself.

Many of the tourists that come to Kauai -- from my own experience -- are in 'consumer mode' and do not want to go 'looking' for places that are fairly easily found in most cases anyway. Most if not all of the locations on our tour stops are places found in guide books and even on the KVIC TV channel 3 Kauai channel which airs and reruns every three hours. Also several locations we go to have large busloads of people going as well. Not quite that, "off the beaten path", I'd say.

So when the author of this story quotes customer testimonials that say we take them to locations they would never find on their own, that's often because most of these people never even LOOK, not because we take them to some 'special hidden, unheard of, locals only kinds of havens'.

Additionally, we stop in these locations, for about 10 minutes, and then take these people inspired by Kauai back with us.

And on top of that, our groups are always SMALL, being 7 people max and usually less than that. Yesterday we had two groups of four people for example. Even IF we went to some kind of sacred local locations exclusively (and we don't), by keeping all groups small and the stops short should warrant some favorable appreciation for our efforts. We are licensed to take as many as 25 people out ***per vehicle *** if we wanted to, but instead chosen never not to ever be like that. That is not a minor thing on our part as operating costs are significant.

It's also good to keep in mind that Hawaii does heavily regulate all tour permits, and it is not an easy process to go through and to get approved. That, to me, is a good thing as well.

Furthermore, by showing people the best of what Kauai has to offer, it only makes the desire for these people to come back again even greater. And that is the only way this Kauai economy has any chance of making it. WE DEPEND ON TOURISM. This is not hyperbole. Without tourism everything dries up. Just look at 2008 and how much everybody was affected.

I hope the writer's article does not cause people living here to feel any kind of guilt for trying to run an honest business showing people the beauty of Kauai. We all need to find ways to make a living on this spectacular island in very challenging times.

CONT...

Anonymous said...

Continuing...

The writer failed to mention that though our photo tours part of the busienss started in 2009, we have been living on Kauai since 1997. For over 10 years (starting in 1999) we supported our family by selling fine art prints and other gifts on all four major islands exclusively. The writer does not mention that we've had NUMEROUS local people working for us and with us in our over 14 years here.

We've supported local Kauai, Oahu. Maui and Big Island businesses since 1999. They have supported their own local families by selling our prints and other products for many years now.

The writer doesn't mention that our reps on each island are local people. Our advertising supports local businesses as well.

The writer does not mention that our top photo tour guide is Hawaiian, who's lived in Hawaiian Homelands his entire life. He is a true professional, who knows we value him tremendously and who we truly take care of.

The writer does not mention that our business supports local concierge's who send other visitors our way as well.

She also fails to mention that we take visitors on our tours to Hanalei Juice and Taro (and other local places) for lunch stops, as well as telling customers about numerous other local businesses during the tours, once again supporting the local economy in many ways.

The writer fails to mention that we also put tremendous focus on SAFETY when showing people the island of Kauai as well.

The prints and souvenir business that supported us for so long started dying when the digital revolution took over and far less people bought our prints since they could all take their own pictures now. Then, the economy DIED (and art is sure not a necessity), and we were looking for food recipes for all those mats and photos that were no longer selling and collecting dust. And the Photo Tour business was a last resort opportunity at finding some new way to make this island living continue. It is a good, honest business and idea that fills a need for many people that come here and who want to be helped by local photographers that are our guides and see the beauty of Kauai from a photographer's point of view.

This is what life is all about, imo. We all have to adjust often. We all have to learn that nothing is permanent. We all have to be flexible and willing to change and make new roads at times. We have families to support and need to be resourceful while also being respectful.

And always, we have to keep in mind that we simply will never be able to please all of the people all of the time.

I hope this perspective helps some.


Vincent K. Tylor

Joan Conrow said...

Thanks for commenting and sharing your point of view, which doesn't change mine, btw.

I'm interested to read that now you claim you don't really take people to off-the-beaten path and remote places. So much for truth in advertising!

You also mention you are licensed to take out as many as 25 persons per vehicle -- I assume you are talking about your PUC license here. Tell me, do you also have the state DLNR permits to conduct commercial tours on state lands?

Anonymous said...

Now, now...enough already.

I have no problem with Vincent K. Tylor's business, if anything we should be jealous that he has found a way to make a living doing what he loves. He is not destroying the island. In the future I plan on taking one of his tours.

