kaunolu

Visit the archeological site of an ancient hawaiian village and a gorgeous photographic opportunity. Not really swimmable, however you'll see locals fishing and scuba diving. The road to this site is very rough it some areas and requires a four-wheel drive vehicle.Here you will also see ruins of King Kamehameha's home here. This site became a National Historic Landmark in 1962 as marked by a plaque on this site.

On February 10 while visiting Lanai, my husband and I asked a local where the best place was to watch the sunset. He suggested Kaunolu, a former village on the southwestern tip of Lanai. We had a AAA map of Hawaii and it clearly marked on there; the maps were received on the island did not really show the "road". We ventured out there in the evening - taking highway 440 and turning just west of the airport where there was a King Kamehameha sign and arrow for Kaunolu Village. The first five miles of the dirt road were pretty smooth considering. The last five headed down to the ocean were Extremely rough, my husband who loved 4WDing around the island had met his match on this road. We finally made it to the area where a picnic table was in time to watch the sunset. This area is very remote, and it would probably be rare to see another person. Nice spot but if you venture out, expect to go VERY slow and take your time in getting there. Also note: several Axis deer ran across our path or we encountered them on the first 5 miles of the trail, near the grassy area - be on the look out as to not hit one.(For those less adventureous, and another nice place we found to watch the sunset was at the Kaumalapau harbor spot, and it is paved roads all the way there.)

Regarding the activities our one biggest highlight was exploring Kaunalu area for a day. This is accessible only by 4x4, and when we went the road was in very good shape. I recommend checking with the Jeep rental people on the current status, as this road can get pretty rough especially after some winter storms. To get there take the paved road past the airport a mile or less and take a left at the T in the road where there is a rock saying “Kaunalu”. Follow this dirt road a couple miles to another T in the road with another road saying Kaunalu and take a right. This road will have a Y at which you take a left, and then another Y shortly after where you take a right. The road gets rougher here and goes downhill for quite a while. Go past a sign that says “parking for park reserve” till you get to a point where you can go 3 directions. Straight ahead is a short rough road to the lighthouse (an easy walk), and to the left is a very rough road to three old fishing shacks (a longer, but easily doable walk). Go to the right where a sign points to “parking”. This is also a rough road, but manageable and short. Park off to the right before you get to the picnic table. There we had a picnic lunch with sandwiches from Pele’s. Then we explored back behind where we parked, where there are several ruins of King Kamahmaha’s buildings from his summer home. There are even some interpretive signs. The paths are overgrown, but noticeable. Then we walked back to the picnic table passing it on the left to a short path that goes down a few steps. At that point the path splits. To the left it follows the cliff edge and then back up away from the cliff edge. We didn’t go any further that way. Back at the split, if you go right down a steep path, it will take you to the dry creek bed and the rocky beach. We explored the beach area, the tidal pools and walked around the big projecting rock. Then we went up to Kahikili’s (Warrior’s) Leap. To get there, you go up a path directly across the creek bed from where you came down the steep path. As you follow this path you will see occasional arrows pointing the way. As you get to a sign for a canoe shelter, go to the right, then up a steep rocky path. At the top there will be two arrows – to the left for the heiau, and to the right for Kahikili’s Leap. There are spectacular views of the high sea cliffs from the leap. The warriors proved their bravery by jumping from this 63 foot perch. We then went back to the parking area and down the road to the fishing shacks. They were also very interesting. Two of them are reasonably well maintained, and you can even use them as a guest and sleep there (there is a clean outhouse – useful even if you are just hiking around the area for the day). Finally we visited the light house and enjoyed the stunning views from that point.

July, 2006 Kaunolu and Halulu Heiau are really the same thing, since the latter is part of the former, across a ravine. This is a non-maintained attraction, and the sole car rental company on the island expressly forbids driving even their 4 wheel vehicles there, subject to a $500 penalty. The internet and tour book directions were too vague as compared to the reality, due to branching dirt roads. There are a bunch of ancient rockpile foundations at Kaunola, nothing earth-shaking, and an interpretive path that is completely overgrown, to the point that to read the signs requires cross country trekking through the high brush and plenty of detective work to figure out the path. The day I went there I did not see a single individual or car all day within 5 miles of the place. The heiau is the typical built-up stone piled rectangular foundation, in a couple terraced levels.As far as directions, both the Fodors and Lonely Planet maps of Lanai put this attraction on the SW corner of the island. Frommers puts it about 1/4 of the way up the west coast. Only Frommers is correct. Unfortunately I figured on my first shot to follow the advice of the majority and blew about 4 hours in the brush that way. In trying to find the place, the key is that there is a visible little white lighthouse right there, and as you try to determine which is the correct time to branch off the primary dirt road, the trick is to aim at the lighthouse!Lastly, though I of course obeyed the car rental agreement, if one had driven one would have gotten to within about 200 yards of the attraction using 2 wheel drive (when a dry road), with plenty of places to turn around. If you guess the right road, that is! This road seemed pretty recently plowed when I went though, so no promises for different timing.

ホテルでもらった観光地図に、カメハメハ大王が釣りを楽しんだ旧跡と記されていたので行ってみることにしました。が、予想外に道が悪くてジープでも大変でした。カメハメハ・サインも立てられていますが、分かりづらいし、道に迷いやすい場所なので注意が必要です。確実に来た道を記憶しておく必要があります。そして、時間をかけてゆっくりと坂道を下ること。後からレンタカー会社の人に言われたのですが、レンタカー会社はお勧めしない場所だということでした。ガイド付きツアーで行くのがベストだと思います。着いてみると、キレイな海と崖と荒地が広がっています。何かあるのかと言われると特筆するものは何もありません。誰もいない荒野です。カメハメハ大王の時代、多くの人がここに住んでいたことに思いを馳せると、ロマンを感じます。帰り道、鹿の親子を見かけたので子どもが喜びました。