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Tourist Who Drove Down Boat Ramp into Hawaii Harbor Said GPS Told Her to 'Take This Route': Police

Police said "there were no injuries and only one person in the vehicle, who was extricated safely"

George Rose/Getty

A Hawaii tourist drove her car into a harbor thanks to GPS just weeks after a similar incident took place.

The latest snafu took place shortly after 8 p.m. local time on Monday "when the driver of a vehicle proceeded to drive down the boat ramp at Honokohau Harbor," the Hawaiʻi Police Department said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE .

"The vehicle then veered off the ramp into deep water," police said, adding that the driver said "she was using a GPS that lead her to take this route."

The driver reportedly thought the water was a puddle, according to Hawaii News Now .

Footage from the incident shared on social media showed a group of boaters calling out to the tourist to get out of the car as it took on water.

“ You gotta leave the car, " one bystander called out. "Hurry up!”

A witness told Hawaii News Now that it took "some time" and that "she ended up grabbing her backpack or purse, all of her belongings that she could grab before she got out."

Video showed the group directing the woman to swim towards their boat before getting her to safety.

“What a way to end a day, huh?” one quipped.

Police said "there were no injuries and only one person in the vehicle, who was extricated safely." Her car was also removed from the water.

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This incident came weeks after the same fate befell another vehicle at that same location.

In that instance, two tourists were on their way to a manta ray tour when they drove into the harbor according to  The Washington Post .

Witness Christie Hutchinson was about to haul her boat in after a morning on the water with her husband and their friends, when she saw the vehicle suddenly head down the boat ramp and into the water, according to the newspaper.

Hutchinson filmed the van's descent on her phone. "Pretty sure that wasn't supposed to happen," she said in the clip, which she later  posted on social media .

Neither woman in the car, whom Hutchinson said were sisters, sustained injuries, per The Post .

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Watch: Viral video shows tourist drive straight into bay at West Hawai‘i harbor

A video of a tourist driving slowly into waters at Honokohau Small Boat Harbor over the weekend has gone viral.

Click here to watch video.

Kona resident Christie Hutchinson posted the 4 1/2-minute video of the incident to TikTok two days ago, and as of Tuesday afternoon had been viewed nearly 130,000 times.

The footage, shared across multiple social media platforms and picked up by news networks nationwide, shows a woman behind the wheel of an SUV all smiles despite the vehicle being partially submerged in water.

The incident occurred just after 5 p.m. on Saturday. Hutchinson had just returned from a day of sailing when she and several others watched in shock as a woman drove directly into the bay. After the woman and her passenger were rescued from the sinking car, Hutchinson said she learned the pair were looking for a manta ray dive tour and the GPS they were following led them straight to the water.

The craziest part about the whole ordeal, Hutchinson said, was there seemed to be no sense of urgency from the occupants in the vehicle as water rose around them.

“I don’t think she [the driver] initially realized that she was in the harbor,” Hutchinson said. “The water didn’t actually start flowing in till a little while after.”

Hutchinson said the occupants didn’t seem to know why everyone at the harbor was looking at them and yelling at them: “I think there was genuine shock among everyone.”

As the vehicle rolled into the bay, those standing by at the harbor sprung into action. Two men jumped in the water to help the visitors escape through the open car windows. A manta ray team and other locals anchored the car with rope.

“It would’ve made the retrieval very difficult if that hadn’t happened,” Hutchinson “And, it slowed the sinking process.”

The tourists didn’t really say anything. They just listened to instructions as Hutchinson’s husband assisted the driver out of the car.

“Overall they didn’t seem panicked, a little bit shaken and possibly in shock,” she said.

The incident unfolded quickly, and by the time first responders arrived the vehicle was fully submerged.

Hawai‘i Fire Department arrived at 5:25 p.m. to find everyone out of the vehicle. There were no injuries, Assistant Chief Darwin Okinawa said.

Crews assisted the tow company with hooking up the cables to pull the vehicle out of the water. They cleared the scene about an hour later.

Hutchinson was impressed with how everyone banded together to do what needed to be done. While the situation could’ve been tragic, everything turned out fine, except for the SUV saturated with sea water.

Hutchinson said there was even a sense of comedy about the whole ordeal as the tourists didn’t really seem afraid as their vehicle sank: “It was amazing to see how well that car floats.”

