News
Volunteers give Kahalu‘u Beach Park some TLC
January 5, 2014
Kahalu‘u Beach Park got some tender loving care Saturday morning as Big Island residents and visitors worked together to fix damage and clean debris left in the wake of recent warning-level surf.
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Damaging surf triggers urgent Kahalu‘u cleanup
December 26, 2013
KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii – Caretakers of Kahalu‘u Beach Park are organizing a special beach cleanup day, following last week’s damaging high surf. According to the Kohala Center, the Kahalu‘u Bay Education Center is spearheading the “urgent” effort, which begins 9 a.m. on Saturday, January 4.
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Keiki Fishing Derby gets smiles, thumbs up
October 27, 2013
The first squeals of excitement were heard about a minute after the Keiki Fishing Derby began Saturday at Kahaluu Beach Park. Three boys holding homemade fishing bamboo poles and standing on different sides of Waikuaaala Fishpond pulled in their lines within seconds of each other, bringing up tiny tilapia.
It was hard to tell who was happier — the children or their parents. Both glowed with pride as they placed the fish in their buckets and baited their barb-less hooks again with doughy Love’s bread.
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Keiki Fishing Derby at Waikua‘a‘ala Fishpond (Oct. 26)
October 11, 2013
Children ages seven to 15 are invited to register for a Keiki Fishing Derby to be held 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, at Kahaluu Beach Park. This community event is being organized by the Kahaluu Bay Education Center. Registration and information are available online at www.KeikiFishingDerby.org or at the Kahaluu Bay Education Center at Kahalu‘u Beach Park.
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Kahalu‘u’s online watershed moment
July 27, 2013
A new website, Waipuni Kahalu‘u, brings together indigenous Hawaiian knowledge and Western research science to share information about an ahupuaa from the coral reef to the high mountain forests. It teaches users about the natural process contributing to the fresh water supply in the Kahalu‘u region, as well as explores the impacts of climate change and development on the ecosystem.
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Guide can help protect fish in vulnerable stages
May 11, 2013
A local not-for-profit center is connecting West Hawaii communities interested in conservation and management of their fishery with easy-to-use tools that allow greater stewardship of fish populations. The Kohala Center developed a voluntary spawning guide, a colorful poster rich with pictures and information teaching users to fish more responsibly, to help preserve Hawaii’s vibrant and precious marine resources.
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Click here to view the article online.
Used with permission from West Hawaii Today
SustAINAbility Committee to present “The Kahalu`u Bay Projects of The Kohala Center” at next workshop
September 11, 2012
Posted in Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce News
KKCC’s SustAINAbility Committee will hold its 3rd quarter meeting on Wednesday, October 3 from 3 – 4:30 p.m. at NELHA’s Gateway Center, followed by a presentation by committee member Cindi Punihaole on “The Kahalu’u Bay Projects of The Kohala Center” at 5 p.m. Chamber members are invited to attend the committee meeting to further the goals and objectives as outlined by the mission to promote environmentally and socially responsible practices for business and community; and/or the subsequent workshop on the Kahalu’u Bay Projects, one of the committee’s strategic objectives.
Click here to view the article online.
Excerpt taken from the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce Newsletter 'Connections'
Monk seal takes a snooze at Kahaluu
August 18, 2012
A female Hawaiian monk seal apparently decided to observe Friday’s state holiday and rest up at Kahaluu Beach Park. The seal, which experts on the scene said may be pregnant, spent most of Statehood Day napping on the shoreline to the north end of the park along Alii Drive. Park visitors were kept at a distance by ReefTeach and Marine Mammal Response Network personnel, but were able to shoot as many photos as their cameras could handle.
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Click here to view the article online.
Used with permission from Hawaii 247
Search for the Heart of Kahalu‘u
July 4, 2012
By Marya Mann
It’s a courtship by the sea, except we’re sitting in a Bakken Foundation classroom north of Kailua-Kona, where ReefTeach trainers show color slides of brilliant and broken corals that flourish and die in Kahalu‘u Bay. They want us to fall in love with the tranquility, beauty and history of this marine mecca without harming it, as unaware people have done for decades. “They thought it was only colored rocks,” says The Kohala Center’s Cindi Punihaole of the coral reefs, which delight snorkelers at the popular West Hawai‘i beach park. “They just didn’t understand that corals are living.”
