Hawaii's most popular state parks are on Kauai

HONOLULU -- They don't call it the Garden Isle for nothing.

A new survey by the Hawaii Tourism Authority shows four of the state's 10 most popular state parks are on Kauai: Wailua State Park, Haena State Park; Waimea Canyon; and the Napali Coast.

The most frequently visited park site, however, is the Pali Lookout on Oahu, also known as Nu'uanu Pali State Wayside.

Also on the list are Diamond Head, Oahu; Makena State Park, Maui; Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area, Big Island; Iao Valley State Monument, Maui; and Ka'ena Point State Park, Oahu.

The survey conducted for the authority by OmniTrack Group Inc. covers 55 state parks on all islands. Researchers randomly visited park sites and surveyed visitors between July and October.

About two-thirds of all visitors were from out of state, with 86 percent of those from North America. Only 5 percent of park visitors were Japanese.

Meanwhile, state officials said that the number of Japanese visitors to Hawaii overall has declined, along with a drop in visits from Californians and residents of the eastern United States. Tourists from those three places declined altogether by more than 3 percent from 2006.

The total number of visitors to Hawaii also fell 1.2 percent from 2006 to about 7.4 million people in 2007. The number of days visitors spent in the state also dipped by 1.6 percent.

But while fewer tourists came to the state compared to the previous year, they spent $103.2 million more. Total visitor spending in 2007 climbed to $12.2 billion, up 0.9 percent from 2006.