Could motorhomes be Maui’s new wave of budget “lodgings”? Since hotels and vacation rentals are mostly sold out in 2023 on Maui, we went looking for other possibilities. What we found was a plethora of RV rentals on Airbnb and elsewhere.
Which made us start asking questions. After all, car rentals and accommodations in Hawaii are sky-high, and this looked like a solution. We have therefore examined them in more detail, as well as whether they are regulated or even legal. Here is what we discovered:
Hawaii is seeking to control this controversial form of vacation rental for which the state may be ill-equipped. Clearly, RV rentals attract a unique visitor to Hawaii. Maybe someone who doesn’t appreciate the conveniences of resort stays, or wants to be able to roam freely, with little or no advance planning.
Would you pay more than $1,400 per week for this accommodation?
On Airbnb, there are countless Maui vacation rental listings that are actually RVs. It’s just an example:
Here are the details of this rental from a local company that has been offering them for five years:
Good luck finding a place to spend the night.
Maui police recently said overnight camping is not legal in many, if not most, cases statewide. They said it was illegal to use vehicles for human habitation from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., according to state law. This is true when parked on any public road, highway, highway, or other public property. To what extent this is enforced by police and park officials is unclear.
The state DLNR may consider legalizing them in specified parks.
The State Department of Lands and Natural Resources is investigating this possibility. On the other hand, there is a lot of pushback from many about it, adding to the impact of the congestion already present in Hawaii’s parks. Private parks are another possibility. On private property these are legal and residents or farmers can allow them if they wish.
Maui is trying to stop RV rentals via vacation rental regulations.
A Maui bill can make it difficult for RV owners. It’s all about linking motorhomes to vacation rentals. This way they will be limited and regulated with potential fines of up to $20,000.
$50/night camping fee per person?
In Maui, RV websites frequently mention camping at Papalaua State Park. Checking their website, however, indicates that it is designed for tent camping, not RV camping. Again, we cannot say to what extent this is enforced. However, we noted that the per person fee for foreign visitors is $50. So the idea that this is going to be a cheap vacation will not be realized there.
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