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A Visit To Puuhonua O Honaunau National Historic Park

After a couple of days of eating “lunch” for our first meal of the day, I was jonesing for actual breakfast. I wanted my 2 eggs over easy, toast, and hash browns, but there are no local, breakfast-y places in Kona Waikoloa. Upon a barista’s recommendation, we drove the 25 minutes to Waimea to a little, hole in the wall diner called Hawaiian Style Cafe.

The Hawaiian hospitality was aces, our breakfast was fine, the price was cheap and cheerful, but man, did we look like we were on a diet! Our little side plates of food were tiny compared to what the other diners around us ordered – which was mostly ginormous, American-sized portions of rice, and slabs of meat, drenched in gravy.

Even though Waimea is small, it’s totally lovely. So green and mountainous, with the fastest moving clouds. At 2,700 feet (820 metres) elevation, it felt like the clouds were on top of us. We even drove up to one of the highest hills, just to get some great footage of the cloud action.

After that little detour, we went back to the Kohala Coast, past Kailua-Kona, and headed down to Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historic Park.

Pro Tip: Driving to Puuhonua O Honaunau National Historic Park from Kona, you take the Hawaiian Belt Road (Highway 19 which then becomes Highway 11). Right before you get to the Captain Cook Monument Trail, you have the option to continue on to Highway 11 by hanging a left, or like us, go straight and find yourself on Napoopoo Road (Highway 160). We had did this by accident, having missed the turn, but thought to ourselves, “let’s see where this goes.” It was complete happenstance. The residential street was one lane per direction and curvy to boot. But the lushness, the vegetation, the views! Much better than a boring, concrete highway. Totally recommend this route!

Driving down Napoopoo Road, we hit Middle Keei Road and then Painted Church Road, where we stopped to admire the St. Benedict Catholic Church or better known as the Painted Church.

It was then an easy connect back with Highway 160, which then led us to the entrance to Puuhonua O Honaunau National Historic Park. This sacred place is located on the southern end of Honaunau Bay and known as the “Place of Refuge of Honaunau.”

It was here, under the kapu system (or Hawaiian code of conduct, laws and regulations), where law breakers were purified and people were granted political asylum from their pursuers. Once inside the compounds of the walls, the priests were obligated to offer absolution to fugitives, no matter how big the crime. The kapu system was abolished in the early 19th century.

Today, Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historic Park serves as an archaeological site with reconstructed structures and protector kii (statues), dating back to the 1500s.

It was a lovely day trip. However, just a heads up – there’s no shade at the park, so make sure to wear a hat, lots of sunscreen and make sure to stay hydrated.

We hiked around a bit and then headed back to the Hilton Waikoloa Village to pick up our luggage, make a pit stop at the Queen’s Marketplace for sandwiches + refreshments, and headed out to our next destination, Hilo!