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Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Crime & Courts

The woman charged with murder after allegedly fatally shooting a man in Kailua last weekend was turned in by her father the day of the event, according to a Honolulu police report.

Hilinaikailimakualopali Keeno, 24, was charged on Sept. 30 with second-degree murder, carrying a firearm in the commission of a felony and improperly keeping a pistol or revolver. She is being held pending a $1 million bail.

An HPD document — which was submitted on Tuesday, Sept. 29, to the Honolulu Circuit Court to establish probable cause to detain Keeno without a warrant — states that Keeno’s father brought her to the Kailua Police Station less than an hour after 

was declared dead of a gunshot wound to the neck in the Kailua Target parking lot.

The report states that HPD special duty officers, who were working security at the Kailua Fall Festival that day, were called to assist with a group of festivalgoers involved in an argument at about 8:26 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26.

Officers escorted the group out of the festival and watched them head toward the Target parking lot, only to hear another altercation begin among the group minutes later.

During this new altercation, a pop resembling a gunshot was heard, and officers saw two men — one of whom was Keeno’s brother — assaulting a third. Both assailants were placed under arrest for disorderly conduct, while officers discovered Malone on the ground, covered in blood.

[{"type":"text","text":"Malone was declared dead at the scene by 8:43 p.m."}]

At 9:39 p.m., Keeno was brought to the Kailua Police Station by her father, who told police she was involved in the incident and wanted to provide a statement in the presence of her attorney.

According to the HPD report, no interview was conducted with Keeno that night. Subsequently, HPD sought photographs and videos from the public to help piece together the event and identify the shooter.

On Sept. 28, another witness identified Keeno as the shooter, and HPD confirmed that Keeno has one firearm registered in her name, a Sig Sauer P365 handgun.

[{"type":"text","text":"Following this, Keeno was placed under arrest."}]

Keeno’s preliminary hearing, when she will plead guilty or not guilty to the charges, will take place Monday, Oct. 5. She remains in custody.

Hpd 16x9

<title>Woman charged in Kailua shooting turned in by father</title>

Hilinakailimakualopali Keeno faces a $1 million bail for a second-degree murder charge.

Woman charged in Kailua shooting turned in by father

Government & Politics

Aloha Spirit

State and U.S. flags will be flown at half-staff this weekend in commemoration of former U.S. Rep. Patricia “Pat” Saiki, who died Wednesday at the age of 96.

Saiki was the second woman in Hawai‘i elected to represent the state in Congress — the first being Patsy Mink — as well as the first Republican Hawai‘i Congress member. She reportedly died peacefully in her home in Kāhala, according to the 

, a successor organization to the state’s first teachers’ union, which she founded.

Before her career in politics, the Hilo-born Saiki was a public school teacher at Kaimukī Intermediate School. When her daughter fell ill at school and was taken to the hospital, she was told she could not use school phones for personal business such as checking on her daughter, which led her to form the Teacher’s Chapter of the Hawai‘i Government Employees Association.

Saiki ran for the state House of Representatives in 1968 and won — becoming the first woman to hold the seat — and served through 1974. Following that, she ran for the state Senate, where she served until 1982, when she unsuccessfully ran for Lieutenant Governor.

In 1986, she was elected to her U.S. House seat, where she served until 1990 before an unsuccessful U.S. Senate run. That year, then-President George H. W. Bush appointed her to be the administrator of the U.S. Small Business Association, where she served until 1993.

Among her legislative achievements were the establishment of the Kapi‘olani Medical Center’s Sex Abuse Treatment Center, passing reparations for Japanese immigrants and Japanese-Americans detained in internment camps during World War II, and successfully urging President Bush to halt the use of Kaho‘olawe as a bombing range in 1990.

Later in life, Saiki was chair of the Hawai‘i Republican Party from 2014 to 2015 — during which time the party saw membership rolls triple, according to Gov. Josh Green’s office.

