where can i legally camp for free in oahu, hawaii?
Sami asked:
i gotta buddy who can get plane tickets for free so we’re goin to hawaii. the island what has honolulu and waikiki and pearl harbor on it and such.
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i gotta buddy who can get plane tickets for free so we’re goin to hawaii. the island what has honolulu and waikiki and pearl harbor on it and such.
we’re poor punks with bad hair and really only want to bother spending money on food, cigarettes, and alcohol. unless we can make friends with some local punks that know a good squat, we’re gonna camp.
i dont know the exact day we’re going, so to plan ahead and ask or a permit on x day til x day wont work.. no advance notice really.
is it legal to camp on the beach with no permit?
September 25th, 2008 at 4:17 am
NO, it is illegal to camp anywhere without a permit, which takes at least a day to obtain. You cannot obtain “long distance.” There is a youth hostel in Waikiki–check for vacancies.
September 27th, 2008 at 10:16 am
No. It’s not even legal to nap on the beach with no permit.
Which is not to say that there are not people who camp and sleep on the beach for weeks at a time without a permit. Eventually, those folks are always kicked out, but they are tolerated to a certain degree because of traditional Native Hawaiian ideas about land use. As the group Sudden Rush raps:
…every piece of land is Hawaiian Homes to me.
8<
So we’re living on the beach and you call us squatters,
Because we’re living off our own land,
fishing from our own waters.
I promise, our fight will never be over
Just try and run us over with your d___ bulldozer!
So, we find ourselves wanting to answer the following questions:
To what extent will poor punks with bad hair from some distant land sleeping on the beach be tolerated by the local authorities?
To what extent will poor punks with bad hair from some distant land sleeping on the beach be tolerated by other people sleeping on the beach who have a long history in this place and strong opinions on the issue of Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) control over natural resources?
The cops are gonna do what they’re gonna do. There’s no guarantee (or “no guarans”, as we say), but the situation with you and the Kanaka Maoli could go either very well, or very badly, depending on your humility and everything that has ever happened to them. And if it comes down to a fight between the Kanaka Maoli and the cops, I would not want to be in the middle of that.
There are several places to camp for free, for less than a week on Oahu, if you sign up in advance. I think Wednesdays you always have to sleep somewhere else. Since the people who work and pay exhorbitant rent for tiny, airless apartments in Honolulu also like to camp, these permits are often reserved weeks ahead of time.
If it were that easy to get by in Hawaii, wouldn’t everybody be over here already? As it is, many Native Hawaiians move to Las Vegas because they can’t afford to rent a place to live here. I mean, there are 14 hula schools in Nevada! And the folks who grow up here often live with their own parents into their 30s and 40s, when they have kids of their own.
There are probably a million people on Oahu on any given day: 900,000 who live there, and 100,000 who are paying for a hotel room. None of them are that interested in making sure you get a cheap and easy place to spend the night.
Make sure you read the comments to the article linked below. These are the strangers on whose kindness you intend to depend?
September 27th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
The island is called Oahu.
I will warn you about being a punk and camping in some places. Not only is it illegal. But if you are truly are a punk. The there local punks that will not like you much.
September 28th, 2008 at 1:20 am
The natives tell us that they wouldn’t consider camping on the beach unless they’re in a very large group because it’s dangerous, and even then they likely wouldn’t do it.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:14 am
im from hawaii and nothing is free unless u want to sleep on the beach with all the cronics witch are drug dealars and homelss i would advise you if u come don here be well aware of people like that.
September 30th, 2008 at 3:54 am
cool! ur going to oahu. i live on oahu. but..yea…most ppl who camp on beaches & stuff are homeless & its not safe to camp alone…[[ppl will usually try to steal from u or fight for "land". but...i suggest u go to bellows. u can camp there...its located on : (41-043 Kalanianaole Highway)
that place is safer than most others...[[no illegal stuff...its right next to a miliatry base place thingy...go 2 waipahu..for illgeal stuff...like weed, ect..lol]]
u should check the site for more info:
September 30th, 2008 at 9:42 am
i live here on oahu… and to sum up
there ARE places to camp for free
there ARE NOT places to camp for free legally without a permit
and it is not guarenteed that you will be safe wherever you camp… nothing like a whole bunch of drunk people wondering the beach at night looking for a fight to ruin your night… 2 years ago a few years ago some people i knew were stupid and decided to camp at mokuleia… a place known to may local to have a bad rep… and surprise surprise… they got jumped by a large group of guy and got their ***** kicked.. one had to go into surgery for his jaw.. i’m not saying this is always gonna happen.. but always travel with a large group and someone that knows the area