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Click here to view the article online.
Used with permission from Keola Magazine
Researchers, kupuna share environmental health of Kahaluu
March 13, 2012
A packed room with standing room only at the Keauhou Beach Resort was buzzing with inquisitive members from the Hawaii Island community. The free public talk presentation focused on the history, culture and environmental health of Kahaluu Bay and included speakers Kupuna Mitchell Fujisaka, Dr. Kuulei Rodgers, and Kaipo Perez. The meeting discussing the history of the area and current issues at the bay was sponsored by The National Science Foundation EPSCoR-Track 2, CCRT, HIMB, The Kohala Center, and Jane Musser Fund.
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Click here to view the article online.
Used with permission from Hawaii 247
From the water to the web
February 28, 2012
A new website bursting with dynamic, interactive content has been launched to engage the public in conservation and restoration efforts at Kahaluu Bay. The Hawaii Institute for Marine Biology and the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Center for Conservation Research and Training have contributed significantly to The Kohala Center Portal, available at portals.intelesense.net/tkc.
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Click here to view the article online.
Used with permission from West Hawaii Today
Free presentation: Dynamic and unique Kahalu‘u
February 23, 2012
KONA, Hawaii: The cultural and natural landscape of the Kahalu‘u ahupua‘a (mountain-to-sea system) will be explored by Mitchell Fujisaka, Dr. Ku‘ulei Rodgers, and Kaipo Perez in a free presentation from 5:30–7 p.m. Tuesday, February 28, at Keauhou Beach Resort, Ballroom III. Fujisaka, a kūpuna (elder) of Kahalu‘u, will share stories of his life in this ahupua‘a.
Click here to view the article online.
Used with permission from Big Island Video News
New Kahalu‘u Bay Education Center blessed
December 6, 2011
A new visitor education experience awaits visitors to Kahalu’u Beach Park. The Kohala Center has entered into a 10-year contract with the County of Hawaii to establish the Kahalu‘u Bay Education Center, a new, portable facility to house the educational center and the snorkel rental concession at the popular beach park. The new education center was blessed this Saturday.
Click here to watch the video online.
Used with permission from Big Island Video News
Protecting Kahaluu Bay
Sunday, December 4, 2011
The Kohala Center has entered into a 10-year contract with the county to establish a learning center at Kahaluu Beach Park. The Kahaluu Bay Education Center offers a learning experience for visitors and residents — one that teaches respect and reverence for the natural and cultural resources of Kahaluu Bay. “It’s a great day today, to be able to move forward with this project,” said county Parks and Recreation Director Bob Fitzgerald at Saturday’s blessing of the education center.
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Click here to view the article online.
Used with permission from Hawaii 247
Education center on wheels rolls into Kahaluu
November 13, 2011
By the month's end, The Kohala Center plans to have a soft opening of its Kahaluu Bay Education Center -- a 1995 Ford van retrofitted to be an educational tool to share the importance of the resources at the popular West Hawaii snorkeling and surfing spot. While this new education center is small, The Kohala Center and Hawaii County officials say it will make a big impact in further enhancing the area's natural environment and protecting cultural resources. It will also serve as a focal spot for educational, public outreach and research efforts, as well as a concession stand, renting snorkel gear for about $9 plus tax. tourists.
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Used with permission from West Hawaii Today
Hawaii Island's Best Beach for Snorkeling
September 23, 2011
By Kim Steutermann Rogers
When I arrived at Hawaii Island’s number one snorkeling beach last week, the tide was low, revealing bright green seaweed growing on rocks. Exactly 77 beach-goers were out--reclining on beach towels, wading in the water, swimming and snorkeling. A dozen more sat at the picnic tables under the pavilion. Sean, a one-time public defender from California, manned the lifeguard tower, and two retired school teachers, Ken and Regan, set up shop for ReefTeach. On the back of Ken’s blue, volunteer-issue ReefTeach shirt, he’d handwritten in permanent marker: Please Kokua: No Touch Turtles!! No feed fish!! No touch coral!! *Mahalo*.
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Click here to view the article online.
