Sights in Hawai'i (The Big Island)
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Thurston Lava Tube
East of the intersection with Chain of Craters Rd you enter the rain forest of native tree ferns and ohia that covers Kilauea's windward slope. Thurston Lava Tube is the endpoint of an enjoyable short walk through a bird-filled ohia forest (it's a good place to spot the red-bodied 'apapane, a native honeycreeper). The lava tube itself is enormous - big enough for your car - and a short initial section is lighted. Does get crowded.
Lava tubes are formed when the outer crust of a river of lava starts to harden but the liquid lava beneath the surface continues to flow through. After the flow has drained out, the hard shell remains. Eastern Hawai'i is riddled with lava tubes,…
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Kapa'a Beach Park
This relatively unused beach park affords access to clear waters and great snorkeling if you venture past the rocky shore. The views of Maui can be spectacular. The park itself is mostly parking lot, with only a falling-apart wooden picnic pavilion and portable toilets. You will need a county permit to camp, but the beach is rocky and the ground uneven. There is only one really choice spot with a picnic table near the water.
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Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park
Though it may appear to be desolate lava rock this national park is worth exploring. It covers 1160 acres of oceanfront and includes fishponds, ancient heiau and house sites, burial caves, petroglyphs, holua, and a restored 1-mile segment of the ancient King's Trail footpath. Visit in the early morning or late afternoon (or when it's overcast), as midday temperatures can be unbearable. Trails cross rough chunks of 'a'a lava, so wear good shoes.
At the park's northern end is Kaloko Fishpond. Further south, 'Aimakapa Fishpond, is the largest on the Kona Coast. Separated from the ocean by a stone wall, fish were raised in these ponds until distributed by the ali'i. Mangrove,…
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Old Kona Airport State Park
Despite being only a mile from downtown, the 217-acre Old Kona Airport State Park is often overlooked by visitors. Its lengthy shore offers solitude and the relaxing sound of waves, and it's a good place to picnic or stroll. The old airport runway skirts a long sandy beach laced with thick strips of black lava rock. Though there are a couple of breaks allowing entry into the water, fishing, not swimming, is the major activity here.
At low tide, the rocks reveal countless aquariumlike tide pools holding tiny sea urchins, crabs and bits of coral. One at the southern end of the park is large enough to be a keiki (child) pool. The waters offshore of the park and adjacent…
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Mo'okini Luakini Heiau
One of the oldest and most historically significant temples in the Hawaiian islands, Mo'okini Luakini Heiau sits on a grassy knoll near 'Upolu Point at the northern tip of the Big Island. The massive structure, which measures about 250ft by 125ft, with walls 6ft high, was a 'closed' heiau, reserved for ali'i nui (kings and ruling chiefs) for fasting, praying and offering of human sacrifices to their gods.
There's a clear view of Maui and, during winter, humpback whales, from the heiau site. There are no facilities. The heiau was dedicated to the god Ku, and built from 'sunrise to first light' by up to 18,000 'little people' passing water-worn basalt stones in complete…
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'Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii
'Imiloa Astronomy Center is one of Hawaii's most fascinating museums and is a provocative look at the creation stories of two very different peoples: Native Hawaiians and modern astronomers. This combination wouldn't make sense except that it embodies the story of Mauna Kea, which is central to Hawaiian mythology. Comparing these stories, one is struck by both their points of divergence and their synchronicities.
You begin by walking through a recreation of Mauna Kea itself. Then you are introduced to the kumulipo, the Hawaiian creation story (which is chanted in Hawaiian), and to wider Hawaiian culture. This is followed by bilingual exhibits (in English and Hawaiian) on…
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Lapakahi State Historical Park
Lapakahi is part of a marine conservation area and certain sections are sacred. Follow the 1-mile loop trail (unshaded) past the remains of house sites, canoe sheds and fishing shrines. Learn how fishers used lift nets to catch opelu (pan-sized mackerel scad), a technique still practiced today, and how the salt used to preserve fish was dried in stone salt pans. Try 'o'o ihe (spear throwing) and 'ulu maika (stone bowling).
