Kaena Point vehicle permits run out 4 months early

Vehicle permits for Kaena Point have already reached the annual cap and no more permits will be issued starting from today — four months before the end of the year, state parks official said.

The Division of State Parks said the maximum number of 10,000 permit decals, valid through Dec. 31, has been reached, due to “tremendous unanticipated and unprecedented demand.”

The permits are required to drive beyond the gate into Kaena Point State Park Reserve, Mokuleia section, past the paved road and into the gravel parking area. The permit system, initiated in 2015, was part of a management plan to protect the park from damage by four-wheel vehicles.

Drivers must remain on a limited number of designated, dirt roads, which end at the fenced Kaena Point Natural Area Reserve.

Permits for 2019 — available only to Oahu residents — will be issued in early November, state parks officials said, with a more specific date to be announced next month.

State Parks administrator Curt Cottrell said there are still issues with permittees who insist that the area, both on and off designated routes, is suitable for ‘mud bogging’ – “which then creates severe erosion, prohibits the re-establishment of coastal vegetation and ultimately accelerates soil runoff into the pristine near shore waters – where there is an abundant fishery.”