§520-2  Definitions.  As used in this chapter:

     "Charge" means the admission price or fee asked in return for invitation or permission to enter or go upon the land.

     "House guest" means any person specifically invited by the owner or a member of the owner's household to visit at the owner's home whether for dinner, or to a party, for conversation or any other similar purposes including for recreation, and includes playmates of the owner's minor children.

     "Land" means land, roads, water, watercourses, private ways and buildings, structures, and machinery or equipment when attached to realty, other than lands owned by the government.

     "Owner" means the possessor of a fee interest, a tenant, lessee, occupant, or person in control of the premises.

     "Recreational purpose" includes but is not limited to any of the following, or any combination thereof:  hunting, fishing, swimming, boating, camping, picnicking, hiking, pleasure driving, nature study, water skiing, winter sports, and viewing or enjoying historical, archaeological, scenic, or scientific sites.

     "Recreational user" means any person who is on or about the premises that the owner of land either directly or indirectly invites or permits, without charge, entry onto the property for recreational purposes. [L 1969, c 186, §2; gen ch 1985; am L 1997, c 272, §1]

Law Journals and Reviews

  The Hawai`i Recreational Use Statute:  A Practical Guide to Landowner Liability.  22 UH L. Rev. 237 (2000).

Case Notes

  Plaintiff who suffered personal injuries while plaintiff was using a military recreational facility was not "charged" an "admission price or fee ... in return for ... permission to enter or go upon the [government's] land".  181 F.3d 1064 (1999).

  Where plaintiff who was engaged in activity of boating argued that plaintiff was not engaging in a recreational activity while taking the sailing course, although plaintiff may have had professional as well as personal reasons for taking the course, plaintiff's alleged professional motivation did not convert plaintiff into a nonrecreational user; plaintiff's subjective intent was, in the situation, immaterial.  181 F.3d 1064 (1999).

  No requirement that landowner open property to every person in the public in order to obtain protection under statute; defendant's duty to recreational user of property arose where defendant undertook and posted lifeguards at beach.  691 F. Supp. 256 (1988).

  Where plaintiff alleged that the United States navy received a financial benefit from the Pearl Harbor bike path when its members commuted by bicycle on the bike path, reducing the need for parking spaces at Pearl Harbor naval station, and that the city of Honolulu's bicycle registration fee constituted a "charge" under Hawaii recreational use statute (HRUS), the United States did not charge plaintiff to enter the bike path and the "charge" exception to HRUS was not applicable.  180 F. Supp. 2d 1132 (2001).