Lapakahi was a remote fishing village 600 years ago. Fish were plentiful, and the cove provided a safe canoe landing year-round. Eventually some of the villagers moved to the wetter uplands and began to farm, trading their crops for fish with those who…
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Kahalu'u Bay
Kahalu'u Bay is an easy-access snorkeling spot and a giant natural aquarium loaded with rainbow parrotfish, silver needlefish, brilliant yellow tangs and Moorish idol. At high tide green sea turtles often swim into the bay to feed or rest on the beach. They're endangered, so give them space. According to legend an ancient breakwater was built on the reef by the menehune (Hawai'i's mythical race of little people) and protects the bay.
This surf spot is popular with locals. It's normally a long-board wave, but when the surf is high Kahalu'u can harbor strong rip currents that pull northward into the rocks. If you're a novice, talk to a lifeguard about the day's conditions…
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Mahukona Beach Park
Mahukona Beach Park has a rather ratty oceanfront picnic area and an abandoned landing. Once a key port for the Kohala Sugar Company, the landing was connected to sugar mills by rail. Today locals fish off it and use its ladder to get in and out of the water to swim or spearfish. Despite the name, there is no beach here.
Beyond the landing are interesting snorkeling and diving spots, although they're usually too rough in winter. Heading north, it's possible to follow an anchor chain out to a submerged boiler and the remains of a ship in about 25ft of water. You can rinse off at a shower near the ladder. The oceanfront picnic area has portable toilets, an unkempt wooden…
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Pine Trees Surfing Break
Pine Trees Surfing Break, one of west Hawai'i's best, is just south of Nelha. Why Pine Trees? Early surfers spied mangrove trees near the break, which they thought were pines. No mangroves (or pines) are visible today, but the name stuck. The break is along a long, pretty, rocky beach that makes swimming difficult. Gates are closed between 20:00 and 06:00.
There is surf at a number of points along this stretch, depending on the tide and swell. The final bay gets the most consistent yet more forgiving waves. An incoming midtide is favorable in general, but as the swell picks up in the winter these breaks often close out. This place attracts a crowd, so if you plan to…
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Ho'okena beach
Ho'okena beach is medium-sized with soft dark sands backed by a steep green hillside. The bay's waters are often calm and great for swimming and kayaking. The snorkeling is decent, with a fair amount of coral, some fish, and often dolphins and sea turtles, though it drops off quickly. Be aware of strong currents further out. The beach park has a picnic pavilion, bathrooms, showers and a hang-loose vibe, but no drinking water.
Camping here is pretty choice, so much so that some folks live out of the campground for short periods. Sites are right on the sand, and the shady ones fill up quickly. When the winter surf is up, local kids hit the waves with bodyboards. A county…
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Moku'aikaua Church
On April 4, 1820, the first Christian missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands sailed into Kailua Bay. When they landed, they were unaware that Hawai'i's old religion had been abolished on that very spot just a few months before. King Liholiho gave them this site, just a few minutes' walk from Kamehameha's Ahu'ena Heiau, to establish Hawai'i's first Christian church.
Completed in 1836, Moku'aikaua Church is a handsome building with walls of lava rock held together by sand and coral lime mortar. The posts and beams, hewn with stone adzes, and smoothed down with chunks of coral, are made from resilient ohia, and the pews and pulpit are made of koa, the most prized native…
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Isaac Hale Beach Park
Isaac Hale Beach Park (Hale is pronounced 'ha-lay') at Pohoiki Bay is basically a line of parking spaces along a rocky beach with a boat ramp at one end. On weekends there's usually a frenzy of activity, as local families and teens picnic, fish, swim, surf and hang out. However, the swimming is limited due to the rough water, which makes for challenging surfing so long as you avoid the rocks.