“Pat Saiki’s six decades of public service and her pioneering example for young women and Asian Americans in Hawai

i and across the U.S., combine to form both a lasting, inspiring legacy and a high bar for all of us who serve the public,” Green said Wednesday.

From Friday through Monday morning, U.S. and state flags will be flown at half-staff at all state offices and agencies, as well as Hawai‘i National Guard facilities.

Saiki is survived by four children, Stuart Saiki, Sandra Saiki, Margaret Saiki and Laurie Saiki, as well as numerous grandchildren. Services are pending.

Screenshot 2026 09 30 at 3 43 39 PM 16x9

<title>Former Congresswoman Pat Saiki dead at 96</title>

Flags to fly at half-staff this weekend to honor the state's first Republican delegate

Former Congresswoman Pat Saiki dead at 96

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Business & Tourism

Food & Dining

After parting ways with previous business partners on a venture, 

Jason Kashtan wasn’t sure what his next move was. After a few weeks of decompressing, he joked to his wife, Miyu, about “going back to basics” and opening a lemonade stand on the side of the road.

“The moment I said it, I realized, ‘That’s not a bad idea,’” he says.

Kashtan has lived on Maui for about 30 years, but is originally from the East Coast. He explains their version of “shave ice” was Italian ice and frozen lemonade.

’s — and great ice cream from Roselani, but frozen lemonade wasn’t really a thing here,” he says. “I thought if I could make shave ice the way I remembered it as a kid — simply with real fruit, water and cane sugar, but use local lemons and make things a little less sweet to keep it refreshing — it could walk a different path from ice cream and shave ice.”

Inspired, Kashtan partnered with a friend to start this new business venture. He said they kept things simple — frozen lemonade, one size only, and at a community-centered price point.

In line with a simple product, Kashtan knew he wanted to keep the business name straightforward, as well. As an entrepreneur, Kashtan has had several small businesses, but acknowledges that his own concepts and designs have created brands that needed “too much explaining.” He didn’t want that to be the case for 

“I was going to use ‘Maui’ in the name — something that I always thought was an easy way out,” he says. “But I finally succumbed to the fact that it works. And since we are here first and foremost for the Maui community, it made sense.

“Although vague and presenting its own challenges, ‘frozen’ — not Italian ice, not shave ice — allows the brand to go in multiple different directions, which has been helpful.”

Kashtan planned to purchase a few ice cream carts for the lemonade concept, but immediately ran into issues.

“Some of Maui’s rules and regulations weren’t going to allow me to operate the carts in the way that I had planned,” Kashtan says. “Making adjustments required by the county was going to be costly and take too much time to get up and running.”

Kashtan pivoted and started shopping around for a food truck, but found that many were too big or pricey for his business's needs. He remembers starting to look for options on the Mainland and considered shipping a food truck here. Then, he came across a 1978 Chevy P30 StepVan that was for sale 3 miles away in Kīhei.

“I loved the look of the truck, as it fit the retro vibe I had envisioned for the brand since day one,” Kashtan says. “Although still expensive, it was much closer to my budget."

Maui Frozen’s food truck opened in December 2024. Reflecting on the business’s early days, Kashtan says that being mobile was essential in building the Maui Frozen brand. They initially gave away a lot of free product, just to get people to try it.

“People weren’t searching for ‘frozen lemonade’ — they looked for shave ice and ice cream — so being able to bring our product and service to where people were already gathered was critical," he says.

As the business started to gain traction, Kashtan realized it was time to add multiple flavors. POG was the business’s second flavor, then came a strawberry li hing topping.

“Suddenly, the mission became continue to keep things crazy simple, but add flavors that were familiar but different,” he says. “The goal was to refine the product to have a consistency different from anything else out there, and monitor the sugar to keep things refreshing.”

Kashtan says his wife — who was born and raised in Fukushima, Japan — was an important part of recipe development and the business’s R&D stage.

