00:00you're chilling in Hawaii on the island of Oahu a friend calls you up hey I'm here to meet me in
00:08Maui great but how do you get there your first thought is probably to take a ferry but that's
00:15impossible Hawaii is a pretty unique place it's the most expensive state to live in it has its
00:22own official language besides English and it's the only American state made up entirely of islands
00:30Hawaii has a total of 137 islands eight are the main ones but only six are open to tourists
00:38and the distance between those islands is probably bigger than you'd expect for example traveling
00:45from Oahu to the Big Island is around 185 miles which is about the same distance as Chicago
00:52to Indianapolis you might be surprised that you can't make that trip by boat in fact the only
01:00ferry system that actually takes passengers in Hawaii runs between Maui and Lanai that's it so
01:08your only option is to travel between islands is by plane honestly it's a little surprising
01:14especially considering how many people visit Hawaii every year tourism pretty much drives their economy
01:21and in the first eight months of 2024 alone over six million people visited its beautiful beaches
01:29knowing that we would expect Hawaii to set up a good ferry system to make it easier for visitors to get
01:35around just like in Greece this would probably boost tourism even more bringing more money to the
01:42state but believe me authorities and private companies also know that in fact they've already tried
01:49it ferries were a big way of getting around in Hawaii from the 19th century up until the 1950s
01:56since then there have been a few attempts to bring back a ferry service but unfortunately they have
02:02all failed one of the biggest attempts was the Hawaii super ferry which aimed to provide a fast affordable
02:09boat service between islands it could carry almost 900 passengers and even allow them to bring their own
02:15cars along the trial run started in 2007 and people were excited but it turned into a big fiasco a bunch of
02:25legal and environmental issues came up like concerns about the impact on marine life especially Wales the
02:32courts decided the ferry didn't go through the proper environmental reviews and that caused a lot of
02:38trouble by 2009 after tons of protests and setbacks they had to shut it down if a project like this comes up
02:47again it will probably fail one more time and there are a few reasons why it's almost impossible to set up a
02:54regular ferry system there let's start by talking about Hawaii's rough waters they are deep and wild
03:02take the Aleno Iaha Channel for example it's a 30 mile stretch that separates Maui from the big island its name means
03:11Great Billow Smashing Channel and it lives up to that it's over 6000 feet deep making it one of the most dangerous
03:18stretches of water on earth the wind there is also super strong the fastest in Hawaii's coastal waters but it's not any easier in the rest of the
03:29archipelago the whole region gets hit by storms from the Pacific up north sending big waves crashing into the
03:36islands and making the waters rough and unpredictable swells can come from three four or even more directions
03:44making the sea feel really choppy someone who's not used to taking ferry boats would definitely find that
03:51well uncomfortable to say the least to deal with rough seas like this the ferries have to be really big and
04:00strong but that also makes them more expensive and harder to run than the ones in places like Alaska or
04:06Washington State another reason it's so tough to set up this system today has to do with marine life a big ship
04:15moving through the shallower waters when docking could really damage the local ecosystem and there's
04:22also the problem that the sea routes are also the migration paths of many sea animals like humpback whales
04:28and spinner dolphins not to mention ferry services can make it easier to spread harmful plants and animals what
04:36experts call invasive species see Hawaii's ecosystem is super unique because it's been isolated out in the middle of the
04:45Pacific when we talk about plants and animals that are native to Hawaii we mean they got there on their
04:52own no humans involved they arrived with the help of waves wind or even birds flying over but events like
05:01these are super rare so for over 70 million years their plants and animals didn't have to deal with outside
05:08competition that's made them really fragile so when new species get brought in by us it can be a big
05:17problem and they could end up harming the environment Hawaii's already been battling invasive species like
05:24fire ants coquie frogs and meconium a fast-growing plant from South America that takes over native forests
05:32people there worry that ferries which carry cars and cargo between islands could accidentally spread
05:39these invaders even more like we mentioned at the beginning of the video the long distances between
05:45their lands don't really help either for example if you were to travel from Oahu to the big island of
05:51Hawaii by boat it would take around 30 hours and that's without any stops the same trip by plane takes about 50 minutes
06:00ferries that cover long distances are much more expensive so they need a much bigger demand to make
06:08them profitable on top of that the state doesn't really have the infrastructure like enough ports
06:15and terminals to support the operations so setting up new routes is pretty much out of the question
06:21airplanes on the other hand are a different story the air travel industry in Hawaii is already well
06:29established and super competitive that means flying is still the most practical option in Hawaii planes
06:36are quick they don't make you seasick and are pretty affordable usually costing around a hundred dollars
06:42for a round trip okay but what do the locals think about all this well apparently there isn't a huge
06:50demand for residents to commute between the islands all that often Oahu is the busiest island in Hawaii with
06:57about 70 percent of the state's population living there it is where Honolulu the capital is located and
07:05where most of the state's business happens so people from the other islands usually come over for a specific
07:11doctor's appointment or to catch a big concert and that might happen once or twice a year no more than that
07:19so even if people could choose between taking a ferry and a plane for these special occasions most of them would
07:25probably still prefer flying there are plenty of options between the main island airports
07:32planes usually start flying around five in the morning and there are flights available every hour
07:37until the last one which is usually at nine in the evening if you've been dreaming of going to this
07:43paradaisical place but are worried about spending too much on plane tickets i have some tips for you
07:48first off keep in mind that visiting all the main islands in five days or less is way too ambitious
07:57so if you don't have much time to spend there think about your priorities each of the six islands open
08:03to tourists has its own vibe and activities but you don't need to visit them all in one trip and you can
08:09save some money by sticking to fewer islands you can still explore the diversity of the islands by picking
08:15two that offer a nice contrast to each other for example while oahu has that bustling city energy
08:23kawaii has a much more relaxed vibe also flights in the morning are usually cheaper and it might be
08:30better to fly on a weekday rather than the weekend although the price difference isn't usually huge
08:36hopefully these tips will save you some cash while still having an unforgettable island hopping adventure
08:41in hawaii don't forget to share this video with a friend who's also dreaming of exploring these amazing islands
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