I also do not have a problem with Joan writing whatever she feels writing about daily in her Kauai blog. I really quite enjoy everything she writes in regards to the island. It is a pleausre to go to her site daily.

Everyone who lives and works on Kauai is making money from Kauai in some manner, right?


Just my two cents.

Anonymous said...

Quote: "Thanks for commenting on my blog and sharing your point of view, which doesn't change mine, btw."


**** We support local businesses and local residents on Kauai and on the outer islands. We keep all tours small though we could take many more out if wanted. We focus on safety on each tour. Most places we go to are in guidebooks and on KVIC TV. We are transplants just like you. Our visits are kept short. We show people hard to find gems that move them to come back again.

Sounds like a pretty good arrangement for everybody, Joan.


Quote: "I'm interested to read that now you claim you don't really take people to off-the-beaten path and remote places. So much for truth in advertising!"



**** Maybe re-read what I wrote. Here, I'll re-quote for you:

"Many of the tourists that come to Kauai -- from my own experience -- are in 'consumer mode' and do not want to go 'looking' for places that are fairly easily found in most cases anyway. Most if not all of the locations on our tour stops are places found in guide books and even on the KVIC TV channel 3 Kauai channel which airs and reruns every three hours. Also several locations we go to have large busloads of people going as well. Not quite that, "off the beaten path", I'd say.

So when the author of this story quotes customer testimonials that say we take them to locations they would never find on their own, that's often because most of these people never even LOOK, not because we take them to some 'special hidden, unheard of, locals only kinds of havens'."


*** End of quote. So for ((( VISITORS ))), these locations ARE often difficult to find on their own. And that is who we advertise to. We do not advertise to locals, though several have taken our tours. If you have a guidebook and/or write directions down on KVIC TV then many places they can find, but not easily. And as I wrote, many of these same people are in "consumer mode" and simply want to be shown where to go rather than figure it all out.

Nothing dishonest about that at all. You should know this.



Quote: You also mention you are licensed to take out as many as 25 persons per vehicle -- I assume you are talking about your PUC license here. Tell me, do you also have the state DLNR permits to conduct commercial tours on state lands?"


*** We have the legal right to take people to visit the locations on our tours.

We are a small family business that cares about the people visiting Kauai, that cares about people living on Kauai and who care about Kauai itself.

For what it's worth...

Vince

Joan Conrow said...

We have the legal right to take people to visit the locations on our tours.

So what do you mean by that? That you DO have the state DLNR permits?

And thanks for reading, 8:44 am Anon. I'm glad you enjoy the blog.

Peggy in Paradise said...

Joan, I'd like to understand how you make a living here.

Anonymous said...

Quote: "So what do you mean by that? That you DO have the state DLNR permits?"


**** Before our Photo Tour business and permits were approved, we had to send out a list of all tour stop locations to the Department of Transportation, the Kauai Department of Consumer Advocacy and Public Utilities Commission.

They approved our business and granted our PUC after a thorough 90 day process. If we are instructed to obtain additional permits, then we would be more than happy and willing to do so.

We just called the public utilities commission on Oahu and are expecting a return call shortly. We did this because we are sincere, hard working, law abiding citizens.

I noticed you did not reply on the double standard "He's a transplant" comment you made.

Nor did you address the fact that we support local businesses and local residents on numerous fronts.

Nor did you address the, "So much for truth in advertising", claim you made after I replied.

Nor did you reply to the promoting safety aspect of our tours.

Nor did you reply to how by showing people Kauai's best locations these people come back to Kauai and continue to support the Kauai economy and people.

Nor did you reply to small size of our tours as well as short visits to each location points shared.

Vince

Joan Conrow said...

Thanks for checking with PUC. You might just want to give a call directly to the DLNR, though, since they handle permits for commercial tours on state lands. And if you're taking paying clients to beaches, that's a commercial use of state lands -- regardless of all the other points you've raised in justifying what you do.

Anonymous said...

When you go through such a lengthy and detailed process to get approved by the state of Hawaii to offer photo tours; and you list each and every beach, overlook and waterfall location by name in that process (to three different agencies); when you receive approvals from all three of these departments you naturally assume and believe you have everything needed to conduct your business honestly and legally.

Despite the negative tone and comments you made on this blog about us and our business, we really do our best to be respectful hosts to the island we all love. We go out of our way to keep all tours small, visits short and to promote safety along the way. We go out of our way to support other local businesses and local individuals on Kauai and even beyond Kauai. We do try to be respectful, responsible and decent people and business owners throughout it all.