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clock This article was published more than  1 year ago

Tourists follow GPS, drive car into Hawaii harbor

A witness captured video as bystanders rescued the driver from the sinking van

It was a normal Saturday on Hawaii’s Big Island for resident Christie Hutchinson and her husband, Sean. They had spent the day sailing on their boat, the Nanea, with their friends. It had started to rain, but they were about to haul the boat out of Honokohau Small Boat Harbor in the town of Kailua-Kona. Then a Dodge Caravan rolled down the boat ramp.

“I was just sitting there trying to seek shelter from the rain, and then the next thing, I saw a car drive directly past our boat straight into the harbor at a pretty decent speed,” Hutchinson said. “It was so confidently done, they didn’t have a look of panic on their face. They were still smiling.”

Hutchinson started filming a video of the incident with her phone as the tourists, who she says were two sisters, were already headlights deep in the gray harbor water, their windshield wipers still wiping. In the video, as rain continues to fall, you can hear Hutchinson ask aloud, “What ... is going on?” followed by “pretty sure that was not supposed to happen.”

Sailboat crew rescued in Pacific after abandoning ship sunk by whale

The driver of the sinking car is shown sitting with her seat belt on. The front-seat passenger crawls out of her window and wades to shore, while the driver unbuckles her seat belt and tries to climb out of her window. Several men, including Sean Hutchinson, dive into the water and toss ropes and a buoy to attach to the van. Eventually Sean Hutchinson helps the driver from the car and carries her to the ramp.

“She mentioned she’s got a heart condition, and that’s why it took her so long to get out of the water,” Hutchinson said.

It didn’t surprise Hutchinson that her husband jumped in to help.

“He’s grown up in water his whole life surfing. He’s worked at boat docks,” she said. “I feel like that’s a natural response for him, so I was very proud.”

A local's guide to Honolulu

After the rescue, Hutchinson said, the tourists mentioned they had been following their GPS to find a manta ray tour. Seeing the Hutchinsons’ car parked on the ramp, ready to pull their boat out of the water, may have confused the driver. No matter the reason, the car was doomed shortly after making contact with the water. In the 4 minute and 26 second video, the car disappears below the surface. Hutchinson said the rescuers anchored the van so it wouldn’t float farther into the harbor and be a danger to boats. It was hauled out a few hours later by a tow crews, HawaiiNewsNow reported .

“It’s not the first time, and it probably won’t be the last,” said Ashley, a staff member of Manta Ray Dives of Hawaii, which operates from Honokohau. (She spoke on the condition of anonymity to maintain her privacy.) “Usually it’s more at night when it happens ... but this was a little bit before sunset so there was still plenty of daylight.”

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The tourists were not Manta Ray Dives customers, Ashley said, but three of the company’s employees were part of Saturday’s rescue, helping provide equipment to the volunteers from other tour operators in the water. Honokohau Small Boat Harbor, which is on the west coast of the Big Island of Hawaii, is home to several tours, including whale-watching excursions, scuba diving trips and catamaran charters.

While such accidents may have happened before at Honokohau, Samantha Tavares, information specialist for Hawaii’s Department of Transportation, said it’s “kind of rare” statewide.

“Usually GPS is pretty accurate in Hawaii,” she said. “It’s not exactly normal for that to happen.”

Ellen Edmonds, the director of external communications for AAA, said the federation does not have data on how often this type of incident occurs. But “based on our research, AAA strongly recommends having a vehicle escape tool in the event of an emergency,” Edmonds said in an email.

Car windows are made with either tempered or laminated glass, and standard escape tools can’t break the latter. It’s a good idea to know which your car has and have an exit strategy in case of an emergency. You could even test whether your escape tool works properly before driving. One way to do so is by tapping it against a piece of wood to see if it leaves an indent.

If you do get trapped in a car, Edmonds said, remember AAA’s S-U-R-E way out acronym : stay calm; unbuckle seat belts; roll down or break a window; and exit the vehicle quickly and move to safety.

Tavares also offered advice for tourists driving in Hawaii: “If you see a body of water, don’t drive towards it.”

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Tourists follow gps directions straight into sea: ‘one expensive vacation’.

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A sailboat crew jumped into action to save two tourists out of their sinking van after they drove into Honokohau Harbor, in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

Video of the incident captured by local Christie Hutchinson shows the quick-thinking crew swimming up to the driver and passenger and helping them out of the silver Chrysler Town & Country through the front windows.