“She doesn’t enjoy anything too sweet,” he explains. “As we were coming up with flavors, she would always say, ‘Less sugar, less sugar.’ When she was finally happy with the amount of sugar I was using, I increased it by 7% — it was literally a guess, ‘lucky 7’ — and that became our recipe. It’s another critical piece in setting us apart from others in the industry.”

All of the business’s flavors do not feature any dyes, flavorings or extracts, or high fructose corn syrup. Keeping fruit as the star was Kashtan’s main objective.

“We aren’t always the most Instagrammable product; there’s no red or blue dye to make things pop," he says. "But we’re finding other ways to present the product in a fun way, mostly through our amazing local community, who visit and fill our world with personality.”

For the most part, the Maui Frozen food truck was usually located in Makena, according to Kashtan. The biz also opened for private parties and popped up at different events around town.

“Looking back, that’s what introduced us to the community, and that’s what sustained us,” Kashtan says.

About a year into the business, Kashtan and his business partner realized they had similar goals, but “vastly different ways of getting there,” and ultimately realized they weren’t aligned in the necessary ways to move the business forward. They decided to part ways; Kashtan started doing everything on his own. At a point, though, as the business grew more popular, Miyu and their daughter often came to help.

“At one point, it got to be too much and we weren’t really ready to hire employees, so my wife left her job and was suddenly a business owner again,” Kashtan says. “It wasn’t part of our plan, but it was part of God’s plan.

“Maui Frozen would absolutely not be the same without her … and I would have gone crazy,” he adds.

Opening a storefront was never part of Kashtan’s plan. But as the business started growing, Kashtan started looking around for a small commercial production kitchen that would allow him to produce all of the products and park the van.

“(At the time,) I was renting a production space form a friend of mine, and started to worry if I was being a burden, taking up so much space,” he explains.

When the Island Surf building in Kīhei — located across from Kalama Park and Cove Park, according to Kashtan — was nearing the completion of its renovation, Kashtan reached out to a realtor friend to see if the property owner would be open to splitting a unit and renting him the back side.

“Logistically, that didn’t really make sense for them, but she suggested I look at a space available on the side of the building facing Maui Wave Riders,” Kashtan says. “I did; I liked it a lot, but something was giving me pause. I was nervous to commit.”

A few months went by. One day, an operational challenge prompted Kashtan to contact his friend again about the Island Surf Building. She told him there was another frozen treat concept that was planned for a space in front of the building, but the plans fell through. She suggested Kashtan meet her at the space to have a look.

“The vibe was awesome, bustling with surfers paddling out at the Cove, the surf school in full swing, families crossing the street with surfboards," 

Kashtan remembers. "People were playing volleyball and enjoying the park.

“I felt so good — like I did when I first moved to Maui almost 30 years ago,” he adds. “There was something beautiful, nostalgic and very ‘Maui’ about the vibe. I had no idea how I was going to make it work, but I immediately knew Maui Frozen found its first permanent home."

Maui Frozen offers three simple desserts in multiple variations. Its Maui slush — which Kashtan describes as “light, smooth and refreshing” — is made from real fruit, purified water and cane sugar.

“Sticking to our familiar-but-different philosophy, two of our items are hybrids of multiple experiences, but done simply in a way that makes you feel like they’ve been here all along,” Kashtan says.

He explains he originally wanted to call the dessert something different, but the name “slush” stuck.

“I (originally) hated the name ‘slush;’ it sounded so cheap," he says. "But then, as I would explain what the dessert is, I would end up using the phrase ‘like slush,’ and customers understood. ‘Slush’ is something familiar, but calling it ‘Maui slush’ indicates that it was made for this environment.”

Maui slush treats come in flavors like lemonade — the original — Hami melon, mango, lychee and coconut coffee. Customers can add on toppings like strawberry li hing and OG li hing mui for 50 cents more.