Used with permission from The Outrigger
The Story of "Lefty" the Sea Turtle
September 1, 2011
By Margaret Kearns
Green sea turtles (honu in Hawaiian) are among Hawai‘i’s most popular, positively charming marine creatures. Revered by ancient Hawaiians, one legend tells the story of a mystical honu, Kauila, who resided in the waters off Hawai‘i Island. Kauila, as the legend goes, possessed special powers that allowed her to change into human form to watch over the village children playing near the shore.
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Click here to view the article online.
Used with permission from Ke Ola Magazine
Rebuilding Waikuaaala after Kona tsunami
August 15, 2011
KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii: The community gathered to lend a hand to the cherished Kahulu’u Beach Park on Saturday, part of the Kokua Kahulu’u effort organized by the Kohala Center, Hawaii County and supported by other local groups and businesses. The Wai’kua’a'ala pond, once the royal bath for Hawaiian alii, was restored by heavy lifting volunteers under the direction of Kelii Freitas, a county worker and stone mason versed in the old style. Organizers said the March 11th tsunami that battered the Kona coast presented an opportunity to refurbish the pond that had fallen under disrepair.
Click here to watch the video online.
Used with permission from Big Island Video News.com
Volunteers Brave Heat To Clean Up Beach
August 13, 2011
Clean up continues in Kailua Kona 5 months after the Tsunami swept through the islands. Click here to watch the video online.
Used with permission from KITV.com
‘Lefty’ the turtle flipping through life
May 3, 2011
by Caroline Neary
One of the greatest things about ReefTeaching is getting acquainted with the Hawaiian green sea turtles that frequent Kahaluu Bay. Each day, ReefTeach volunteers educate visitors about the honu (sea turtles) we encounter as they are happily eating or basking. ReefTeachers have become so familiar with some of these turtles that we even refer to a few of them by name—‘Rocky’ and ‘Lucky’ are two well-loved visitors to the bay.
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Used with permission from Hawaii 247
Volunteers restoring Waikuaaala
April 30, 2011
Long overgrown with non-native plants, the Waikuaaala pond at Kahaluu Beach Park is regaining its stature. Work to restore the brackish water pond, located near the center of the park, began shortly after a March 11 tsunami inundated the area. Since then, numerous people and groups, including a few county workers, have spent hours clearing out weeds, trees and rocks in an effort to expand the pond from the small 12-foot-by-12-foot circle it had become to a nearly 25-by-40 oval.
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Used with permission from West Hawaii Today
Volunteers vital to tsunami cleanup efforts
March 17, 2011
Heavy equipment, tools and tenacity were prevalent Thursday in West Hawaii, where volunteers banded together with government employees to clean up tsunami debris. Hawaii Rocks and Pineapple Custom are helping the state Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation remove wreckage off Kailua Pier, as well as out of Kamakahonu and Kaiakeakua bays. Kamakahonu Bay fronts Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel while Kaiakeakua Bay is on the other side of the pier. The businesses began donating their time, equipment, labor and expertise Saturday. Their reason was simple.
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Used with permission from West Hawaii Today
Coastal Classroom Konawaena middle schoolers learn science in the field
February 18, 2011
Konawaena Middle School eighth-graders got a small taste of field work this week while spending time at Kahaluu Beach testing scientific theories. From determining the effects of nitrates and nitrites upon sea urchin diversity to discovering how sewage impacts marine life, students used an assortment of tests on collected water samples to see if their hypotheses proved true.
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Used with permission from West Hawaii Today
Checkup for Kahalu‘u: Study looks at health of bay
By CHELSEA JENSEN
September 25, 2010
Kahalu‘u Bay is a unique place that affords oceangoers the opportunity to experience a marine habitat like no other in the state, marine biologist Kaipo Perez III said Friday in Keauhou. "This is a very special place and because of that it has always attracted a lot of tourists who come here for snorkeling, which has raised the community's concern regarding sustainability of the area," said Perez, who has spent the past nine months studying the bay. "It is a really rare place to have the ability to go out and within knee-deep water see coral."
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Used with permission from West Hawaii Today
Making a Difference the Hawaiian Way
May 7, 2010
Visitors and Island residents received a special treat this morning thanks to the Kohala Center’s Cindi Punihaole.
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Click here to view the article online.