Meanwhile, another pair of men tied a rope to the back of the van, attempting to pull it back onto the boat ramp, but ultimately failed as it quickly became fully submerged.

“Pretty sure that wasn’t supposed to happen,” Hutchinson can be heard saying from behind the camera as she recorded for nearly four-and-a-half minutes.

Hutchinson later explained in a Storyful report that the crew of the Nanea sailboat had returned from a day of sailing when they witnessed the car drive head-on into the harbor beside them.

“The passengers were tourists trying to find a Manta Ray Snorkel tour company in the harbor and had been following their GPS directions when they took a wrong turn into the water,” Hutchinson said.

Online, viewers of the farcical footage have pointed out that “The Office” characters Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) found themselves in a similar predicament in an episode of the NBC-aired sitcom.

“I just watched this episode of ‘The Office,'” one fan wrote .

“Michael Scott already did this episode,” another joked .

For many others, the incredible incident and subsequent report have left one pressing question unanswered: How does this happen?

pic.twitter.com/E3QnigaNIv — robmillertime (@robmillertime) May 3, 2023

“It’s as easy as looking out the windshield … What am I missing?” one asked . Mocked another, “So when you see water you still drive into it?”

“One expensive vacation,” quipped one savvy traveler. “Hope they got the extra coverage on their rental car.”

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Viral Video: Hawaii Tourists Drive Car Straight into Harbour After Following GPS

Updated May 7, 2023, 10:13 IST

Hawaii tourists follow car GPS directions straight into Honokohau Harbor | Christie Hutchinson via Storyful

• A viral video shows the moment a tourist couple drove their car straight into a Hawaii harbour.
• The duo is said to have been following GPS directions to a manta ray tour when their car ended up in the water.
• Bystanders in Big Island’s Kaliu Kona sprang into action to rescue the tourists and their sinking van.

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Hawaii Tourist Drove Van Into Harbor Because GPS Said To

We're not sure who needs to hear this, but don't drive your car into the water even if the gps says you should..

The Office really needs to be done. The references are so cliche at this point, that they’re just not funny anymore. Maybe in another 15 years when college kids rediscover one of their parents’ favorite TV shows, it will make a cultural comeback, but come on. It’s over. Let it die. And yet, how can you not even mention The Office when a woman literally drove her car into a harbor because her GPS told her to? Anyway...

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Hawaii News Now reports that while on the way to enjoy a manta ray excursion, a tourist who clearly wasn’t paying attention to where she was going followed her GPS all the way into the Honokohau Small Boat Harbor in Kailua-Kona. A video taken by a witness shows what appears to be a Dodge Caravan slowly sliding into the water as the passenger sits there confused about what to do.

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The driver and passenger were able to escape through the front windows and appear to be uninjured, although they’re probably a little embarrassed. After all, how does anyone make this mistake in the year of our lord two thousand and twenty-three?

“I think they just must’ve taken their eyes off the road for a second, and I think everyone is a bit shocked because we saw this car go straight into the harbor,” Christie Hutchinson, a witness and the person who recorded the above video, told Hawaii News Now . “And it took us a second to figure out what was going on because they didn’t seem panicked or have any sense of urgency to get out of the car.”

After the driver and passenger made it out of the van safely, a tow crew had to come in and yank the Caravan out of the water. Hopefully, they got rental insurance because that’s going to be one expensive repair bill. And then, of course, there are the inevitable Michael Scott jokes they’ll definitely be getting from friends and family for years to come. That sounds like a fate worse than death.

Tourists In Hawaii Follow GPS Directions & Drive Straight Into The Harbor

How is this even possible?

The shocking video shows the aftermath after two tourists somehow drove their minivan straight into a harbor in Hawaii. How did they manage to do that?

Apparently because their GPS told them to.

I always do my best to practice empathy and put myself in the shoes of others, but my brain simply cannot understand how you would willingly drive your car into a body of water. No one person should have so much faith in their global positioning system. Something should kick in within your brain and say “I don’t think this is right, we probably shouldn’t drive our vehicle into this harbor.”

Maybe she thought the water would part like the Red Sea or how secret passageways open up in spy movies? Is it possible that she thought her minivan was a duck boat?

There is really no telling what was going through this driver’s mind, and it makes it worse that someone was in the passenger seat and was just along for the ride.

For all the people that are saying “self-driving cars would be dangerous,” I present to you this story as a counterargument.

