Waianae/Makaha

"There's a place, on the West Side, called Makaha... Makaha yea..."

A catchy island song by the Ka'au Crater Boys (and family favorite) prompted my visit to this area. About 50 minutes from Waikiki, this is one of the poorest, most desolate areas on the island and, for that matter, that I've ever seen. An excerpt from "Dark Side of the Waianae Coast of Hawaii" describes the scene on spot:

Driving down the Farrington Highway through Waianae’s small towns the view of million dollar homes next to rundown shacks, overgrown weeds, rusted out broken down cars and trucks and on any given day discarded furniture or waste sitting on the side of the street detracts from the beauty and simple charm of Waianae. Along the beautiful stretches of beach scenery are rows and rows of dilapidated tents with homeless families and their pets living on the beach and at the end of the road past the town of Makaha is a full blown “tent city” with families of homeless living a day to day existence.

Although the article highlights that Meth use and alcoholism in Hawaii are serious problems among the poor, less fortunate locals, many of these people likely cannot afford the expensive rent or price of a home. Apparently, they have one-week camping permits that they renew at the city center each Friday. I tried to snap a picture of the tent cities on the beach, but the pictures in the article show it clearer. It is hard to think people live here day-to-day in what everybody calls paradise.