Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [196]
Lapakahi State Historical Park
This 262-acre park (882-6207; admission free; 8am-4pm, gate closes 3:30pm, closed holidays) was a remote, successful fishing village 600 years ago. Eventually, as some villagers moved to the wetter uplands to farm, they began trading their crops for fish with those on the coast, thereby creating an ahupua′a, a wedge-shaped land division radiating from sea to mountain. When the freshwater table dropped in the 19th century, the village was abandoned.
From the abundant, unrestored foundations of the ancient village, it is easy to conjure traditional life on the beautiful cove. The unshaded, 1-mile loop trail meanders past low stone walls, house sites, canoe sheds and fishing shrines. Displays show how fishers used lift nets to catch ‘opelu (pan-sized mackerel scad), a technique still practised today, and how the salt used to preserve the fish was dried in stone salt pans. You even stumble across ancient Hawaiian games, like konane (Hawaiian checkers) and ′ulu maika (stone bowling).
Lapakahi’S clear waters are loaded with tropical fish and are part of a marine-life conservation district. Swimming and snorkeling are theoretically possible, but it’S a sensitive issue, since areas of the park are considered sacred, and are still used, by Native Hawaiians. Ask first, if you want to enter the water; park staff request that you not use sunscreen or towels, as these affect the fish. (Better yet, snorkel at Mahukona, below).
The park is located just south of the 14-mile marker.
Mahukona Beach Park
This park has no beach, and its campground is unappealing, but it contains an old boat landing (which was once used by the Kohala Sugar Company) that provides easy-access snorkeling, spearfishing, diving and swimming. A metal ladder makes water entry simple (and ideal for kids), and the rocky sea bottom attracts colorful fish and provides hidey-holes for eels. Near the landing, you can 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. Winter seas can sometimes be too rough for swimming.
Separate from the landing is a dusty oceanfront picnic area with a ratty wooden pavilion, picnic tables and unkempt bathrooms (no drinking water). Camping is allowed with a county permit (Click here), but it’S not recommended because of the run-down facilities, the park’S isolation, and, in late summer, the biting flies.
Kapa′a Beach Park
This relatively unused park has a rock-lined shore (no sandy beach) that fronts clear waters with great snorkeling. Water access over the rocks is tricky, however, and virtually impossible when the surf picks up. If that’S the case, try Mahukona (opposite).
Otherwise, there’S just a parking lot, a falling down wooden picnic pavilion (with lovely views) and portable toilets. Camping with a county permit (Click here) is allowed, but this park is even more isolated than Mahukona.
The signed entrance is almost exactly at the 16-mile marker.
Mo′okini Heiau
Near ′Upolu Point at the northern tip of the Big Island, this heiau (373-8000; admission free; dawn-dusk) is one of the oldest and most historically significant temples in the Hawaiian islands. Measuring about 250ft by 125ft, with walls 6ft high, the massive structure sits solitary and brooding on a wind-rustled grassy plain, contemplating distant Maui and, in winter, humpback whales. There are no facilities.
A ‘closed’ temple reserved for ali′i nui (high chiefs), 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 silence from Pololu Valley – a distance of 14 miles – under the supervision of Kuamo′o Mo′okini. According to Mo′okini genealogical charts, the heiau was built around AD 480.
Five hundred years later Pa′ao, a priest from Samoa, raised the walls to 30ft and changed the altar to a scalloped shape as his ho′okupu (offering) to