“On the truck, we could only keep three flavors,” Kashtan says. “Having the shop is nice because we can do more (flavors). People always ask me, ‘What’s the most popular flavor?’ They all sell about the same; maybe lemonade is still the most popular, but everything else is close.

“My go-to is the lemonade because it’s nostalgic for me,” he adds. “That’s still my favorite, but I like the melon because it’s crazy refreshing.”

Kashtan says since real fruits are used to make the flavors, POG has bits of orange peel in it.

“We chop up the (fruit) skin and put it back inside (the flavor), so you have little bits of freshness,” he says. “Some people pull it out and wonder what it is, but it’s totally intentional.”

Usually six slush flavors are available, but customers who follow Maui Frozen’s Instagram will know when the biz has a seasonal special. The biz also has a coconut flavor (separate from the coconut coffee listed on the menu).

“We recently did a Japanese whiskey with miso caramel ribbon,” Kashtan says. “People are always asking, ‘Do you do just coconut?’ We did and it ended up being a hit. I didn’t like the way it looked on the menu — because there’s already coconut coffee, it looked redundant — but we have it here, if somebody asks for it.

“One of the things that we did turned out to be a hit — our coconut coffee slush with our pineapple scoop ice on top,” he adds. “It’s almost like pina colada style. The li hing mui syrup (on top) is super good.”

Kashtan says the pineapple ice was added to Maui Frozen’s menu about four months after the storefront opened. When the store first opened, the business was busy, since they already had a following from the truck.

“I was playing around with the idea of doing ice cream 

 sticking to what I knew from Boston, but tweaking it to fit Maui," 

Kashtan remembers. "I thought, ‘If I can do that, but play with the texture a bit and make it not so sweet …'”

The result: pineapple ice, Maui Frozen’s twist on ice cream. It’s made with pineapple, purified water, cane sugar and whole milk, according to Kashtan.

“The whole milk gives it that creamy mouthfeel, but it doesn’t sit heavy on your palate like ice cream does,” he explains. “It scoops a little like sherbet, but it’s different. You have to taste it to understand.

“Our Maui slush and scoop ice are not as sweet as shave ice, and not as heavy as ice cream,” he adds. “It’s its own thing designed for life on Maui. You can enjoy it in the middle of the day and not feel terrible after eating it.”

The pineapple ice is available in three sizes ($4.75 regular, $8.75 double scoop, $16.75 pint) and in three flavors. Choose from original, torched and berry; all three flavors start with the same base, Kashtan notes.

“For the torched flavor, I caramelize some pineapple in a pan,” he explains. “I cool it down, and once it’s cool, I hit it with a kitchen torch. It gets smoky and sweet, with little bits of pineapple. The berry has little bits of strawberry in it.”

The frozen banana was added to the menu after Kashtan was in the kitchen one day, making dessert for his wife and daughter. They suggested that he add frozen bananas to the menu; once he did, 

Kashtan realized the treats were "nostalgia on a stick." 

The bananas ($4.75 each) are currently dipped in the business’s dark and milk chocolate blend, and finished with either Maldon salt or roasted peanuts. Customers can also opt for the business’s Dubai flavor ($6), which is dipped in the business’s blend of milk and dark chocolates, then rolled in kataifi for crunch and finished with a pistachio cream.

“Nothing we do is too sweet, including our frozen bananas,” Kashtan says of the treat.

In terms of pricing, keeping the products “community forward” has been important to Kashtan from day one. A regular-size Maui Slush, scoop ice or frozen banana is $4.75 each.

“We occasionally get asked if we offer a 

 discount,” he says. “We work super hard to keep our prices where they are — a regular Maui slush is $4.75 for everybody, every day. Keeping prices affordable has always been important to us.”

Maui slush is also available in an extra-large size ($16.75), but Kashtan notes this is a 32-ounce tub portion.

Whether it’s keeping Maui Frozen accessible to everyone or maintaining a quality product, Kashtan says keeping the community as the business’s focus is essential.