Sure, I’ll concede that an autonomous vehicle might have also followed the GPS directions into the water, but at least you could blame it on the car and not the (idiot) driver.

A sailboat crew that happened to be close to the boat ramp that the car drives into jumps into action and quickly works to secure the safety of the car’s passengers. The men use ropes to tie to various parts of the vehicle to buy themselves time to retrieve the two people who drove themselves into the water.

The two passengers are eventually rescued, but the minivan slowly drifts deeper and deeper into the water. I will say, it’s rather comical to see the car’s windshield wipers still going as it literally sinks into the harbor.

The person videoing the scene leaves viewers with some rather obvious yet hilarious commentary as the minivan sinks into the harbor’s water:

“Pretty sure that wasn’t supposed to happen.

I think they just drove straight into the water, I’m not sure.”

Two tourists in Hawaii mistakenly followed a GPS route straight into a harbor, and remained stuck while water poured in their car — until a sailboat crew rescued them. pic.twitter.com/g7QG0VNcRE — CBS News (@CBSNews) May 3, 2023

If this story sounded somewhat familiar to you, it’s probably because you might’ve watched the exact same thing unfold on the hit comedy TV show The Office.

The iconic scene shows Michael Scott (played by Steve Carrell) following the car’s GPS system with blind faith and driving straight into Lake Scranton.

Seems as though the driver would’ve been better off if she had just watched this episode and learned from Michael Scott’s mistakes…

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Tourists following their gps drive directly into hawaii harbor.

MICHAEL SCOTT ENERGY

AJ McDougall

Breaking News Reporter

A pair of tourists had to be scooped out of their sinking van after they apparently followed their GPS’ directions into the water on Hawaii’s Big Island, footage of the Saturday incident shows. “I saw a car drive directly past our boat straight into the harbor at a pretty decent speed,” eyewitness Christie Hutchinson said. “It was so confidently done, they didn’t have a look of panic on their face. They were still smiling.” The tourists, whom Hutchinson identified as two sisters, can be seen in the video she shot sitting in their Dodge Caravan, before the front-seat passenger calmly climbs out of her window and begins wading to shore. Several Good Samaritans then jump into the harbor and help the driver escape through her own window, with one carrying her to a boat ramp. Witnesses told The Washington Post that the women had been trying to get to a manta ray tour. “It’s not the first time, and it probably won’t be the last,” one tour employee remarked to the newspaper.

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Watch: Viral video shows tourist drive straight into bay at West Hawai‘i harbor

A video of a tourist driving slowly into waters at Honokohau Small Boat Harbor in West Hawai‘i over the weekend has gone viral.

Click here to watch video.

Kona resident Christie Hutchinson posted the 4 1/2-minute video of the incident to TikTok two days ago, and as of Tuesday afternoon had been viewed nearly 130,000 times.

The footage, shared across multiple social media platforms and picked up by news networks nationwide, shows a woman behind the wheel of an SUV all smiles despite the vehicle being partially submerged in water.

The incident occurred just after 5 p.m. on Saturday. Hutchinson had just returned from a day of sailing when she and several others watched in shock as a woman drove directly into the bay. After the woman and her passenger were rescued from the sinking car, Hutchinson said she learned the pair were looking for a manta ray dive tour and the GPS they were following led them straight to the water.

The craziest part about the whole ordeal, Hutchinson said, was there seemed to be no sense of urgency from the occupants in the vehicle as water rose around them.

“I don’t think she [the driver] initially realized that she was in the harbor,” Hutchinson said. “The water didn’t actually start flowing in till a little while after.”

Hutchinson said the occupants didn’t seem to know why everyone at the harbor was looking at them and yelling at them: “I think there was genuine shock among everyone.”

As the vehicle rolled into the bay, those standing by at the harbor sprung into action. Two men jumped in the water to help the visitors escape through the open car windows. A manta ray team and other locals anchored the car with rope.

“It would’ve made the retrieval very difficult if that hadn’t happened,” Hutchinson “And, it slowed the sinking process.”

The tourists didn’t really say anything. They just listened to instructions as Hutchinson’s husband assisted the driver out of the car.

“Overall they didn’t seem panicked, a little bit shaken and possibly in shock,” she said.

The incident unfolded quickly, and by the time first responders arrived the vehicle was fully submerged.

Hawai‘i Fire Department arrived at 5:25 p.m. to find everyone out of the vehicle. There were no injuries, Assistant Chief Darwin Okinawa said.

