Polihale Beach is a beautiful, white sand beach that together
with Barking Sands Beach and Kekaha Beach, stretches southward 17
miles, averages 300 feet wide and has dunes up to 100 feet high.
You can't go any further north on this part of the island without a
boat as this is where the Na Pali Coast starts.
Ancient Hawaiians believed that the cliffs at the end of Polihale
Beach, called Ha'ele'ele, were the jumping off point for spirits or
'uhane' leaving this world. There they would leave this life and
join their ancestors forever. If there was no 'aumukua', or family
of spirits, to receive them, they would wander around the area
attaching themselves to rocks and generally causing mischief.
That's why it's considered unwise to take anything, such as stones,
from this area. You may bring back a wayward spirit itching to get
back home. It is said that Po, the land of the dead, lies in the
ocean off Polihale. Near here you will find the remains of the
Polihale Heiau, a temple that was sacred to Miru, the God of
Po.
Getting to Polihale can be challenging. The only way to drive to
Polihale is to take a 5 mile long cane road off the main highway.
Depending on the conditions, this road can be navigated in a normal
car, but a 4WD vehicle is best. Keep your windows closed! At the
end of the cane road, at the southern end of the beach, you will
see a large monkeypod tree, which is reputed to be haunted. Turn to
the right. You can take the road all the way to the end, even when
it looks like it doesn't go any further, but don't drive on the
sand unless you have a 4x4. Another way to get to Polihale is to
take a 17 mile kayak trip along the Na Pali Coast from Haena Beach
on the north end.
At the time this cache was placed, there were 11 other caches on
Kauai. This was the 12th. We enjoyed finding nine of the caches
(Mahalo!) and so at the end of our vacation we placed this cache
for others to enjoy.
We originally populated this cache with Kauai souvenirs. Please
bring other Kauai souvenirs to exchange, or souvenirs from your
city. Travel bugs and GeoCoins are also welcome!
We hope you enjoy your visit to Kauai! Aloha!
Additional note: This is the westernmost geocache in the
Hawaiian Islands