Haleiwa, Hawaii (KHON2) – The waves were definitely bigger up north, so how did businesses fare?
Tourists passing through Haleiwa told KHON2 that supporting the locals was as important to them as the surf.
Get the news on the go with KHON 2Go, KHON’s Morning Podcast, every morning at 8am
Canadians may not know how to measure waves in feet, but they can still spend US dollars.
“I don’t know anyone who can surf it. Should be pretty cool,” said Vancouver resident Ming Li, “So, not sure what feet are, we measure in meters in Canada, so, pretty sure.” that it’s uh, big!
Vancouver resident Will Gladman said, “Yeah, we had the whole itinerary planned out, so stops like this along the way.”
“Got amazing coffee at Island Vintage Cafe, yes we researched the best places to eat,” Lee said.
Some Rhode Islanders living with family in Manoa had some local knowledge.
“It was on the way back to his place,” said Kevin Jones, a Rhode Island resident.
Rhode Island resident Gianella Salvaggio said, “My family lives around here, so she recommended checking out the different shops and boutiques in this little plaza.” “Every store we went to, they were all really awesome.”
The big action was off in Waimea, but both Haleiwa businesses and visitors said it felt good to do a little shopping and support a local.
โI think it’s really important because that’s what makes a community, a community! So yeah, you wouldn’t be able to have such a lovely town without local businesses.
Ming Li, visiting from Vancouver
“You know, we’ve been pretty busy this week, people coming and going all the time. I think at the beginning of the week, we were a little slow, but maybe Thursday was too busy to pick up,” Allen of Matsumoto’s Shave Ice Velasco said.
Matsumoto’s staff sees tourists every day, but when Eddie rolls around, visitors ask different questions.
“They’re just asking if we, like, know any local Caine surfers and all that. Sometimes, we do; sometimes, we don’t,” Velasco said. Big surfers watch. They always ask us how they are, ‘Where can we find them?’ We try to keep it a little more personal for them.”
Businesses hope for the few remaining customers in the coming days as traffic eases, while visitors were happy to get a taste of the islands.
“And, you can find small, unique things and different things,” Salvaggio said.
“Different stuff you can’t buy at home,” Jones said.
View more news from around Hawaii
โHere we are all friends; So, we might as well help,” Jones said, “helping the little guy instead of the big corporations, right?”