Beyond the boat ramp a well-worn path leads past a house to a small natural hot pond that's large enough to hold a handful of folks. It's well worth searching out. The park has portapotties and an outdoor shower, but no drinking water. Camping is allowed, but it isn't recommended,…
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Pu'u Loa Petroglyphs
The gentle Pu'u Loa Trail leads less than a mile to the largest concentration of ancient petroglyphs in the state. At the Pu'u Loa Petroglyphs, early Hawaiians chiseled more than 20,000 drawings into pahoehoe lava. Given the setting, it's easy to see why this spot might have been considered sacred.
There are abstract designs, animal and human figures, as well as thousands of dimpled depressions (or cupules) that were receptacles for umbilical cords. Placing a baby's umbilical stump inside a cupule and covering it with stones was meant to bestow health and longevity to the child. The parking area and trailhead are signed between the 16- and 17-mile markers. At the site,…
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Ka'upulehu
Even if you're not high-rolling enough to stay at either of the two exclusive resorts in Ka'upulehu, you can still visit the area's beautiful white-sand beaches, thanks to shoreline public access laws. A mile-long coastal footpath winds through reddish lava and brackish water, where turtles can be seen, and a string of pristine, easily accessible little coves lies further south. Showers, rest rooms and drinking water are available.
Ka'upulehu's first incarnation was a remote fishing village, accessible only by boat. After being destroyed in the 1946 tsunami, the area was abandoned until the early 1960s, when a wealthy yachter anchored offshore came up with an idea that…
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Wailoa River State Park
The first thing you notice about the Wailoa River State Park is its imposing 14ft, Italian-made bronze statue of Kamehameha the Great; erected in 1997, and restored with gold leaf in 2004, the statue has an outstretched arm that seems to beckon you, and actually, the park's lawns, ponds and arched bridges make a nice stroll.
Spring-fed Waiakea Pond contains saltwater and brackish-water fish, and two memorials are worth seeing: a tsunami memorial dedicated to the 1946 and 1960 victims, and a Vietnam War memorial with an eternal flame. Adjacent, the Wailoa Center is an eclectic, small state-run art gallery. Multicultural exhibits change monthly and the artists are local,…
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Isaacs Art Center
The stunning collection of significant and historic Hawai'ian paintings and artifacts at this art center makes it much more a museum than a traditional gallery - one of the best outside of the Honolulu Academy of Arts. It's housed in a 1915 plantation schoolhouse (now on the historic register), whose single row of six spacious classrooms makes an ideal exhibition space.
Highlights include Jules Tavernier's Kilauea by Moonlight, Madge Tennent's Lei Queen Fantasia, and especially Herb Kawainui Kane's The Arrival of Captain Cook at Kealakekua Bay in January 1779. Many other important artists (not all of them Hawai'ian) are represented. Sales benefit the attached Hawai'i…
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Rainbow Falls
A few minutes from Hilo, Rainbow Falls provides the sort of instant gratification that's a godsend to parents and tour-bus operators. The pretty cascade - whose spray winks a rainbow in the morning when the sun is right - can almost be seen from the parking lot. Natural beauty doesn't get any easier than this. The cave beneath the falls is said to have been the home of Hina, mother of Maui.
While you can't get to the cave, a short, unpaved path leads from the left side of the parking lot to the top of the falls, where there are some inviting pools with a rope swing. The trail passes beneath a tremendous banyan tree, whose thick canopy blocks the sun and whose roots could…
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The Parker Ranch Museum & Visitor Center
This center provides a thorough accounting of ranch history. Displays include some fascinating Parker-family memorabilia, such as portraits, lineage charts, fancy gowns and traditional Hawaiian quilts. The recreated tack house is particularly evocative, with 100-year-old saddles and branding irons. Though it has a romantic gloss, the 25-minute movie on Parker Ranch tells the history well and describes current ranch operations.
