• PUNA DISTRICT TO SOUTH POINT

People in the Puna District live in the shadow of, and on, the slopes of Kilauea Volcano, which now and then sends lava spurting up in backyards, destroying homes.

Traveling through the Puna District from Hilo on Mamalahoa Highway 11 through Kurtistown and Mountain View takes you to Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Or, leave Highway 11 at Kea‘au, and follow Highway 130 to Pahoa and the coastal village of Kapoho, the site of the Pu‘ala‘a Beach Park hot ponds.

From Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park (photo left), the lower reaches of Puna are intermittently reachable on the Chain of Craters Road, but lava may cover roads in the area shutting them down for months, even years, at a time. Because conditions can change daily, check with Park Headquarters for the current condition of roads and trails. Recorded information detailing eruption activity can be obtained by calling
(808) 985-6000.

As you near Pahoa, you’ll see the black netting over huge parcels of land where anthuriums are grown. In open fields are many acres of papaya. To visit the actual town of Pahoa leave Highway 130 on the old road. The landscape in the Pahoa area is so extraterrestrial with the ‘a‘a (rough) and pahoehoe (rough) lava that it was used to train astronauts for their first walk on the moon.

Highway 130 continues to Kalapana where more than 200 homes, a church, store, and famous black sand beaches were overrun by lava in recent years. The historic Star of the Sea Painted Church, with its pastel trimmings and nativity scene, painted in 1929, was lifted off its foundation by its congregation, put on trucks, and moved out of harm's way just before the lava came.

Ironically, Ka‘u was the first place for Polynesians to land in Hawai‘i, but it remains one of the least populated. Ka‘u is easily reached from Volcanoes National Park and the Kona Coast on Highway 11, the Hawai‘i Belt Road.

As the Belt Road descends the flank of Mauna Loa, the Ka‘u Desert, with its plant life struggling to grow in the midst of lava flows, gives way to a much greener place where agricultural projects have taken hold.

The next quaint towns are Na‘alehu and Wai‘ohinu which has the distinction of being the southernmost community in the United States. South Point, nearly 60 miles south of Kailua-Kona and 50 miles south of Volcano, is the southernmost place in the United States. A favorite fishing grounds for Hawaiians, South Point, also called Ka Lae, is where Polynesians first landed on the island.