Kauai North Shore - Hanalei & Princeville

Island of Kauai

What To See - Kilauea

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Guava Kai Plantations, 808-828-6121-4900, Kuawa Road, Kilauea, www.guavakai.com. Open daily from 9 am to 5 pm, including holidays. Guava Kai Plantation considers itself to be the guava capital of the world. With 450 acres of guava orchards under commercial cultivation, it’s certainly earned the right to bill itself as such. Stop by the Visitor Center, where you’ll learn how guava is grown, processed and how they make those sweet jams and jellies. They do offer the opportunity to pick guava for yourself, so get ready to be put to work.

There’s a free self-guided tour that shows you how the fruit is processed. Don’t forget to stop by the snack shop for a guava smoothie or guava ice cream.

Kilauea Point Lighthouse is open daily from 10 am to 4 pm. Closed national holidays. It’s a 52-foot-tall structure built in 1913. The lighthouse has the world’s largest clamshell lens, which can send out a beacon of light reaching 90 miles. It was built in France at a cost of $12,000. And the view is something else. It’s on the northernmost point of the island,with a view of the Pacific Ocean and Mokuaeae Island below. It was decommissioned in 1976 and there are exhibits that detail the history of the lighthouse and wildlife you can see from the area. There are binoculars that you can borrow from the exhibit area to view the frigate birds and humpback whales in the winter.

Kilauea Lighthouse

Kilauea Lighthouse

Kilauea Point NationalWildlife Refuge, 808-828-0168, was established in 1985 after its transfer from the US Coast Guard to the US Fish & Wildlife Service. The area consists of 200 acres of protected land. This is a great place to come and watch humpback whales, dolphins and honu. You might even catch a glimpse of the Hawaiian monk seal. A number of native species of birds call this area home. The nene was reintroduced here in the 1960s. There’s a one-mile walking trail from Kilauea Point to Crater Hill and it’s used solely for tours led by refuge volunteers. The tour is at 10 am sharp Monday-Friday.

Na Aina Kai Botanical Gardens, 4101 Wailapa Road, Kilauea, 808-828-0525, www.naainakai.org.

Na Aina Kai offers only guided tours at 9 amand 1 pm Tuesday-Thursday and 9 am on Friday. Reservations are highly recommended. Closed to the public on weekends and holidays. This 240-acre garden is actually comprised of 13 different gardens, each of which has its own unique character. As you walk through the gardens, you’ll see as many as 70 bronze sculptures to admire. There are any number of tours you can take, ranging in length from 1½ hours to five hours. The tours are offered at specific times throughout the week and reservations are highly recommended. If you plan to bring children under the age of 13, then the only tour you can take is the Children’s Garden Family tour. Tour fees range from $25 per person to $70 per person.

In Ha`ena at the end of the road, there is an ancient hula site that dates back over 1,000 years. Ka Ulu A Paoa Heiau can be found off of Ke`e Beach. You’ll see a trail that leads up to it. You’ll come to the altar dedicated to Laka, the godess of hula. This site is said to be the birthplace of hula. You might see offerings such as maile leis left by hula dancers hoping for a successful dance competition. These leis are made of maile leaves, a vine-like plant native to the islands.

Also at Ha`ena are the caves. The caves are the result of the ocean pounding the lava rock for thousands of years. The bestknown is the Maniniholo Dry Cave, which is 300 yards deep. To get there, go to Ha’ena Beach Park. In the Na Aina Kai Botanical Gardens Maniniholo Dry Cave The North Shore and look for the cave on your left.

A little farther down the road, just before mile marker 10, is a trail that leads uphill to the Waikapalae and Waikanaloa Wet Caves. There is no swimming allowed, but a few brave souls do enter the water at Waikapalae to observe a phenomenon that turns everything blue when sunlight reflects off the water. That’s how it got the name “The Blue Room.” The water is ice cold and there is nothing to hang on to, so be careful.

Christ Memorial Episcopal Church, 808-826-4510, 2509 Kolo Rd, Kilauea. Christ Memorial Episcopal Church is one small simple church that you can’t help but notice as you drive through Kilauea. It’s a small stone building
that’s nice to look at from the outside. But, once you enter, you’ll notice the stunning glass windows and the mahogany altar. It’s the history of the church that’s as fascinating as the stained glass windows.Worship services were held in Kilauea as early as 1888, but they really didn’t have a place of worship. They used a simple building owned by the Hawaiian Congregation Church, but it wasn’t until 1939 that the church was built. Like almost everything else on the island, the church was built by the sugar industry. Kilauea Sugar Company deeded the land and donated the stone to Christ Memorial Church.

There’s a graveyard surrounding the church that dates back approximately 100 years. Quite a number of the graveyards are unmarked and no one knows for sure how many people are buried there. Christ Memorial Episcopal Church does hold Sunday Service at 8:30 am. The church is on Kolo Road, just before you turn on Kilauea Road.

St. Sylvester’s Roman Catholic Church, 2390 Kolo Road, Kilauea, is down the road from Christ Memorial Episcopal Church – another classically simple church. It was built around 1880 and it’s far from your typical Roman Catholicl Church. First off, it’s octagonal in shape. Second, it was made from lava rock and wood. The frescoes inside the church are work a look. They were painted by artist Jean Charlot. Worship Services are held on Saturdays at 5 pm and Sundays at 7 am.

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