Jaunted

So, in a nutshell, the Superferry is barely competitive with the plane and is not competitive at all for some fare classes. What it promises to deliver, however, is unparalleled convenience. If it works as promised, a visitor could rent a car once and put it on the Ferry to travel between islands, something that would probably save time and hassles (no filling up a rental car three times on three separate islands, no building in an extra 30-45 minutes to return and pick-up rental cars). Another nice benefit for tourists -- avoiding big spikes in car rental prices, which soar on the Big Island for Ironman and on Oahu for the Pro Bowl. You could easily land on Maui, stay there for a few days, then ship the car to Oahu and or Big Island, catch the event, and save probably $50 to $100 per day, in some cases.

For locals, going holoholo would mean simply driving to the harbor, driving the car onto the boat and then driving off the other side. For families with children, this could be a Godsend, eliminating the car-seat hassle factor (and also the "yuck" factor of using rental car companies' shoddy, smelly, filthy car-seats). For agriculture, this promises to be a huge deal as it would make shipping truckloads of produce from one island to another very cheap. That means farmers on the Outer Islands can quickly and easily access Oahu markets. Which means more succulent local fresh goodness for Oahu restaurants and more stable ag market for farmers, who have been, to a degree, trapped by geography and air freight prices and hassles.

Environmental organizations, such as the Sierra Club, have warned that the Superferries (there will ultimately be two, with a second traversing from Maui to Kona) will cause port crowding and could have other environmental impacts. Hawaii Superferry has managed to push through its permits without requiring an environmental impact statement, so impacts remain an open question. That said, the Superferry will not discharge any garbage or wasterwater and will use waterjet technology, ensuring no whales or other wildlife gets diced by whirling propellers. Non-toxic hull paint and no ballast tanks (a favorite hideaway for invasive pests) are two other green pluses. Perhaps most importantly, there is nothing as ungreen as hopping on a jet airplane for a 40-minute flight, since so much fuel is burned in take-off and landing.

Aside from green problems, another question -- traffic. Will the boats create jams? Maui and Oahu already have sizeable traffic issues around the ports. Kauai less so. And perhaps more realistically, will these specialized watercraft be able to handle full-on ferry duty in the some of the roughest nearshore waters on Earth? Even on a small day the waves in the channels between islands are quite sizable. The Superferry will certainly make life more interesting in the interisland travel market. Personally, I plan to try the service out and take an Outer Island trip without leaving the family Honda Odyssey home-on-wheels at home.

[Photo: lalachan]

Related Stories:
· Hawaii Superferry [Official Site]
· Hawaii Superferry: Friend or Foe? [Jaunted]