“Maui Frozen is not just a frozen treat spot,” he says. “We try to be thoughtful about everything we do, and we genuinely want to create memorable moments for our guests; they are the reason we do this.”

The business’s counter is filled with photos of people and guests who “make our day brighter,” according to Kashtan, who says the biz also includes a retro arcade system for kids to enjoy.

“A guest once told us, ‘Maui Frozen is like a neighborhood bar without the booze,’” he says. “I love that.”

At the time of our visit, Maui Frozen’s store had been open for eight months. Since the business never did an official grand opening event, Kashtan says the biz might do a one-year anniversary celebration.

“Maui Frozen is truly a vibe,” he adds. “It’s about the people, the community; what we serve is secondary.”

Open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (open until 6:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays)

Maui Frozen owner 092326

<title>Maui Frozen features affordable, chilled treats</title>

The business, which specializes in Maui slush and pineapple scoop ice, originated as a food truck in 2024 and recently opened its first storefront in Kīhei. According to Maui Frozen owner Jason Kashtan, all desserts do not feature any dyes, flavorings or extracts, or high fructose corn syrup, and are kept at a $4.75 price point to serve the community.

Maui Frozen features affordable, chilled treats

Lopaka and Tanya Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya Kapanui

Hawai‘i History

Columnists

The old Restaurant Row was built in 1988, and popular eateries like Studebaker’s and Black Orchid brought crowds to the plaza. As soon as you parked your car and got out, the mouth-watering smell of burgers and steaks overwhelmed your senses. Many of us remember shooting toothpicks through straws into the ceiling at Rose City Diner. We appreciated the assortment of restaurants open late after a night out. If you worked nearby, dinner at the Row was an easy choice.

But the success of Restaurant Row was short-lived as those restaurants, once popular, began closing their doors due to decreased traffic. Some attribute the slowdown to Aloha Tower Marketplace and Chinatown’s First Fridays. But no matter what the reason, we still have our memories.

[{"type":"text","text":"And our ghost stories."}]

Stories of Waterfront Plaza, as it’s now known, begin with the history of the land and what was there long ago. Before the highrises of modern Kaka‘ako were built, this area was part of a coastal landscape of wetlands, fishponds, and salt pans. As Honolulu grew and changed, the place names remind us of what was once there.

Ka‘ākaukukui is an ‘ili, or traditional land division, that was located makai (inland) of Kewalo and west of Kukuluāe‘o. Trails that crossed the region connected Kou (now Honolulu) and Waikīkī. By the time the 20th century rolled about, that landscape had virtually disappeared.

In 1900, the Honolulu Iron Works moved to a block of land at Ka‘ākaukukui. The company had become an important part of Hawaiʻi's sugar industry, manufacturing machinery for sugar mills in Hawaiʻi and elsewhere. At its height, the Iron Works employed approximately 1,500 workers, many of whom lived in Kakaʻako.

As the sugar industry eventually declined, so did the need for the mill parts that the Honolulu Iron Works manufactured. After closing its doors in 1973, its buildings were gradually converted to other uses before being demolished. The final warehouse was torn down in 1982.

In 1985, construction at the former Honolulu Iron Works site uncovered human skeletal remains. The burial pits were found less than three feet below the existing ground surface, within an older sand deposit. Archaeologists associated the burials with Kaʻākaukukui Cemetery, which was said to have been used from the 1700s into the early 1800s.

Today, after more than a century of urban development, there is no visible cemetery marking the site, but that doesn’t mean there are no lingering remnants. Iwi kūpuna, ancestral Native Hawaiian remains, associated with Kaʻākaukukui continue to be found during modern construction and utility work in Kakaʻako.

Perhaps it is no surprise that places with such histories can also become the setting for stories of the unexplained. Over the years, people who have worked in and around this area have reported encounters they could not easily explain.

