Hawaii Superferry Announces Fares
The three hour trips aboard the Hawaii Superferry between Oahu and Kauai or Oahu and Maui would be $50, according to filings with the state Public Utilities Commission. Fares for the four hour trip between Oahu and the Big Island would be $10 more. With discounts and advanced purchases on the Internet, fares could go as  low as $42 per person, making the roundtrip fare on the ferry about half the price of an interisland airline ticket.
The fare to bring a passenger vehicle from Honolulu to Maui or Kauai would be $55. Taking a pickup truck, van or limousine to those islands would cost $90 and fares to the Big Island and at peak times would be higher.
Hawaii Superferry hopes to have two high-speed ferries serving the islands by 2008. Both of the 340-foot catamarans currently being built in Mobile, Alabama, at a cost of $75 each will be able to carry 856 people and 282 cars. If it wins approval, Hawaii Superferry aims to begin service in 2006 with one ferry that would make nine weekly round trips to Kahului, Maui; four to Kawaihae on the Big Island, and three to Nawiliwili Harbor on Kauai. The service will be the first regularly scheduled ferry service since SeaFlight in 1975-78.
Kaua'i ranked #1 in Hawaii and #2 in the world as best island to visit
Readers of Travel + Leisure magazine ranked Kaua'i as the best island to visit in Hawai'i for 2004.
And the same group of over 425,000 readers say Kaua'i is the second best island in the world to visit, bested only by the Indonesian island of Bali.
The results come from the magazine's ninth annual 2004 World's Best Awards readers' survey.
"It is incredibly exciting to be so highly recognized once again by a group as sophisticated as the readers of Travel + Leisure," said Sue Kanoho, executive director of the Kaua'i Visitors Bureau, in a press release.
"We've always enjoyed the popularity of being part of 'Hawaii,' so it's thrilling to see that Kaua'i has won the hearts of travelers who see it as a destination in itself."
Kanoho also said that the Kaua'i visitor industry is having an outstanding summer for visitor arrivals.
The 2004 World's Best Awards was conducted by a questionnaire made available to Travel + Leisure subscribers during the first quarter of the year.
In rating Kaua'i as an island respondents were asked to rate on five characteristics including natural attractions, activities /sights, restaurants / food, people and value.
Kauai Expecting Strong Summer Season
Travel-industry experts are expecting this summer to be an exceptionally strong tourist season nationwide, and Hawai'i is expected to be the third most-popular destination behind California and Florida.
According to the Travel Industry Association, Florida will get 38 percent of America's travelers, with California drawing another 29 percent, Hawai'i comes in third at 16 percent, New York at 15 percent, and Colorado at 12 percent.
Hawai'i is on track to see a record $11.3 billion in visitor spending this year, 8 percent more than last year, and tourist numbers could recall the year 2000, when 7 million visitors came to Hawai'i.
So how will Kaua'i fare?
 "All the hotels are reporting a very strong summer," said Margy Parker, executive director of the Poipu Beach Resort Association.
Indeed, some here are predicting hotel occupancy rates of over 90 percent through July and August - which would set a record for occupancy here.
But Parker said that, in terms of arrivals, Kaua'i won't reach its pre-Hurricane 'Iniki level this year.
Nearly 1.27 million people came to Kaua'i in 1990, two years before the devastating storm hit, she said.
"We got close to a million last year, and might just break a million this year," Parker said.
As long as people continue to fly, Kaua'i will do well, Parker said. Lihu'e Airport will see 48 direct flights weekly in July and August, along with boosted inter-island service by Aloha, Hawaiian and Island Air.
Meanwhile, pre-Sept. 11, 2001 arrivals levels are predicted statewide - a mark that Kaua'i already beat back in May, when the average daily visitor count topped 19,000, up just slightly over the previous high of 18,989 set in July 2000.
But while total arrival numbers aren't as high as some would like, the length-of-stay numbers are better, and make up for fewer visitors.
"People don't understand that the length-of-stay increase can sometimes be better than more arrivals," Parker said. "There's a little less use of the island, but it's the same if not better economically. Visitors eat out at restaurants more, rent cars longer, stay in hotel rooms longer, and extend their consumerism."
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