I do appreciate your allowing me the platform and opportunity to at least express my points of view.

My best to you and yours,

Vince

Joan Conrow said...

You're welcome, and thanks for at least recognizing the value in trying to be respectful and do the right thing.

Anonymous said...

Well done everyone who posted... lively debate and discussions lead to better understanding and clarity. Also better and improved relations and conduct of same. Keep up the Talk Story sessions... makes for great reading too. Mahalo!

Anonymous said...

FOLLOW UP:

Due to your insinuations that we were not legally permitted to take people on state land (all beaches), we contacted DNLR directly.

The agent's name is Marvin Mikasa. He said anybody with a problem with what we do or questions about our legal status can call him directly at 274-3491.

He was very clear that what we do is 1000 percent legal and fully state and all other agency approved.

He stated that DLNR permits were required for businesses such as movie location sets, large wedding set ups and the like. While places like us that stop for a few minutes and leave do not require these specific permits.

While people have a right to post what they wish online in blogs like this, it is still, in my sincere opinion, irresponsible to do so the way this one was handled. And anybody can rightfully expect to be called out on it from time to time if this is how they operate.

You probably have some nice articles out there Joan, but this one is not one of them. All it does is fan the flames of hatred when you write things the way this one was written such as this sentence.

Quote: "But it really kind of grates when they're led to the few relatively unused places by someone who is exploiting these locales for kala — even if they do have a permit."

End of quote.

You posted disparaging remark after remark about our business and us personally, and put up links to our website, while not even taking the time to get our point of view or even to check your own facts first about our legal status and rights. Some might even call it slander, especially when questioning our legal status and accusing us of exploitation. And just for the record Joan, a transplant that's moved here since 1987, as you have, is still a transplant.

The fact that we even called DLNR, anyway, shows we value the laws in place and always TRY do our best to do what's right.

We are hard working, tax paying, law abiding people trying our sincere best to provide a valuable service at an affordable price to give visitors a great experience while also trying to help ourselves make ends meet.

It would have been a reasonable gesture to see you show some humility and apologize for your unfair, negative tone and remarks about us and our business here.

We are legal. We do not "exploit" Kauai or any people in any way whatsoever. We support the local economy in many ways. We hire and support local people and businesses again and again. We pay all of our fees and taxes regularly. We keep tours small even though it costs more. We promote Kauai safety and awareness throughout. We help inspire visitors to hopefully come back again. And so much more.

We all make mistakes (and I sure have my share of them in life), but never would I want to be too proud to admit when I make them to say that I was sorry.

Feel free to stop in and say hello sometime, Joan.

Good luck with your blog.

Vince

Joan Conrow said...

I'm glad to hear you're legal, though dismayed that DLNR takes such a lax approach to commercial activities. From the information in the AP article and your own website, it certainly sounds like you spend more than a "few minutes" at some of these sites.

As for the rest of it, I was merely stating my opinion, and referencing information from your own website. It's obvious you feel you're doing a good thing, but from my point of view, it does grate to see tourists being led to the few remaining wild places, and the ongoing commercialization of public land. It's part of what's chipping away at the essence of Kauai.

Anonymous said...

Quote from Joan: "I'm glad to hear you're legal, though dismayed that DLNR takes such a lax approach to commercial activities. From the information in the AP article and your own website, it certainly sounds like you spend more than a "few minutes" at some of these sites".


**** Astounding!

Yes we are legal, and your "illegal" assumptions and comments about us WRONG.

You do not even ACKNOWLEDGE the numerous facts I've brought out against your unfair post and comments here, much less APOLOGIZE for them. Wow.

You do not bother commenting on any of the numerous GOOD things our business does nor even address my refuting of your unfair comment about, "exploiting the island for cash". Instead, this time, you focus now on how many "minutes" we visit each stop.

Amazing.


Quote: "As for the rest of it, I was merely stating my opinion, and referencing information from your own website. It's obvious you feel you're doing a good thing, but from my point of view, it does grate to see tourists being led to the few remaining wild places, and the ongoing commercialization of public land. It's part of what's chipping away at the essence of Kauai."


**** WE TAKE SMALL GROUPS OF PEOPLE TO TAKE PICTURES OF KAUAI!!!


HOW BAD AND DAMAGING IS THAT?

We show them places that are beautiful.

