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A TOUR OF THE BIG ISLAND, HAWAII AT
ITS BEST
Keauhou to Honaunau
Six miles down the coast from Kailua
is the resort community of Keauhou which is built around the fairways of the Keauhou-Kona
Golf Course.
| Keauhou, which was one
of the favorite playgrounds of Hawaiian royalty, is now enjoyed by visitors from all over
the world who come to vacation in the luxury hotels and condominiums overlooking Keauhou
Bay. |
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Today tourism is the major industry in
Kona. But, up until several years ago, coffee was the primary cash crop in the area.
Kona is still the only place in the United States where coffee is commercially
grown.
| The coffee is harvested
by hand, the same way it has been for about a hundred years in Kona. As you travel through
the upland communities of Kainaliu and Captain Cook you almost feel like you're stepping
back in time to the days when coffee was king in Kona. |
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A few miles further south along the coastline is the national historical park
of Pu’uhonua O Honaunau. In the days of old
Hawaiian rule, there was only one penalty for breaking one of the many strict laws called
kapu. It was immediate death.
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The only salvation for
a kapu breaker was to try to reach a Pu'uhonua, or place of refuge, before he was killed.
Here a Kahuna, or priest, could absolve a kapu breaker so that he might one day return to
normal life in the community. |
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| On the mountain
slope above Honaunau and overlooking the coastline is a sanctuary of another kind, St.
Benedict's Painted Church. The interior walls, ceiling and columns of this miniature
gothic church are covered with biblical scenes painted at the turn of the century by
Father John Velghe, Hawaii's own Michael Angelo. |
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Return to the
Big Island Television Visitor's Information Page
Introduction & History
Continue the tour in Kailua-Kona
Continue the tour on the Kohala Coast
Continue the tour in Kamuela & Honokaa
Continue the tour in Hilo
Continue the tour in Volcano National Park
Continue the tour at Mauna
Kea
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