It also includes some fantastic historic footage, such as when shipping the cattle meant driving them into the sea and lifting them with slings onto the decks of waiting steamers. In front of Parker Ranch Center, near the parking lot's main…
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Crater Rim Drive
The amazing 18km (11mi) Crater Rim Drive circles Kilauea Caldera, offering almost nonstop views of the scorched, smoldering home of Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess. If time is short, driving this loop road is a must - be sure to stop at the overlook for Halema'uma'u Crater; the Thurston Lava Tube, an enormous cave left by flowing lava; and the Jaggar Museum, with working seismographs, lava displays and a stupendous vista.
The Thurston Lava Tube is big enough for your car, not to mention yourself - and a short initial section is lighted. Lava tubes are formed when the outer crust of a river of lava starts to harden but the liquid lava beneath the surface continues to…
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St Benedict's church
John Berchmans Velghe was a Catholic priest who came to Hawai'i from Belgium in 1899. Upon taking responsibility for St Benedict's church, he moved it 2 miles from its original location near the pu'uhonua (place of refuge). It's not clear whether he did this as protection from tsunami or as an attempt to rise above - both literally and symbolically - a significant Hawaiian cultural site and what Christianity considered to be pagan ways.
Father John then painted the walls with a series of biblical scenes to aid in teaching the Bible. He designed the wall behind the altar to resemble the Gothic cathedral in Burgos, Spain. The painted palm leaves climbing the slender support…
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Ahalanui Beach Park
Ahalanui Beach Park is also called 'the hot pond' because of its main attraction - a large, spring-fed thermal pool set in lava rock that's deep enough for swimming. It makes for a pretty sweet bathtub: water temperatures average 90°F, cement borders make for easy access, tropical fish abound, and, though the ocean pounds the adjacent seawall, the pool remains mellow.
However, while ocean waters flush the pond, some warn of a risk of bacterial infection; don't enter if you have any cuts. While the park has official opening and closing times, the gates are never locked and nighttime soaks are possible. The park has picnic tables, portapotties and a lifeguard daily. Don't…
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Hilo Farmers Market
Nearly 20 years old, Hilo's Farmers Market is an island-wide event, as locals gather from all over to shop for fresh produce and catch up with friends. Covered stalls sell top-quality island produce: papayas, liliko'i, breadfruit, apple bananas, mangoes and star fruit. You'll find lots of Asian greens, organic vegetables and local produce. There's prepared food, too: bento boxes (with Spam musubi) and machete-cut coconuts for drinking.
A huge number of craft and clothing stalls also lay out their wares: browse for sarongs and T-shirts, rubbah slippahs and wood carvings, shell jewelry and coconut-leaf baskets. There's some wonderful stuff, but not all the crafts are…
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Keauhou Bay
Keauhou Bay has a launch ramp and a small boat harbor, and is one of the most protected on the west coast. It has a small grassy area, a couple of palm-shaded picnic tables, showers and rest rooms. Two sand volleyball courts stand between the headquarters of the local outrigger canoe club and the lapping bay. Against the hillside, just south of the dive shacks, a plaque marks the site where Kamehameha III was born in 1814.
The young prince was said to have been stillborn and brought back to life by a visiting kahuna (priest). To get to the bay, turn makai (seaward) off Ali'i Dr onto Kamehameha III Rd. See for information about excursions out of this harbor.
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Lava Tree State Monument
Entering this park beneath its tight-knit canopy of monkeypod trees is an otherworldly experience. A short, easy loop trail passes through a tropical vision of Middle Earth, full of ferns, orchids and bamboo, and highlighting unusual 'lava trees', which were created in 1790 when a rain forest was engulfed in pahoehoe (lava) from Kilauea's East Rift Zone.
The lava enveloped the moisture-laden ohia trees and then receded, leaving lava molds where the destroyed trees once stood. These mossy lava shells now lie scattered like dinosaur bones, adding to the park's ghostly aura. Then, in late afternoon, the love songs of coqui reverberate among the trees.
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