HCC §34-12
Rules for using public access to beaches and recreation areas
Read the official text at hawaiicounty.gov ↗This law makes it illegal to use a public access for business or for anything other than getting to and from a recreational activity. It defines who counts as a person and what counts as commercial activity. Breaking this rule is a crime.
everyone
The ordinance, as written (Hawaiʻi County) — Abuse of a public access
A copy, taken August 21, 2026. The version published by Hawaiʻi County is the one that governs, and it may have changed since. Check it before relying on anything here.
A person commits the offense of abuse of a public access if the person: (a) Engages in commercial activity within or upon a public access, or (b) Uses a public access other than for transit to and from a recreational activity. For the purpose of this section, a “person” means an individual, corporation, trust, estate, partnership, association or any other legal entity, and “commercial activity” means the solicitation of a person for the sale or rental of goods or services or any transaction whereby a person receives any benefit or a promise to receive a benefit by providing goods or services to another person. (1996, ord 96-17, sec 2.)34-12
Published by the County of Hawaiʻi Office of the County Clerk.
LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.