Used with permission from pacificislandparks.com
'Bay Concert' Celebrates Kahaluu Bay, Kane
November 24, 2009
By Margaret Masunaga
The Bay Concert, a celebration of life at Kahaluu Bay, gave special recognition this year to artist, historian and author Herbert Kawainui Kane. The fundraiser, sponsored by The Kohala Center, was Saturday, Nov. 21 at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort & Spa. Kane, a resident of Honaunau, was honored as a community leader at the very heart of the Hawaiian Renaissance and a celebration of all that is good in life.
Click here to read the article online.
Used with permission from Hawaii 247.org.
Environmental Committee supports Kahalu‘u Bay Project
July, 2009
Editors note: The Chamber’s Environment & Natural Resources Committee has selected the Kahalu’u Bay Project as one area of focus for this fiscal year. Awareness, protection and education efforts by the committee will seek to compliment the efforts of the Project. KEAUHOU—How do we restore Kahalu‘u Beach Park, a significant community park dotted with archaeological sites and a rich cultural history, and protect its pristine ocean resources—while encouraging the nearly 400,000 visitors annually to enjoy it?
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Excerpt taken from the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce Newsletter 'Connections'
'Papayas and Bitter Melons' is a slice of life
June 21, 2009
Ups, downs of life focus of upbeat look at ohana power The ladies of "Papayas and Bitter Melons: Tales of the Bitter and Sweet," will be at the Keauhou Beach Resort Kalani Kai Grill from 1-2:30 p.m. Sunday, June 28, as part of La 'Ike Day at Kahalu'u Bay. Lucy Gay, Puanani Burgess, Ho'oipo DeCambra, Karen Young, Karen Hackler-Director, and Grace Caligtan of Oahu describe themselves as "community builders/activists/teachers/healers/friends who dive together into a lifetime of memories and surface bearing stories.
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Used with permission from the Hawaii Tribune Herald
Cleaning Kahaluu
Two dozen volunteers remove garbage at beach
May 24, 2009
by Chelsea Jensen
"My hands are full of cigarettes. Look at how much there is ... look ... There's so much cigarettes over here," said Justin Kenoi, 9, as he brought handfuls of cigarette butts, bottle caps and other refuse found strewn about Kahaluu Beach Park to a large garbage bag. About 25 people attended "La Ike Day at Kahaluu Bay" Saturday morning at the park's main pavilion. Mayor Billy Kenoi, along with his family, joined in the day helping community members clean up the 4 acre county park.
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Used with permission from West Hawaii Today.
Remembering Hawai‘i’s future by recognizing its traditions at Kahalu‘u and Keauhou April/May 2009
by Matt Hamabata
Hanau ka ‘Uku-ko‘ako‘a, hanau kana, he ‘Ako‘ako’a, puka (Born was the coral polyp, born was the coral, came forth.) Thus recounts Martha Warren Beckwith’s translation of the Kumulipo, the chant of Hawaiian origins, signifying na kanaka (Hawaiian/ humankind’s) relation to the natural environment and recently shared with marine scientists from around the world who convened at Kahalu‘u and Keauhou.
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Used with permission from Ke Ola Magazine
The Kohala Center awarded 2008 Environmental Education Grant for Kahalu'u Bay Project January 2009
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Hawaiian park reborn, thanks to UW students
Thursday, July 10, 2008
By Catherine O'Donnell
For Iain Robertson, a UW landscape architecture professor, Kahaluʻu Beach Park turned out to be one of the most fascinating projects he's ever worked on.
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Used with permission from University Week, the faculty/staff newspaper at the University of Washington.
Protecting Kahaluu Bay: Interpretive signs attempt to create awareness, provoke action Wednesday, September 26, 2007
By Carolyn Lucas
A delicate balancing act is afoot to protect the resources at Kahaluu Bay while trying to bring people closer to the wildlife and appreciate the sacredness of this place.
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Used with permission from West Hawaii Today.
Kahaluu Beach Park to get fresh coat of paint: Volunteers needed for the next two Thursdays Monday, March 19, 2007
By Carolyn Lucas
Kahaluu Beach Park's main pavilion is getting a facelift this week. Hawaii County Department of Parks and Recreation recently gave The Kohala Center and University of Hawaii Sea Grant Extension Service permission to paint the building, benches and tables.
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Used with permission from West Hawaii Today.