, in 2005. Soon after, I did book signings where I also shared ghost stories. At one such occasion, a very tall Hawaiian woman in a business suit approached me and said she was a manager at Restaurant Row. She went on to say she was having trouble keeping security guards employed because they would quit after seeing ghosts and spirits in and around Restaurant Row, which happened at all hours, even in broad daylight.

“These are big, tough Sāmoan and Hawaiian security guards,” she emphasized.

According to this woman, the guards said they saw half-torso apparitions floating through the parking lot, or heard voices calling their names. Worse, they would see spirits of children, covered in bleeding sores.

I was shocked to hear this, as I remembered that my late boss, Glen Grant, talked about the same thing on his ghost tours and in his books.

The manager said there was also a woman they would find crying in the theater bathroom. She went on to say that customers and employees would hear the woman crying miserably in the stall. Security comes and knocks on the door, the door swings open, and a woman is squatting on the floor, covering her face with her two hands, just sobbing. The security guard asks what’s wrong, and the woman removes her hands, and she has no face.

“If this is happening during the day,” I asked. “Then what’s going on at night?”

“If a guard isn’t getting physically assaulted, then something follows them in their car,” she said.

The woman seemed more frustrated than scared because she needed guards day and night to patrol and protect the row. She left before I could get her contact information to follow up. The restaurants all changed, closed, or made way for other businesses, but I often wondered how they finally dealt with the hauntings.

A few years ago, I was doing a personal ghost tour for some staff and students from Hawaii Pacific University. They had just recently moved to their new location at the Waterfront Plaza. I met them near The Row bar, and when I heard about their move, I asked how they liked it so far.

[{"type":"text","text":"“We need it blessed,” they said. “It’s haunted.”"}]

Apparently, chairs move, computers turn on and off by themselves. The security company calls late at night because they can hear people in the offices talking, but no one is ever found. Someone even said that no one would be sitting at a computer station, but you can see the keys on the keyboard typing away.

I think they were surprised that I wasn’t phased at all by their descriptions. I just nodded and said that the place has been haunted since the beginning.

Waterfront Plaza

<title>What Haunts Waterfront Plaza</title>

Back in the day, when this complex was known as Restaurant Row, many of us enjoyed being pleasantly haunted by ’50s tunes at Rose City Diner or catching sight of celebrities at Black Orchid. But even then, some people were haunted by far more disturbing sights, perhaps owing to a cemetery that had been at the same location long ago.

What Haunts Waterfront Plaza

A 24-year-old woman has been arrested in connection with last weekend’s fatal shooting in Kailua.

The Honolulu Police Department announced on Sept. 28 that homicide detectives identified a suspect who was arrested for second-degree murder and firearm offenses just before 11 p.m. Monday night. HPD arrest logs 

 Hilinaikailimakualopali Keeno as the suspect.

Keeno’s arrest was possible through the assistance of the HPD’s Criminal Investigation Division’s Forensic Video Unit. HPD had previously requested that members of the public submit photos or videos of the Kailua Fall Festival, which was ongoing at the time of the shooting, that could help identify the suspect, who at the time was described as “a local male in his late 20s.”

HPD’s announcement also identified the victim: 30-year-old Thomas Malone, the son of Michael Buntenbah, who owns the 

Friends and family of Malone gathered at the Kailua Target parking lot Tuesday to commemorate him with flowers, candles and memorabilia. Also in attendance were Malone’s old soccer coach and former teammates.

Malone had a decorated athletic career during high school, having played football, soccer and track and field at Kaiser High School. Hawai‘i sports website ScoringLive 

 Malone their Offensive Player of the Year for the 2013 football season, saying that Malone — then a senior going by the name Buntenbah-Leong — accumulated 149 points over 12 games.

Aloha State Daily's Christian Shimabuku and Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros contributed to this article.

 The Honolulu Police Department is seeking photos and videos of the Kailua Fall Festival that can shed light on the shooting death of a 30-year-old man.

