MEDIA RELEASE

(Kailua-Kona) – The largest cruise ship to ever make a port call to Kailua-Kona, Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas, with well over 4,000 passengers onboard will anchor in Kailua Bay from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, September 29th and begin tendering passengers to the Kailua Pier.

Once the passengers arrive at the pier, they will board buses/vans, small passenger vessels, or set off on their own to explore shops, restaurants and other popular island destinations. “The average cruise ship that calls on Kona typically has 2,500 passengers or less, so we have had to make some adjustments to accommodate the increased flow of traffic on the pier. Increased security and a second secure area will be temporarily set up at the end of the pier to allow for additional tender boats to access the pier increasing the flow of passengers between our facility and the cruise ship,” said Stephen Schmelz, DLNR’s Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation Hawai’i Island District Manager.

Anyone participating in ocean activities is reminded that federal law requires a security zone 100 yards in all directions from each large passenger vessel (LPV) in Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i, whenever the LPV is within three nautical miles of Kukailimoku Point. The 100-yard security zone around each LPV is activated and enforced whether the LPV is underway, moored, position-keeping, or anchored and will continue in effect until the LPV departs Kailua-Kona and the 3-mile enforcement area. 

Questions regarding cruise ships operations can be submitted to dlnr.bd.kailua-konapier@hawaii.gov