Honolulu, HI: Top Things to Know About Storage
Tourism
Besides Honolulu’s beautiful beaches, surf competitions, and great weather, the city is known for its huge tourism industry. As welcoming as the residents of Honolulu are, they have their qualms with their visitors. The island can definitely get overcrowded at times, making it difficult for residents to go about their daily lives. The first thing that generally comes to mind is an increase in traffic, but we will get to that in a bit. You should be aware that during peak tourist season, you may be surprised to find that the availability of storage units is a bit scarce. Tourists are using the units that should be readily available to you. It can be difficult to compete with them for units because they visit year round, but try to store your stuff before winter when their peak season starts—October to March. You might be thinking that it’s uncommon for tourists to put stuff in storage while they’re visiting a city, but Hawaii has quite a few visitors who do. People who have vacation homes in Honolulu definitely need storage space, especially if they start renting out their home while they’re not in the city. Although this may not have a huge impact on your storage needs, it’s definitely something you should watch out for.
Traffic
Traffic in general is pretty bad in Honolulu, even if you don’t take tourists into account. Rush hour traffic goes from 5AM to 8AM going into the city and 3PM to 6:30PM going out of the city. There is usually heavy traffic on the surface streets in downtown and Interstates H-1 and H-2, Nimitz Highway, and Ala Moana Boulevard, so try to avoid those whenever possible. If there’s one highway you really want to avoid, it’s H-1. It has the heaviest traffic because it’s the only freeway that goes through the city, so it’s constantly used throughout the day. Even if there’s a minor accident that happens, consider yourself stuck for a few hours. So when you’re looking for a storage facility, avoid renting in one that’s close to any of these highways and streets. You should also rent at a facility that allows you to have 24-hour access to your unit so you can get to your unit at any time of the day and can easily plan around traffic times. You may not be able to avoid particular streets, so you might be better off trying to go at certain times.
Surf’s Up
As a native of Honolulu, and as a tourist, you’re probably really into surfing. Lugging your surfboard around while you’re going to the grocery store or exploring new sites can be tough. You don’t want it to get scratched up, nor do you want to have sore arms before you hit the waves. If you’re looking for a place to secure your board for some time, consider putting in storage. A lot of facilities allow you to store your board on one of their racks for about $25 a month. This way you don’t have to rent out an entire unit, and even if you’re just visiting for a few days, it’s a small price to pay to have your board next to your favorite beach.Hunting and Gun Storage
Hawaiians are big on hunting and you can easily hunt on all of its islands. Axis deer is one of the most popular mammals to hunt in Hawaii, but you can also hunt wild boar, goats, and birds. If you’re visiting the island, you might want to get a guide to help you get through the new territory. As a resident, or a frequent visitor, you should consider storing your gun close to your favorite hunting grounds. You can always rent one, but you’re probably more comfortable hunting with your own gun.
Storage facilities don’t always let you store guns in your unit, but gun storage is a pretty big industry in Honolulu because of the residents, tourists, and military personnel on the island. You shouldn’t have too much trouble finding a facility that allows you to store guns. However, even if you find a place that allows gun storage, you won’t be able to store your ammunition so just keep that in a safe at home.
Gun storage can be a little tricky, so we want to go over some tips to get you started. First, make sure you clean your gun to get rid of any explosive gun residue. Then, unload your gun, lock the trigger lock, and take pictures of the guns you’re planning to store and their serial numbers so you have all of their information in case the gun is stolen. Put your gun in a safe, and try to keep your ammunition in a separate safe. If you don’t have a lot of guns, rent a locker. You don’t need a huge unit just to store a few guns, it’ll get too expensive and it’s not worth it. Lastly, make sure you’re storing in a climate controlled unit because guns can get rusty, especially in Honolulu’s hot and humid climate. Very low temperatures can also be harmful to guns, so the temperature has to be just right.
As a side note for tourists interested in hunting, we wanted to quickly discuss flying with guns. Be sure to transport your gun in a lockable hard case. Unload the gun, pack your ammunition with your gun, and be prepared to face questioning by the TSA—you’ll definitely see your tax dollars at work here. Before you get to the airport, check the airline and TSA policy website on restrictions they have because they change pretty often. This way you might be able to avoid a huge hassle. Once you get your gun to Honolulu, we recommend that you store it/them in a facility in Honolulu for your future trips so you don’t have to go through the whole process every time you want to go hunting in Honolulu.