We never leave them behind.

We stay just a short time in each place. (How else do you see 9-14 stops in 5.5 hours with some hiking, driving and lunch from Kapaa to Hanalei and back?)

We promote safety, offer a good service and fill a need on this island.

We support the KAUAI economy, KAUAI businesses and KAUAI'S local people in too many ways to mention.

Your unfair character assassination here against us is wrong on so many levels Joan.

Yet your lack of remorse, humility and apology is even worse! Sorry.


I thought the BLOG POST ITSELF about us was bad enough Joan.

But it seems that it's much more than just the blog post here that's truly the problem now.

You can have the last word too.

Good luck Joan,

Vince

Anonymous said...

Vince,

Thank you for supporting local businesses! You work is appreciated, thank you for sharing the island with visitors and spreading aloha.

irk said...

Vinny K.T.:
SAFE AS SHIT!
i had to stop completely on Kalihiwai Road on the bend by the waterfall as your oblivious charges, apparrently stupendified by the beauty, crossed the road to the guardrail without looking or hearing the rattle of my truck, from your van parked slightly on the road, giving meaning to the bumper sticker: "TOURIST SEASON: NO BAG LIMIT".
do you not ACKNOWLEDGE that many are irritated by your presence at places we cherish? then they are not the only ones OBLIVIOUS.

Anonymous said...

Could it be that the Island is not really yours to share? What bothers me is the new people who just moved here feeling like they need to share Kauai.
It's not personal to newcomers just that it takes a very long time to really understand what is going on here. The total loss of lifestyle for many.

Anonymous said...

Wow. A definte hot button here. Maybe Joan should post some more articles on this situation.

Which tours really harm Kauai and which ones help?

"Practice random acts of Aloha!"

Anonymous said...

Hey Mr Irk, if you are pissed off because a tourist doesn't look when crossing the street to take pics then you got some serious anger management issues. And if you are irritated by the presence of tourists in places you cherish then you are just plain selfish.

Anonymous said...

Which tour groups are more sustainable than others? Excellent question!

Which boat tours feed marine life? (a no no, btw)

Which tours employ many locals?

Which tours are substantially green with respect to the environment?

Anonymous said...

which tours are really legal... not just the transprtation part, sounds like DLNR staff here need a little education.

Anonymous said...

3:46 pm

So what, you mean the Kauai land division of the DLNR, might be misinterpreting the laws of the State of Hawaii. Ney, cannot be so.

Anonymous said...

Photo tours, hiking tours & sightseeing tours do not hurt the island at all. All the whining here is laughable! These tours simply show off or island Kauai.

Ziplining, ATV and horse back tours are almost always on private property. Helicopter tours can be a nuisance to some I guess, but don't bother me. Boat tours rarely bother people either and show NaPali. These tourists here today will all be gone next month and most even gone next week.

This is just a case where people are becoming selfish and not wnating to share Kauai at all. Thats the bottom line. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Anonymous said...

4:34 you are either clueless or an idiot or both.

Anonymous said...

Anon. 11:20 Why is it so hard for you to understand that yes some of us are irritated by the overflow of tourists? Its not selfish its just a different point of view than yours.

irk said...

to nony mouse January 6, 2012 11:20 AM please try to follow the thread. my previous comment was in response to:
"The writer fails to mention that we also put tremendous focus on SAFETY when showing people the island of Kauai as well."-Vincent K. Tylor

volumes have been written of the negative effects of the industry that also hurts this island. i am not ashamed to personnally think "ecotourism" is an oxymoron and would never call you an oxy. (again, try to follow the thread of 4:34p)
anyone trying to con Vince me otherwise is in the neg. industry, trying to sell what i enjoy for free, unlike the blog page author, whose commercials clutter this page like tourists on a good day at my favorite beach.
ALOHA is the industry's bumper sticker that i rubber stamp over with SOLD OUT.

Anonymous said...

hahahaha poor Irk is upset because a tourist didn't look good enough when crossing a road & blames the tour company for not holding their hand. And he also dont like it when other people are on same beach as him. hahahaha go cry to your mommy irk. what a little crybaby. maybe irk can make a reservation to be at his favorite beach alone some day in teh future.

Anonymous said...

The crybaby is Vinny boy who is probably the one leaving these comments.

The rest of us know where Irk is coming from and we say right on!

Joan Conrow said...

