It’s still going to cost just five dollars to visit Puuhonoa o Honaunau National Historical Park.
Bucking a trend of increased entrance fees at national parks, officials at the popular South Kona destination have decided to implement increases in the cost of only one of its passes — and not until 2017. That’s because of a large amount of community feedback asking that rates for residents remain the same, according to the National Park Service, which launched a campaign last fall to gather feedback.
“We heard from many residents that they wanted the rates to remain the same for locals but supported a rate increase for nonresidents,” park Superintendent Tammy Duchesne said in a press release. “Because we are a national park system, we must be consistent in how we charge people from all over the country and world and cannot have different prices based on residency. Given the NPS can’t raise the fees for some people and not others, here at Puuhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park we have decided not to increase the entrance fees.”
The annual tri-park pass, which covers PUHO, Hawaii Volcanoes and Haleakala national parks, will stay at $25 until 2017, when it will increase to $30. Parks officials had originally proposed increasing that rate to $50. The annual pass that covers all national parks will remain unchanged at $80, the senior pass will stay $10 and children under 16 will continue to be admitted without charge.
The 420-acre park had 401,807 visitors last year. NPS estimates they spent $22.5 million in communities near the park, supporting 285 jobs.
The park has recently used fees to stabilize the Great Wall, improve the picnic area, replace and upgrade an audio-visual system in the amphitheater, trail stabilization, and re-thatching and reconstruction of temples and canoe houses.
Additionally, the park has had to repair historic stone walls damaged by a long period of high surf in January. Workers from PUHO and Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park are stabilizing the seawall at the Hale o Keawe temple, said Adam Johnson, chief of resources for the park. Crews from the two other West Hawaii national parks and Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail pitched in to help rebuild walls at PUHO in March and April.
Under a push nationwide to standardize fees, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park launched an increase on June 1 that will play out with $5 increases annually for the next three years. The per-vehicle cost went from $10 to $15, and will be $25 per vehicle by 2017.
HVNP officials say the money will help with deferred maintenance and new projects, and will meet national standards for fees charged at similar parks. Entrance fees for recreational users had not increased at the park since 1997.