Transcript of Why Nobody Uses Boats Between the Hawaiian Islands

Transcript of Why Nobody Uses Boats Between the Hawaiian Islands

you're chilling in Hawaii on the island of Aahu a friend calls you up hey I'm here too meet me in Maui great but how do you get there your first thought is probably to take a ferry but that's impossible hawaii is a pretty unique place it's the most expensive state to live in it has its own official language besides English and it's the only American state made up entirely of islands hawaii has a total of 137 islands eight are the main ones but only six are open to tourists and the distance between those islands is probably bigger than you'd expect for example traveling from Oahu to the Big Island is around 185 mi which is about the same distance as Chicago to Indianapolis you might be surprised that you can't make that trip by boat in fact the only ferry system that actually takes passengers in Hawaii runs between Maui and Lai that's it so your only option is to travel between islands is by plane honestly it's a little surprising especially considering how many people visit Hawaii every year tourism pretty much drives their economy and in the first 8 months of 2024 alone over 6 million people visited its beautiful beaches knowing that we would expect Hawaii to set up a good ferry system to make it easier for visitors to get around just like in Greece this would probably boost tourism even more bringing more money to the state but believe me authorities and private companies also know that in fact they've already tried it fairies were a big way of getting around in Hawaii from the 19th century up until the 1950s since then there have been a few attempts to bring back a ferry service but unfortunately they have all failed one of the biggest attempts was the Hawaii Super Ferry which aimed to provide a fast affordable boat service between islands it could carry almost 900 passengers and even allow them to bring their own cars along the trial run started in 2007 and people were excited but it turned into a big fiasco a bunch of legal and environmental issues came up like concerns about the impact on marine life especially whales the courts decided the ferry didn't go through the proper environmental reviews and that caused a lot of trouble by 2009 after tons of protests and setbacks they had to shut it down if a project like this comes up again it will probably fail one more time and there are a few reasons why it's almost impossible to set up a regular ferry system there let's start by talking about Hawaii's rough waters they are deep and wild take the Alenoi Channel for example it's a 30-m stretch that separates Maui from the Big Island its name means great billow smashing channel and it lives up to that it's over 6,000 ft deep making it one of the most dangerous stretches of water on Earth the wind there is also super strong the fastest in Hawaii's coastal waters but it's not any easier in the rest of the archipelago the whole region gets hit by storms from the Pacific up north sending big waves crashing into the islands and making the waters rough and unpredictable swells can come from three four or even more directions making the sea feel really choppy someone who's not used to taking ferry boats would definitely find that well uncomfortable to say the least to deal with rough seas like this the fairies have to be really big and strong but that also makes them more expensive and harder to run than the ones in places like Alaska or Washington State another reason it's so tough to set up this system today has to do with marine life a big ship moving through the shallower waters when docking could really damage the local ecosystem and there's also the problem that the seaw routes are also the migration paths of many sea animals like humpback whales and spinner dolphins not to mention fairy services can make it easier to spread harmful plants and animals what experts call invasive species see Hawaii's ecosystem is super unique because it's been isolated out in the middle of the Pacific when we talk about plants and animals that are native to Hawaii we mean they got there on their own no humans involved they arrived with the help of waves wind or even birds flying over but events like these are super rare so for over 70 million years their plants and animals didn't have to deal with outside competition that's made them really fragile so when new species get brought in by us it can be a big problem and they could end up harming the environment hawaii's already been battling invasive species like fire ants ki frogs and mikonia a fast growing plant from South America that takes over native forests people there worry that fairies which carry cars and cargo between islands could accidentally spread these invaders even more like we mentioned at the beginning of the video the long distances between their lands don't really help either for example if you were to travel from Oahu to the big island of Hawaii by boat it would take around 30 hours and that's without any stops the same trip by plane takes about 50 minutes fairies that cover long distances are much more expensive so they need a much bigger demand to make them profitable on top of that the state doesn't really have the infrastructure like enough ports and terminals to support the operations so setting up new routes is pretty much out of the question airplanes on the other hand are a different story the air travel industry in Hawaii is already well established and super competitive that means flying is still the most practical option in Hawaii planes are quick they don't make you seasick and are pretty affordable usually costing around $100 for a round trip okay but what do the locals think about all this well apparently there isn't a huge demand for residents to commute between the islands all that often aahu is the busiest island in Hawaii with about 70% of the state's population living there it is where Honolulu the capital is located and where most of the state's business happens so people from the either islands usually come over for a specific doctor's appointment or to catch a big concert and that might happen once or twice a year no more than that so even if people could choose between taking a ferry and a plane for these special occasions most of them would probably still prefer flying there are plenty of options between the main island airports planes usually start flying around 5:00 in the morning and there are flights available every hour until the last one which is usually at 9:00 in the evening if you've been dreaming of going to this paradasical place but are worried about spending too much on plane tickets I have some tips for you first off keep in mind that visiting all the main islands in 5 days or less is way too ambitious so if you don't have much time to spend there think about your priorities each of the six islands open to tourists has its own vibe and activities but you don't need to visit them all in one trip and you can save some money by sticking to fewer islands you can still explore the diversity of the islands by picking two that offer a nice contrast to each other for example while Aahu has that bustling city energy Kauaii has a much more relaxed vibe also flights in the morning are usually cheaper and it might be better to fly on a weekday rather than the weekend although the price difference isn't usually huge hopefully these tips will save you some cash while still having an unforgettable island hopping adventure in Hawaii don't forget to share this video with a friend who's also dreaming of exploring these amazing islands that's it for today so hey if you pacified your curiosity then give the video a like and share it with your friends