Moomomi Sand Dunes, North Molokai

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4]

When I was told that the Moomomi Sand Dunes was our (Baron, Katie, Jenny, Jenelyn, Jennifer, Josh [808 Goonies], Seth and I) first destination of our Molokai adventures, I was somewhat hesitant. I thought to myself, how can sand dunes at the beach be of interest to anyone? Afterwards realizing that it is not so much the dunes themselves there, but a combination of wildlife, unique geographic features and virtual absence of people, are some of the things which make Moomomi so special. Although I’ve hiked through several coastal areas in Hawaii before, the landscape here is nothing short of spectacular and I hope to return again someday.

After driving over lengthy sections of dirt roads, we reached the spectacular northern coastline of Molokai.

Being mid-day, we quickly jumped on the faint trail that lead into the preserve.

Although the area seems like a coastal desert, there are several native plants and animals which are common here… like this Wedge-tailed Shearwater, which build burrows higher on the shoreline.

Careful not to step on the vegetation and burrows, we either hiked on the designated trail and/or on the sandy beaches where they were present.

Within 15 minutes of hiking, we were at Kawaaloa Beach,

… and stripping down to take a short dip at the deserted beach.

Since we had much more to see, we were quickly on our way down the coastline.

A piece of buried driftwood that caught my eye.

Looking back on the Kawaaloa beach, one can appreciate how special this place is when the only footprints on it are your own.

In addition to native wildlife, the geographic features here deserve recognition.

Lithified sand, where underlying layers of sand “cement” from pressure of sand above it, is common throughout the preserve (left). I believe this is the same (or similar) process to how sandstone is made. The sand also can fossilize roots, from plants which existed here long ago (right).

The dunes and sand waves are another eye-catching feature in Moomomi. The faint lines running perpendicular to the waves are made from seabirds scurrying around the beach.

Contrary to our stereotype of a preserve, we encountered large volumes of trash washed up on the last section of sandy shoreline. The most abundant type were old fishing nets, likely drifting at sea for extended periods of time before beaching themselves here. It was sad to see this, as I’m sure the native turtles which supposedly nest here get entangled from these ghost nets. As disturbing as it was, at least the majority of the coastline was not like this.

At the end of the littered shoreline, were rocky sandstone-like features and caves!

Here, the many layers of lithified sand can easily be observed.

40 feet up, a large, naturally eroded cave made for a great place to escape the exhausting heat.

Which made a excellent end to an epic day… So fortunate and glad I was able to visit here. Totally not what I was expecting. Keep in mind this is a 4-part series, with Kamakou Preserve, Queen’s Bath and Halawa Valley being on subsequent days after our first adventure at Moomomi Preserve.

For more information about Moomomi and how to visit here, contact The Nature Conservancy.

Aloha and mahalo nui for visiting… Come back again soon!

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