The community has played a role in spotting unlicensed tours and trespassing hikers.
That’s another problem that relies on community complaints, since the state Public Utilities Commission regulates vehicle tour operators. “They invest money in a van and all of a sudden they’re a tour company,” Hankins said. When asked if social media, illegal tour operators or another factor contributed to trespassing hikers, Hankins said it’s “a little bit of everything.” Some hostels and bed-and-breakfast places will offer tours as part of the stay, where “six or seven people jump in a van and take a private tour to Hana.” That’s difficult because not all private land is marked as such, and the complicated property lines of rural East Maui make it difficult for police in the field to know where one boundary ends and another begins. Police either have to catch people in the act or have proof from landowners then they have to prove that people knowingly trespassed. “A lot of times they just don’t know they’re trespassing, and it’s because of all the bad information that’s being put out there.” “We don’t have enough manpower to dedicate to illegal hiking, and most of the time it’s done on private property, so we need the private property owner to complain,” Hankins said. If officers are in Kipahulu and the station gets a trespassing call in Keanae, it’s likely the people will be gone by the time officers arrive. Police drive the highway every day, “but because of the logistics, we just can’t be everywhere,” Hankins said. (Bamboo Forest at Milepost 6 and the Puka Maui hike at Milepost 7 are under Wailuku jurisdiction.) The Hana Patrol Division has eight officers, two sergeants and one commander who cover a large chunk of East Maui, from Kaumahina State Wayside Park along Hana Highway down to Manawainui Gulch along Piilani Highway. “It’s probably the worst one in Hana where we do have a good portion of the rescues.” William Hankins, commander of the Hana Patrol Division. “It’s such a popular spot, and it’s so widely publicized that everybody thinks it’s just like a state park,” said police Lt. 6, a 29-year-old Utah visitor was flown to the hospital after falling about 20 feet into a dry streambed, about 150 yards beyond a washed-out bridge on Nahiku Road.Īnd, in three separate instances in July, August and September, four people were airlifted to safety after falling from the cliff ledge on the trail leading to Kaihalulu Beach, commonly known as Red Sand Beach, which sits on Hana Ranch Partners property. That same day, a 60-year-old Alaska visitor injured his leg trying to climb over a fence on a hiking trail above the Garden of Eden Arboretum and was airlifted out. By the time friends got back to the road to get cell reception and call for help, too much time had passed for first responders to revive him, officials said. Grealish became unresponsive while swimming in the cove. There, people swim across to view a large “puka” in the rocky coastline.
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11, 38-year-old Kevin Grealish and six friends set out along the Puka Maui trail, which takes hikers down the mountainside to a series of tide pools and a cove.