Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park

To understand this park you have to understand kapu, the sacred laws of old Hawaii. Kapu, the root of the English word taboo, governed nearly every part of daily life, from what a person could touch to where they could walk to who could eat with whom. A commoner could not let his shadow fall on a chief. Men and women could not eat together. Breaking a kapu was not just a crime, it was believed to threaten the whole community by angering the gods, so the punishment was often death.

The pu'uhonua was the mercy built into that hard system. A person who broke a kapu, or a warrior on the losing side of a war, could flee to the sacred ground and be safe. A kahuna pule, a priest, would perform a ceremony of absolution, and once it was done the person was forgiven and free to return to ordinary life. The refuge belonged to the gods, and no one, not even a chief, could take a life on that ground.

The most striking thing you see here is the Great Wall, called the Pa Pu'uhonua, which separates the sacred refuge from the royal grounds beside it. It was built around the middle of the 1500s, and it is roughly a thousand feet long, about ten feet high, and some seventeen feet thick. What makes it remarkable is that it is dry-stacked, meaning the heavy lava stones are fitted together by hand with no mortar at all, and much of it has stood for nearly five centuries.

At the shore stands Hale o Keawe, a reconstructed temple, or heiau, that once served as a royal mausoleum. It held the bones of about twenty-three chiefs, and that mattered deeply, because Hawaiians believed a person's bones carried their mana, their sacred spiritual power. Keeping the chiefs' bones here concentrated great mana on the site, which was believed to sanctify and protect the whole refuge. Tall carved wooden images called ki'i, representing gods and guardian spirits, stand watch around the temple. The temple and images you see today are careful reconstructions; the bones are no longer there.

Beside the refuge lie the royal grounds, where the ali'i, the Hawaiian chiefs, lived and held ceremonies. They chose this spot for its sheltered bay, its fresh springs, and its fishponds, and you can still see the old aquaculture ponds where they raised fish. A pitted stone board marks where people played konane, a traditional Hawaiian game a little like checkers, using black and white pebbles. A small cove nearby was the royal canoe landing, once reserved for chiefs alone.

That royal cove is now a favorite resting place for honu, the Hawaiian green sea turtles, which often haul out onto the sand and rocks along the shore. They are federally protected, and the rule is simple: keep your distance, never touch or feed them, and give them room. Between the turtles, the tide pools, the coconut grove, and the black lava meeting turquoise water, the shoreline is as memorable as the historic sites themselves.

A visit is an easy, flat walking loop of about half a mile, with numbered stops keyed to a park brochure and a free phone audio tour, and most people spend an hour or a little more. Park staff and cultural practitioners often demonstrate traditional Hawaiian crafts and skills, and the park holds an annual cultural festival with hula and Hawaiian arts. This is an active NPS site with an entrance fee, covered by the national parks pass; check the park website for current details.

Above all, treat it as the sacred place it is. Stay on the marked paths, and do not touch, lean on, or climb the wall, the temple, or the carved images. Just outside the park boundary is Two Step, one of the island's best shore-entry snorkeling spots, named for the natural lava ledges that let you step down into the clear water. Remember that you cannot enter the water from inside the park itself, since the royal cove is closed to swimming, so snorkelers use that adjacent public access. Bring water, sun protection, and sturdy shoes for the lava, and give yourself time to let the place sink in.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.