Cave of Refuge, Hakuma Horst (Hawaii Island)

Another cave / lava tube that we were excited to see, was the “Cave of Refuge” in the Hakuma Horst of Kalapana. The cave is probably ~200 meters long and is partially modified narrow at its entrance. Doing so allowed Hawaiians to defend the cave against intruders. On the other end, the cave opens to a cliff, 40 feet above the ocean. Though the cave is commonly marked on maps of Hawaii, its entrance is often difficult to find since the area is heavily covered by bushes.

Fortunate to have contacts on the island who have been there before,

…we were quick to find its entrance on the Kalapana coastline.

After mounting our headlamps, we entered one-by-one into the humid cave.

The entrance was constructed extremely narrow,

…where the walls and roof were just wide enough to enter while crouched.

At some points, we had to take off our packs so that we could fit through.

The narrow passage ends abruptly, and opens into the actual lava tube.

I’ve read in a geological survey that the hall-like cave was originally cleared of rocks, and that the loose rubble and boulders were remnants of collapsed walls.

Continuing further, the cave became narrow again.

So much that crawling on our elbows and knees were necessary to pass.

The constriction then opened up into a large balcony-typed room, which overlooks to the Pacific Ocean… and to our surprise, a half-dozen people having a picnic.

The opening of the cave almost perfectly frames the coastline, and I could almost imagine a more surreal feeling when viewing if our new roommates shared the edge of the balcony. However, they did not, and somewhat kept to themselves.

Trying to hold my camera above them and snapping a few pics of the coastline revealed a steep, ~40 foot drop of which would have been difficult to enter from. Cool stuff.

Although we didn’t get to experience the Cave of Refuge the way we intended, it was still an amazing addition to our themed adventure on the Big Island. If I do come here again, I hope to enjoy the cave without a bunch of other unfriendly people in it.

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