Journeying South from Kona Coffee Country
Turning right on Kamehameha III Road from Alii Drive in Kailua-Kona leads to Keauhou Bay, known as the birthplace of King Kamehameha III.
Keauhou Bay is popular among outrigger canoe paddlers who launch their vessels from here. The bay also provides anchorage for some small boats.
On the coast south of Kailua-Kona is Kahaluu Beach in Keauhou. Kahaluu Beach is protected by the Menehune Breakwater, an ancient stone wall reportedly built by the ancient race of people known as Menehune.
The Menehune Breakwater creates a nice area for snorkeling and lots of fish and other interesting marine life can be seen here as well as a black sand beach.
On the northern end of Kahaluu Bay is the lovely little St. Peter’s Catholic Church. Many weddings are held here at the “Little Blue Church” which has a blue-tin roof and is very popular site for photographs. St. Peters was formerly located near White Sands Beach but was moved to its present site in 1912.
Many important cultural sites are found in this area which was once a well-populated Hawaiian settlement. Kuemanu Heiau on Kahaluu Bay just north of St. Peters was an important Hawaiian sacred place used to pay homage to the gods before engaging in the royal sport of hee nalu, or surfing.
Also south of Kailua-Kona are numerous small towns including Honalo, Kainaliu, Kealakekua, Captain Cook and Honaunau.
Kealakekua
Kealakekua Bay is the location where Captain Cook first visited the Big Island. It is also where Captain Cook was killed in 1779 after his men had an encounter with native Hawaiians who were upset that one of their chiefs had been killed in an earlier dispute with Cook’s crew.
The exact place where Cook’s death occurred is now marked with a 27-foot-tall white obelisk known as the Captain Cook Monument. This memorial can be reached by taking Napoopo Road about four miles south of Captain Cook town.
Kealakekua means “Pathway of the God,” referring to the many heiau (sacred places) located in this area. It is said that more than forty heiau were located between here and Kailua-Kona.
Napoopoo Beach Park is located where Napoopoo Road meets the sea. This is the site of a State Monument known as Hikiau Heiau.
Nearby is St. Benedicts Catholic Church (808-328-2227), which is known as “the painted church” because of the paintings on the walls. These paintings were created in the early 1900s by Father John Berchmans Velghe of Belgium in the early 1900s.
St Benedicts also features a Gothic steeple, and a wall behind the altar is modeled after a Gothic cathedral in Burgos, Spain.
St. Benedicts Catholic Church was moved two miles around 1900 from the shore of Kealakekua Bay (near Puuhonuo o Honaunau) to its present location at 84-5140 Painted Church Road in Honaunau.
Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Gardens
Near the town of Captain Cook is a wonderful and also very historical garden known as Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Gardens (808-323-3318, 82-6188 Māmalahoa Highway - Highway 19).
Spread over 15 acres this site includes a variety of habitats including coastal, lowland dry forest, and also upland forest, and these are planted to simulate the way Hawaiians used them in ancient times.
Also within the Greenwell Gardens is a 5-acre section representing an ancient Kona Field System.
Hundreds of native plants are represented in the Greenwell Gardens as well as many Polynesian-introduced species that were very important in Hawaiian culture.
These plants include banana, taro, breadfruit, yams, sugarcane, kava, mountain apple, and also the important wauke plant that was used to make tapa barckcloth that had many uses in ancient times. The Garden is open from Monday to Friday from 8:30 to 5.
Puuhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park
You will have to drive a bit off the main road to reach Puuhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park, which is one of the most important cultural and historic attractions south of Kailua-Kona. Also in this area is Hookena and the remote fishing area of Milolii.
Puuhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park is located on a twenty-acre peninsula of black, jagged rock bordered by the ocean of the South Kona coastline.
The 180-acre park includes sacred Hawaiian royalty grounds with heiau (sacred places of worship), and also a puuhonua (place of refuge). These sacred ancient Hawaiian places have been reconstructed to reflect their original appearance, including kii, which are carved images of the ancient gods.
The Great Wall
A remarkable feature at Puuhonu o Honaunau National Historical Park is the 1,000-foot long wall called the “Great Wall.” Built without mortar around A.D. 1550, this 10-foot high and 17-foot thick stone wall was apparently built long after the main heiau (sacred area) was built, which may have been around A.D. 1200 or even earlier!
A park brochure details a self-guided walk that also includes a petroglyph site and an ancient fishpond as well as lava tree molds.
Keawe’s House of Bones
One of the most striking features at Puuhonua Historical Park is the reconstructed Hale-o-Keawe (”House of Keawe”), which was built around A.D. 1650 and is said to hold the bones of 23 chiefs.
According to Hawaiian beliefs these bones hold mana (spiritual power) that is imparted to those who come near, and protect those who come to the puuhonua (place of refuge).
Activities at Puuhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park
To the left of the visitor center at Puuhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park is a dirt road leading to some tidepools often visited by the local children who like to play there.
A boat ramp at Honaunau provides a nice place to launch kayaks and take an adventure to the nearby seacaves.
The park has also has bathrooms as well as barbecue areas and picnic tables. This is a nice place for a picnic or for swimming, fishing, or kayaking.
Farther South
Past Puuhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park along the Mamalahoa Highway is Waiohinu (which means Shiny water) as well as Naalehu (The volcanic ashes) and Punaluu (Coral dived for).
Also in this area, on Highway 11 just north of Mile Marker 81, is an 8-acre arboretum at Manuka State Park and Natural Reserve Area (808-974-6200). This is a great place for a picnic, and there is also a nice trail that goes through a forest and past a volcanic pit crater.
Further still is Ka Lae, which is also known as South Point - this is the southernmost spot in all of the Hawaiian Islands as well as the United States.
To get to South Point follow Mamalahoa Highway until you pass Mile Marker 70 and then go south on South Point Road, which you will follow for about 12 miles.
If you hike for about two miles from the Kaulana Boat Launch at South Point the trail leads to Mahana Beach, also known as Green Sand Beach. The green sand comes from olivine deposits which were formed during an eruption of the massive Mauna Loa Volcano.
The sandy-bottomed beach here may have some very strong shorebreak so use extreme caution when swimming. There is also a strong current offshore.
Onshore keep an eye out for a nugget of the luminous green olivine which comes from a vein of the semi-precious mineral in a nearby volcanic cone. The waves battering this cone pulverize the olivine which then washes up on the beach.
After all of these journeys south of Kailua-Kona and Kona Coffee Country, you will be ready to head north again with a new appreciation of this unique region.