Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [257]
From Hwy 11, take the signed turnoff (between the 51- and 52-mile markers) on Kamani St, and take this to Pikake St, where you’ll find Pahala’S only shopping center, with a market, post office and bank. Nearby are a gas station and the Ka′u Hospital (928-2050; www.kau.hhsc.org; Kamani St).
Also in the shopping center is Pahala Town Cafe (928-8200; Pikake St; meals $5-10; 7am-7pm Sat-Thu, 7am-4pm Fri), the town’S only eatery. Bright and clean, it serves decent food to a purely local crowd. The extensive menu has something for everyone. Friday to Monday they make gigantic fresh malasada.
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PUNALU′U
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Once a major Hawaiian settlement, today Punalu′u is home to a popular beach park and SeaMountain, Ka′u’S only condo complex. Controversy surrounds SeaMountain’S plans to develop untouched areas surrounding the beach park, and the area’S future remains unclear.
Punalu′u Beach Park provides easy access to a pretty little bay with a black-sand beach famous for basking green sea turtles. Though the endangered turtles seem unconcerned by picture-taking gawking humans, don’t harass or touch them. Punalu′u is one of the few beaches where rare hawksbill turtles lay their eggs, so be careful not to disturb their sandy nests.
The northern part of the beach is backed by a duck pond and is the best place for sunning. Most days, the cold, spring-fed waters are not ideal for swimming, but there are always malihini (newcomers) who give it a shivering try. The ruins of the Pahala Sugar Company’S old warehouse and pier lie slightly to the north. Follow a trail up the hill past the cement pier to find the unreconstructed ruins of Kane′ele′ele Heiau in a vast ′a′a field; the trail continues to some secluded coves.
The park has several picnic pavilions, rest rooms, showers and drinking water. A concession stand is run by local aunties who happily talk story, and camping is allowed (with a county permit, Click here) throughout a grassy picnic area above the crashing waves. Camping is only so-so, with zero privacy: the exposed area gets some heavy winds, and the parking lot can attract carousing locals at night. Come morning, the park quickly fills with picnickers and tour buses.
SeaMountain’S golf course (928-6222; green fees $47-50; 7am-6pm) has ocean views from each of its 18 holes.
There are two signed turnoffs for Punalu′u between the 56- and 57-mile markers.
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WHITTINGTON BEACH PARK
This small beach park has tide pools to explore, and the cement pilings of an old pier that was used for shipping sugar and hemp until the 1930s. The ocean is usually too rough for swimming and, despite the name, there is no beach. Green sea turtles can sometimes be seen offshore. Apparently they’ve been frequenting these waters for some time, as the bay’S name is Honu′apo (Caught Turtle).
Bathrooms with no potable water and sheltered picnic pavilions without good views are grouped together near a pretty, pondlike inlet. Camping on the grass is allowed with a county permit (Click here), but the park is isolated enough to feel vulnerable; Punalu′u’S campground has less solitude, but feels safer.
The turnoff for the park is between the 60- and 61-mile markers. Look for a stop sign and a brown park sign on the makai side of Hwy 11, just below the rise to the Honu′apo Bay lookout.
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NA′ALEHU
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Tiny, low-key Na′alehu is ‘The Southernmost Town in the USA’ – a title it milks for all it’S worth. The most prominent landmark is the abandoned historic theater with a giant honu painted on the roof, and movie posters announcing Citizen Kane and The African Queen. Along with its towering banyan trees and pastel plantation homes, Na′alehu has a lost-in-time rural feel.
This is Ka′u’S commercial center, and it has a grocery store, a gas station, an ATM, a post office, a police station