On Sept. 26, shortly after 8:30 p.m., a gunshot was reported in the parking lot of the Target in Kailua, where a 30-year-old man was found with a fatal gunshot wound and was declared dead at the scene.

Initial investigations by HPD determined that two groups of people got into an argument at the Kailua Fall Festival, which was adjacent to the parking lot. That argument spilled into the lot, where somebody pulled out a gun and shot the victim.

The shooter, however, was unidentified beyond the description: “a local male in his late 20s, wearing a black sweater and his hair in two braids.”

HPD has initiated a murder investigation and has received surveillance footage and other pictures from the festival. However, detectives are requesting additional photos from the event that could help identify the shooter. Even photos that don’t explicitly show the shooting can still contain relevant information, HPD has stated.

People with information or recordings regarding the incident are asked to call 911 or CrimeStoppers at 808-955-8300.

[{"type":"text","text":"The investigation remains ongoing."}]

Kailua shooting victim memorial

<title>UPDATED: Woman arrested for weekend Kailua shooting</title>

On Sept. 28, HPD identified the alleged shooter from the Kailua Fall Festival this past weekend and also named the victim: Thomas Malone, 30, who had a decorated athletic career at Kaiser High School, where he played football, soccer and track and field. Friends and family of Malone gathered at the Kailua Target parking lot Tuesday to commemorate him with flowers, candles and memorabilia.

UPDATED: Woman arrested for weekend Kailua shooting

As we walk swiftly across the soft, burning sand of Polihale Beach, a wave crashes on the shore, and the ocean rolls up to meet us. I bend to pick up a seashell that made a brief appearance, but it’s quickly covered again by the ebb tide, and I miss my chance. Our granddaughter squeals with delight as the cold water runs up to her knees, and she takes the opportunity to splash the ocean water on her grandparents, too.

Located on the west side of Kaua‘i, it’s the longest stretch of beach in Hawai‘i and holds deep cultural significance to Hawaiians. As a state park, Polihale is a favorite spot for locals who grew up swimming, fishing, and camping there, and due to its increasing popularity, it’s a growing favorite for visitors as well.

However, it’s not an easy place to get to. The 5-mile-long, former cane-haul road to Polihale is full of ruts and potholes. It’s a dirt road, so if it rains, the road turns to mud, making it nearly impassable unless one has a 4-wheel-drive vehicle. Most rental car companies strictly prohibit their users from driving to the remote beach.

Swimming there can be deadly, as rip currents can quickly pull you away from shore, and large tiger sharks are frequently seen in the area. There is no cell service, which can mean disaster for the unprepared, but if you do make it out there, you’re met with incredible natural beauty.

For generations, Hawaiians have called Polihale their home. Aside from its visual splendor, Polihale is a place of ancient history and culture. The sand dunes hold the burials of our ancestors in sacred embrace, while the mountain peaks that butt up against the sand, jutting out into the ocean, serve as a leaping place for souls into the afterlife.

Like every place in Hawai‘i, Polihale has its own legends. As we sat basking in the sun, we were fortunate to share a bit of history and legend with our granddaughter, and now we share it with you.

There was a special type of limu called pahapaha, sometimes known as sea lettuce, that grew off the shores of Polihale. In our mo‘olelo, it was Nāmakaokaha‘i, goddess of the ocean and Pele’s sister, who gave the limu its special quality. It was said that a lei pahapaha, a garland made of this special seaweed, can fade and dry out over time, but when soaked in water, it will revive to its original freshness. Only the limu pahapaha of Polihale did this. Visitors who made the long trek to Polihale made lei pahapaha and wore them home to prove that they had, indeed, been there. Sadly, this legendary limu can no longer be found off the shores of Polihale.

