Fury as thousands of influencers descend on new vacation hotspot to get Insta-perfect picture despite signs saying NO photos

Thousands of influencers are descending on Hawaii's most 'Instagramable' places to take a picture - despite signs saying no photography. 

Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden, nestled beneath the majestic Koolau Range, stands as Oahu's largest botanical oasis.

The garden's popularity soared in recent years following a viral image showing its picturesque entrance - a scene adorned with lush palm trees and the backdrop of towering mountain ridges.

It has quickly became known as one of Hawaii's prime spots for capturing stunning shots. The amount of tourists surged from 250,000 in 2017 to over 550,000 by 2022. 

Amid the influx of visitors seeking the perfect shot, a general disregard for safety and rules has also emerged. Many visitors flock to replicate the iconic photo, despite the prevalent 'no photo' and 'no parking' signs placed to deter such behavior.

Joshlyn Sand, director of Honolulu Botanical Gardens, emphasized the persistent issue, and compared it to tourists who disregard the rules at iconic national parks' entrances.

'It's still quite a problem,' Joshlyn Sand, director of Honolulu Botanical Gardens, told SFGATE. 'People will just ignore the signs. They'll literally stage a photo, you know, right by the sign.' 

The issue has caused a congested entryway, which lacks designated pedestrian lanes or bike paths.

In addition to the congestion, there's also the inconvenience and even safety concerns to others.

Sand emphasizes the importance of safety, recounting near-misses and traffic congestion caused by halted vehicles for impromptu photography.

'We've had some close calls. No one's been injured that I know of, but it's gotten sticky before for sure,' Sand said to SFGATE. Traffic congestion, caused by visitors stopping their cars at the entryway to take a photo, also affects the neighbors who use the road.   

Sand said that despite this, photography is welcomed elsewhere within the garden, which sprawls across 400 acres and boasts diverse plant collections from various regions. 

Kaneohe, Hoomaluhia, meaning 'a place of peace and tranquility' in Hawaiian, also offers overnight weekends trips and hiking trails around a serene lake. 

It was constructed by the US Army Corps of Engineers to mitigate flooding in 1982.

There are alternative photo spots like Nui and Lehua that offer uninterrupted views of the Koolau mountains and surrounding landscapes.

Despite visitor numbers exceeding 550,000 annually, efforts are underway to manage the impact through potential fees and reservation systems. 

Nathan Serota of the City and County of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation emphasized the importance of striking a balance between welcoming tourists and preserving natural beauty.

'[It's about finding] ways to manage these tourist destinations and the natural resources so that they can be inviting, but at the same time, managing them so that we can keep them in that high quality and really maintain that natural beauty and that environmental allure,' Serota told SFGATE. 

'It's trying to find that balance between, you know, welcoming people in but then also mitigating the impacts of that amount of people on the environment and the neighborhoods,' Serota said. 

Sand urged visitors to approach such spaces with mindfulness, advocating for responsible tourism to ensure the preservation of these beautiful environments for future generations. 

'That's all we're really asking for people to be aware of, is to just be more mindful when they travel to places about these kinds of things,' Sand said. 'And that would make it better for everyone.'

'Touron,' is a term coined that is a combination of a 'tourist' and a 'moron.' 

It is commonly used to describe tourists who break the rules to snap an 'Instagram worthy' shot in National Parks around the country. 

The webcams around Yellow Stone National Park have captured multiple instances where ignorant tourists have put themselves in harm's way for a variety of reasons - ranging from wanting to get closer to the wildlife or climbing over barriers to get a better selfie.

An Instagram account titled 'Tourons of Yellowstone' compiles all of the instances in which a 'touron,' the combination of a 'tourist' and a 'mouron', does yet another unbelievably stupid charade, defiling the park's rules time and time again.

The account serves as an example of 'what not to do' as the parks rules and regulations are linked in the bio for its nearly 500,000 followers.

It is open to submissions as a way encourage visitors to hold each other accountable.

A recently submitted clip shows three tourists risking their lives for the sake of a snapshot.

'I was at the Upper Falls Middle Brink and three people decided to climb over the stone wall and onto the side of the mountain for better pictures,' the caption of the clip said, citing the user's submission description.

'This video was sent to the authorities. Please do not climb over the railings! This is so dangerous! And if you slip and fall and die then someone has to risk their life to go retrieve your body!' the rest of the caption read. 'Please follow the rules and be safe! You don't want to end up in the new edition of 'Death in Yellowstone.''

Another recent clip from the park's Old Faithful webcam, footage shows a touron within arms length of a bison, venturing off the established trail to interact with the wildlife.

'I was yelling at my computer,' Connie Witte Reynolds told Cowboy State Daily, who watched the scene unfold in a classroom with her students. 'There was actually another bison there with this one a bit later. A person came from the other direction and walked within arm's length.'