Diamond Head The state will start charging $5 or more per vehicle at Diamond Head State Monument as early as July, in a move that is expected to double the annual revenue of the park.
visit will cost
you more
The state Land Board approves
charging $5 or more to park
at the popular attractionBy Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.comSince May 1, 2000, the popular hiking and tourism spot has been charging a $1 fee at the trail head and took in $571,000 in the first year of walk-in fee collection. There has been no charge to those who just park, look around inside the famous crater and leave.
That's going to change, according to a plan approved by the state Board of Land & Natural Resources yesterday.
The board authorized the state Department of Land & Natural Resources' Division of State Parks to seek bids for a private contractor that would staff a new toll booth at the entrance to the Diamond Head parking area. Sealed bids will be solicited in the next months, officials said.
Contract workers would collect fees from both walking and driving visitors. The current kiosk used to collect fees from hikers would then be used for state park staff to dispense information about the park.
Daniel S. Quinn, state parks administrator, said the change means "staff will be able to do their interpretive program instead of making the collection effort."
Under the plan, regular passenger vehicles will be charged $5 to park at Diamond Head, while people who walk into the park will be charged $1.
Quinn said that in addition to a $10-a-year walk-in pass, which is already available to frequent Diamond Head users, motorists will be able to buy a $30-a-year vehicle pass.
Commercial vehicles will be charged fees that correlate to the number of passenger seats they have, so the bottom line could still be about $1 a person, Quinn said.
Quinn said the earliest a contractor could be in place would be July 1. However, the park will be closed April 23-25 to improve and expand the parking lot and reconfigure its access road to get ready for the toll booth.
State park workers "are not set up to collect from the toll booth," Quinn said, "so it won't be occupied and used until a contractor is in place."
"We think we will get more revenue because some of the visitors don't pass by the kiosk" that takes fees now, Quinn said.
The Land Board actually approved the new fee schedule in February 1999 in conjunction with other state park fee changes, but the vehicle fees at Diamond Head State Monument have not been enforced.
Quinn admitted yesterday that the public may be surprised at the change. Some large tour buses whose occupants typically do not hike the trail may stop coming, he said.
"Anytime you charge fees, certainly there's a little reaction."
Vehicle entry fees will be charged at Diamond Head State Monument beginning July 1 or as soon as the state hires a contractor to collect them. Fees will be: Entry fees
>> $1 for an individual to walk in, or $10 for an annual walk-in pass. >> $5 for a private vehicle, or $30 for an annual drive-in pass. >> $10 for a commercial vehicle that seats up to 15 people. >> $20 for a minibus that seats 16-25 people. >> $40 for a bus that seats 25 or more.
State of Hawaii