Crews assisted the tow company with hooking up the cables to pull the vehicle out of the water. They cleared the scene about an hour later.

Hutchinson was impressed with how everyone banded together to do what needed to be done. While the situation could’ve been tragic, everything turned out fine, except for the SUV saturated with sea water.

Hutchinson said there was even a sense of comedy about the whole ordeal as the tourists didn’t really seem afraid as their vehicle sank: “It was amazing to see how well that car floats.”

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I was born and raised in Honolulu. Here are 7 things I wish tourists knew before they visited Hawaii.

• I was born in Hawaii and spent 18 years living in Honolulu. 
• I wish tourists knew more about our history and how  tourism is displacing Native Hawaiians.
• Visitors should be careful to use terms like "Hawaiian" and "aloha" correctly. 

I spent the first 18 years of my life in Honolulu.

When I tell people that I grew up there, they often ask me what life was like there or what they should do when they visit.

However, Hawaii is home to much more than beautiful beaches, and visitors should take it upon themselves to learn more about the rich history and culture that have shaped the state into what it is today.

Here are seven things I wish people knew before they visited Hawaii so they can be educated, more responsible tourists.

Hawaii is the most culturally diverse state in the US

Growing up in Hawaii, you could take a good look around you, and it would be easy to recognize that Hawaii is a melting pot of cultures.

I'm Japanese, Alaska Native, and white, and many of my friends were also multiracial.

In fact, nearly a quarter of people living in the state identify as multiracial, and more than a third identify as Asian alone, according to the 2023 US Census .

Such cultural diversity trickles down into the food we eat, too. Hawaii is home to foods like spam musubi , manapua, and malasadas, which have all been influenced by the rich mix of immigrant communities.

The term 'Hawaiian' is reserved for those who have native Hawaiian ancestry

I've noticed many people use the term "Hawaiian" to refer to anyone from the state of Hawaii. But a lot of people are surprised to learn that Hawaiian is an ethnicity .

Just as you wouldn't call a white person living in Japan "Japanese," the same principle applies to "Hawaiian."

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If you're referring to someone who simply resides in Hawaii without Hawaiian ancestry, it's more accurate to call them a local or resident.

Tourism is displacing Native Hawaiians at a disproportionate rate

According to CBS, every year, around 15,000 Native Hawaiians are left with no choice but to leave Hawaii , in part due to the increasing cost of living.

Growing tourism and expanding luxury housing developments, coupled with a lack of economic opportunities, are making it unfeasible for many to live in the state.

In fact, according to census data obtained in September 2023 , more Native Hawaiians live on the mainland than in the Hawaiian Islands.

Hawaii used to be its own kingdom until the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown

Before becoming the 50th state, Hawaii was a thriving sovereign nation . Its last queen was Queen Liliuoukalani, who led her kingdom to economic and civic success.

During her reign, Hawaii was recognized by over 80 embassies in the world, and the state enjoyed universal healthcare and a 95% literacy rate.

This all eventually changed when she was arrested and forcefully removed from the throne in 1893 in a US-military-backed coup.

When you litter, it ends up in Hawaii's oceans, threatening marine life and various ecosystems

When you carelessly toss trash on the ground, it'll likely end up polluting the pristine beaches of Hawaii, and there's a good chance you'll encounter it firsthand.

Tragically, it's not uncommon to see marine life like turtles, sea otters, and monk seals trapped in plastic or trying to eat a piece of garbage.

If you have any garbage to dispose of while you're in Hawaii, place it in a trash can.

Your TikTok has the power to ruin a beach

Although it's OK to take plenty of photos and appreciate the beauty of Hawaii , it's important to be mindful about sharing your photos on social media.

Just one viral TikTok or Instagram post promoting a beach or hike can quickly turn a once serene spot into an overcrowded nightmare.

Therefore, it's crucial to consider the potential impact your posts will have and the importance of preserving the beauty of Hawaii for generations to come.

In Hawaii, 'aloha' has a much deeper meaning than 'hello'

You may know that "aloha" is used as a greeting to mean "hello" or "goodbye." But what you may not have realized is that aloha is also a human value that embodies love, peace, compassion, and respect.

The importance of embodying the "aloha spirit" is taught in schools, which I think contributes to the genuinely warm and kindhearted nature of Hawaii's people.

So, if you do plan on visiting Hawaii, it's important to also have aloha for the land and its people.

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