Life long big island resident posting.
>>2563929Depends where you go and what you do. Be quiet and chill, don’t trash spaces and you are fairly okay. The mauna kea protests the other year were an anomaly, we’ve never seen anything that big before, but I wouldn’t be surprised if something similar happens again nowadays. I blame social media clout and fundraising opportunities that go with it. The guy who got it all started was conveniently trying to get funds and publicity for a cultural center he was trying to start. Before hand almost nobody did cultural practices up there, it was a few old, old, timers doing it. Everyone else just went up with their huge trucks for the snow maybe once a year. The protest village that appeared brought in a lot of shit, spread invasive species and left a bunch of trash. Rant over.
Established trails are generally fine. Oahu has a good trail network. Get a ride to the top of tantalus drive and you can hike all over the mountain tops and down into the valleys from there and get another ride back to home.
Avoid west side Oahu after dark, it’s the poorer and more resentful part of the island.
Puma district on big island is similar. Nearly every year some wanna be white hippie girl gets disappeared out there. It’s really pretty, but it’s the Wild West.
To the original question of camping: there’s some. The state tries to steer people towards staying at hotels.
Some beaches do allow camping. Get permits online at camping. Honolulu. Gov
Similar for the other islands.
Camping at the beaches sucks because of sand and salt air getting everything sticky and salty.
Big island has a few campgrounds up on the mountains, namakanipaio in volcano NP is a fantastic little campground.
Allows dogs on leash. No dogs allowed on the trails though.
