Crackdown on Kauai Coast Tour Boats

Kauai’s scenic Na Pali Coast, with towering cliffs that have lured tourists and movie makers, is getting less accessible to visitors as a result of a crackdown on tour boats operating from Hanalei Bay.

Already this year, about half the bay’s boat operators have relocated to more distant ports or gone out of business, leaving only seven outfits--as opposed to the 30 or so that operated in the 1980s, according to boat owners and the Kauai Visitors Bureau. Even those seven are scheduled to be phased out over the next year under a ban recently announced by Hawaiian Gov. Ben Cayetano.

The ban comes after years of protests from environmentalists and others who say commercial boating interferes with local residents, who swim and fish in the bay, and hurts the Hanalei River, which President Clinton this year designated as one of 14 American Heritage rivers.

Boat operators such as Ralph Young of Hanalei Sport Fishing and Tours say they have the legal right to operate from Hanalei Bay and don’t want to move to Port Allen or Lihue--which are about 45 to 90 minutes away by land. Young is contesting the issue in court. Meanwhile, tourists should check with locals on which boats are still operating from the bay, or go with one of the five companies based on the south or west shores, the Kauai Visitors Bureau advises.