Hawaiians take back tourist-free Waikiki, quarantine on ghost town island

Growing up in Hawaii, Amber Lem’s family avoided Waikiki, world-famous tourist mecca.

“I reflect back on my childhood, Waikiki has always been this pinnacle of like that’s where all tourists are,” Lem said. “We didn’t really go into Waikiki, ever.”

Many or locals would also shun Waikiki’s congested streets and herds of slow-moving tourists.

But w that coronavirus pandemic has forced state leers to impose a 14-day quarantine on travelers arriving to islands, Waikiki is mostly a ghost town. Gov. David Ige has extended traveler quarantine through June.

So, locals are taking Waikiki back. Residents are enjoying wide sidewalks for running and walking. y’re swimming -- with lots of room for social distancing -- in waters rmally clogged with awestruck and sunburned tourists. re’s more parking available for those escaping small houses and apartments in neighborhoods that don’t have sidewalks.

Lem, a sales coach who lives on eastern edge of Waikiki that has fewer hotels, said she’s able to enjoy area for first time in her life in ways she hasn’t be able to before.

“I have been experiencing Waikiki more, and it’s definitely in a different parigm,” she said. “It’s overwhelming with tons of tourists. And that’s t necessarily a b thing. It’s a lot. It’s like, it’s intense.”

Tourists “are sometimes oblivious,” Lem said. “y’re so enamored by being in Hawaii that y’re t as present to people who are local.”

She’s appreciating how “beautiful and calm” her community is w. “And I’m so happy to enjoy it in this capacity right w,” she said.

As of Friday, Hawaii h 649 cases of coronavirus. re have been 17 deaths.

Hawaii’s traveler quarantine has dramatically reduced number of daily passengers coming to tourism-dependent state. On Thursday, 300 visitors arrived in state, according to Hawaii Tourism Authority. During same time last year, nearly 30,000 passengers arrived daily.

“Waikiki is t Waikiki anymore, obviously,” said Mufi Hannemann, president and CEO of Hawaii Tourism and Lodging Association. “So it is a good opportunity for local residents to, you kw, enjoy some of those things, perhaps in past that y’ve been in competition with visitors.”

He warned that if all goes well, an empty Waikiki will be short-lived: “Go w because it’s t always going to that way because we have to get people back to work.”

Hawaii has long grappled with how many tourists is too many.

“People say slow it down, less tourists. But that also means a significant number of people are t going to be working,” Hannemann said. “Tourism fuels ecomy. If y’re t working, n Hawaii can’t sustain itself.”

Until tourists return in force, Melissa Chang is enjoying driving from her nearby Holulu neighborhood to walk along Waikiki’s wide sidewalks.

“I could walk in my own neighborhood, but re’s a lot of homeless. So it’s actually safer to drive to entrance of Waikiki and walk re,” she said.

Previously, social media professional would go into Waikiki only if she needed to for work. “But for recreation, I’d probably go somewhere else,” she said.

w, it’s more pleasant, and “you can park almost anywhere,” Chang said.