Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [155]
Reconstructed with palm-leaf shacks and carved wooden ki′i (statues), the small, dramatically positioned heiau (ancient stone temple; closed to the public) sits next to Kailua Pier, and the adjacent King Kamehameha Beach Hotel uses it as a backdrop for its luau. The heiau’S tiny cove doubles as a placid saltwater pool where locals fish, children swim and seniors lounge on its comma of sand, Kamakahonu Beach.
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, the church (329-1589; www.mokuaikaua.org; 75-5713 Ali′i Dr) 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 with chunks of coral, are made from ohia, and the pews and pulpit are made of koa, the most prized native hardwood. The steeple tops out at 112ft, making the church the tallest structure in Kailua. The church is popular for weddings, and inside is a dusty model of the missionaries’ ship, Thaddeus, and a history of their arrival.
Kailua Pier
The town’S pier, built in 1915, was once a major cattle-shipping area. Cattle driven down from hillside ranches were stampeded into the water and forced to swim out to waiting steamers, where they were hoisted aboard by sling and shipped to Honolulu slaughterhouses.
As sportfishing charters now use Honokohau Harbor north of town, Kailua Pier is mainly used by dive boats and cruise ships, though its hoist and scales are still used for weigh-ins during billfish tournaments. A staffed information booth helps orient newly landed cruise-ship arrivals.
Beaches
WHITE SANDS BEACH PARK
This small but gorgeous beach (also called La′aloa Beach) has crystal-clear turquoise waters and tall palms (but little shade). During high winter surf the beach can lose its sand literally overnight, earning it nicknames like Magic Sands and Disappearing Sands. When its rocks and coral are exposed, the beach becomes too treacherous for most swimmers. Gradually the sand returns, transforming the shore back into its former beachy self. White Sands is always packed and is an extremely popular bodyboarding and bodysurfing spot. Facilities include rest rooms, showers, picnic tables and a volleyball court; a lifeguard is on duty. The park is about 4 miles south of the center.
OLD KONA AIRPORT STATE RECREATION AREA
Maybe it’S the name, but visitors often overlook this quiet, 217-acre park (Map) a mile from downtown. The old airport runway skirts a long, sandy beach laced with thick strips of black lava rock. Granted, this doesn’t make for good swimming, but low tide reveals countless aquariumlike tide pools. Bring a picnic, meander through the pools and enjoy a little solitude. Just inside the southern entrance gate, one pool is large and sandy enough to be the perfect keiki (child) pool. The waters offshore are a marine-life conservation district.
A few breaks in the lava allow entry into the water, but fishing is the main activity. Scuba divers and confident snorkelers can make for Garden Eel Cove, a short walk from the north end of the beach. The reef fish are large and plentiful, and a steep coral wall in deeper waters harbors moray eels and small caves. When the surf’S up, local surfers flock to an offshore break here.
Facilities include rest rooms, showers and covered picnic tables on a lawn dotted with beach heliotrope and short coconut palms. The former runway disposes of parking worries, and locals enjoy a mile-long jogging track here.
Adjacent to the recreation area is the county’S Kailua