I'm posting this because I think government agencies probably don't get much positive feedback, so here's my story.

On Wed., I went to the Kona DMV and tried to register a car and renew my license. I was told that I needed to make appointments for both of those, and I wouldn't be able to get one for the license renewal for a week or so, but if I drove up to Waimea, they take walk-ins. It was too late in the day, so I couldn't do that on Wed. Anyway, I made an appointment for early the next morning for the vehicle registration.

Today (Thurs) I went for my registration in Kona and asked if they had any cancellations for license renewals and could fit me in. They said to wait for a while to see if there was a cancellation, which I did, but they got busier and eventually I gave up and drove to Waimea.

The line in Waimea was not long and I got to the window in about 10 minutes. The lady was nice and fast and gave me a break on the eye test. It was all over in less than 20 minutes including wait time. I was amazed.

If you're frustrated with the DMV system in Kona, try Waimea. They are great. I suspect not everyone's a believer, but I swear by the Waimea DMV!

Edit: I should add that the Kona staff were nice enough, and the lady I talked to on the first day suggested I go to Waimea. They tried to be helpful, but they had to follow their system.