Cockroaches Leap to Top of Maui Complaints

A recent influx of complaints about cockroaches in hotel rooms and rental condos has boosted the ever-present insect to the very top of online conversations about Maui the past month, according to an informal survey.

Maui has seen an influx of first-time visitors as the pandemic drags on, so more folks have been questioning all the bugs to those more familiar with what to expect in the tropics.

"Certainly, complaints about cockroaches have blossomed for the first part of this year," said Koa Kipe, director of digital data for the Central Pacific Online Communications Consortium (CPOCC) based in Honolulu.

The Consortium is a nonprofit organization created in the late 1990s to monitor what's being discussed the most in online platforms about various Pacific islands.

The organization's work increased tenfold with introduction of social media platforms like Facebook about a decade later.

"Usually topping the list for Maui are questions about safety and the Road to Hana, or things like sunscreens that are safe for reefs," Kipe said. "Sometimes there's a surge of people complaining about the speed bumps at OGG. But the past month it seems people are really bugged about the cockroaches."

It reached a point where some Facebook groups have featured informational posts to help newcomers understand that a lot of bugs live in the tropics.

"Don’t freak out if you see these everywhere including your hotel or rental. It’s the tropics," posted Marc Lefebvre in the Maui Group on Facebook. "They are everywhere even if you don’t see them. Your house could be spotless and sanitized and they will still show up."

Many visitors also are unaware that it is against the law to squish cockroaches with rubber slippahs in Hawaii, due to a 2011 law preventing animal cruelty.

Sometimes there's a push to make the cockroach the state bird of Hawaii, but there are way too many people are quite fond of the beautiful and endangered nene.

So visitors will just have to learn to live with their friendly pests, Kipe said.

"It goes without saying that it's a bad idea to ever leave food items, or even any crumbs, on kitchen surfaces or anywhere in hotel rooms or rental units," he said. "You learn real fast to empty the trash as much as possible, constantly wipe off kitchen counters and sinks, and never leave any evidence of a meal out overnight."