OK, Anonymous, (9:56 and 1:21) you were deleted because it's time to move it along. Come up with something fresh or stop commenting.

Anonymous said...

Ok, let's get this straight, the one to three days a year that he north shore (of most of the islands over a course of days are so effected) is bumping shoulder to shoulder with tourists AND locals travel north to see the amazing ocean waves.

This is your complaint, that this guy Vince takes potentially 7 drivers off the road is a good thing.

You are missing something.

Anonymous said...

Look on the bright side. In a few decades, we won't have any beaches due to rising sea levels and energy will be so expensive that very few will be able to travel to Hawaii by plane.

Anonymous said...

Vince's business is just one of hundreds of businesses that provide services for tourists and it's this over-commercialization that grates at the nerves. This I agree w/ Joan no matter how much Vince justifies/defends his business. Most tourist-oriented businesses cannot provide wages that locals can live on w/out having to work 2-3 jobs and live in multi-family households.

This crap about not wanting to share our special places w/ the world doesn't address what tourism has done to diminish the local culture, thus the resentment. When all the hotels and mansions go up, who gets displaced from these locations? Lifelong residents, fishermen, gathers... When it happens over and over, when the character of a once pristine place changes forever and this scenario repeats itself hundreds of times over throughout Kauai and Hawaii, it breeds resentment. Our local officials can't see beyond the tourism dollar. Development at all costs is the mantra.

Anonymous said...

Went to Hanalei, felt like L.A. Too many people, period. It will only get more crowded.

Anonymous said...

This is Vince again. I have no real beef if some people living on Kauai simply do not care for tourism in general. Opinions are free. But this island depends on it and that is a fact.

The Kauai roofing business owner who depends on locals (exclusively) for his own business and income, knows full well that unless TOURISTS come to the hotel/restaurant/tour/souvenir etc etc businesses on this island, that he will definitely suffer in his own business as a result. That's just how it is. No smoke blowing here.

As the previous commenter writes, our own photo tour business is just one of hundreds (or more likely one of THOUSANDS) of businesses that offer services to people visiting Kauai.

But what I DO have an opinion about, however, is when the writer of this blog singles us out by name (posting a link directly to our website), and makes the hypocritical, double standard disparaging remarks that I am a "TRANSPLANT" (join the club Joan), states that we are "EXPLOITING THE ISLAND FOR CASH", that we are DISHONEST IN ADVERTISING while also insinuating that we are NOT EVEN OPERATING LEGALLY.

Nor does the writer have the courtesy (or humility) to apologize after being proven point blank WRONG as well as having every issue she raised addressed and refuted directly and thoroughly right here.

Nor does the writer even acknowledge the many positive things we do (as small business owners) for the economy, for other businesses and for numerous local people in Kauai and beyond. NO COMMENTS AT ALL FROM HER ON THAT!

No reply at all on the facts that we take small groups out even though it costs us more, or that we promote safety, keep visits short, take these people back with us, help people return to Kauai, employ locals and so much more.

This here is simply irresponsible and sloppy writing. Period.

If people here have a real problem with seeing tourists on the island's beaches, then my suggestion would be to write the Hawaii Tourism Authority. THEY are the folks that spend tens of millions of dollars EACH YEAR getting people from all over the world to come to the Hawaiian Islands. And they are directed by the chosen leaders of the state Hawaii. So go write your congressmen and women if you don't like tourists too.

Our little business simply takes a very, very tiny fraction of these people already here, (and in very small groups), out to take nice photos of Kauai and share some photography tips along the way. And that is it.

It is done legally. It contributes back to the island in too many ways to list here again.

The owner of this blog has singled us out by name and tried to drag our business and reputations through the mud.

And what was our great crime here? What did we do to get placed on her blog and attacked?The writer simply said she saw people from one of our tours on the same trail she was walking on.

Amazing stuff here. Who really has the problem then?


And this is exactly why people like me will have to show up from time to time to set the record straight.


Vince

Anonymous said...

Joan,

A very basic Google search on your name seems to indicate that you wrote for Frommers on a guidebook for Hawaii. If that is the case then I have to wonder how you can complain about someone else doing the same thing as you -- making money from tourism in the islands. Honestly the photo tour seems like one of the most sensitive tours one could offer, as compared to tour boats, helicopters etc.

You may well be concerned about "locals", but if so, you are part of the problem yourself. Also, I must say that for a writer of a blog you have a rather abrasive style.