Lei kauna‘oa was used when praying to Kapoʻulakinaʻu, another sister of Pele and the goddess of sorcery and dark arts. Kāhuna would offer a lei made of kaunaʻoa from the dunes of Polihale to ask for help in defeating their enemies. While the parasitic plant is often found growing on pōhuehue vines along beaches and sand dunes across every island, it is said that Kapo first discovered the yellow-orange plant at Polihale.

At the far end of the beach, just below the cliffs, there is an ancient heiau dedicated to Laka, which also serves an important purpose in the spiritual afterlife. The spirits of the dead come to the west side of Kaua‘i from all over the island. They gather at Kāʻana at the edge of Waimea Canyon and follow the Hikimoe Stream down to the heiau at Polihale. Then, they climb to the top of the 300-foot cliff and leap into the ocean to sink into Pō, the everlasting night. Any spirits that lost their way to the leina a ka ‘uhane, the leaping place of souls, or any spirits that were not accepted into Pō, were left to haunt the ridges of Waimea Canyon and the shores of Polihale. It was said that the people in the area never built their hale pili, their grass houses, with the entrance facing east, so the spirits traveling to Polihale would not enter their home and become trapped.

At night, the air is cool, and the sand loses the heat it soaked up during the day. The sound of crashing waves seems louder, broken occasionally by the music and laughter of shoreline campers. There are no streetlights here, so when the sun goes down, the darkness can feel quite intimidating, and for good reason.

In addition to the procession of the dead, people have witnessed the night marchers walking to and from the ancient heiau. There are numerous stories of people who set up camp on the beach, throw out their fishing lines, and sit back to wait for a bite, only to pull up their lines and leave quickly before anything got a chance to nibble at their bait.

One man described his experience with that exact scenario, saying that everyone in his camp heard the rhythmic beating of the drums.

The wind died, and the air was suddenly hot, when someone in the group shouted, “Night marchers!”

They all lay flat on their stomachs, covering their faces. The drums grew louder, and at one point, they seemed to be right next to the frightened campers. After the sound was gone and they could feel the wind again, the group immediately decided to break camp, believing that there was no way they’d catch any fish that night.

Another woman describes driving out to Polihale late one night to meet her family. With only the headlights from her car to see ahead, Amy drove slower than she would during the day. In the passenger seat, her sister Michelle was talking about her day, filling the silence left by the radio after they lost the signal.

They were almost at the last camp area, where their family was waiting, when Michelle shouted, “Did you see that?”

[{"type":"text","text":"She turned to Amy and said, “You did see it, didn’t you!”"}]

Though she didn’t admit it to her sister right away, Amy saw exactly what Michelle saw. Without saying a word, she pressed the gas a little harder and told Michelle to be quiet as she tried to focus on the road.

Amy told us that as they made their way through the darkness, they saw a person standing in the middle of the dirt road. The person was far enough away for Amy to gradually slow down, and as they got closer, they could see it was a woman wearing a long dress, walking in the same direction they were headed. But just as Amy started to move to the side and slow down even more, the woman vanished.

“She didn’t move or jump out of the way, and she didn’t run off anywhere. She just totally disappeared!” Amy said.

Polihale is far more than just a scenic beach. It is a wahi pana, a celebrated and storied place, that is culturally sensitive to the Hawaiian people. Park users can help protect this sacred area by leaving no trace of their presence. Be considerate by packing out all trash, and avoid moving rocks or boulders that may be part of the natural or cultural landscape. Resist the urge to drive on the sand beyond designated access routes and stay off the sensitive sand dunes. By treating Polihale with care and respect, we can all help preserve this special place for future generations.

Polihale Beach

<title>Legends and Spirits of Polihale</title>

At the end of an unpaved, 5-mile road on Kaua‘i's west side is Polihale Beach. It is many things — a treasured local hangout, a visitor attraction that's gaining popularity, and, in ancient Hawaiian tradition, it is a jumping-off place for souls seeking the afterlife. Eerie stories abound about it.

Legends and Spirits of Polihale

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ASD Staff

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