Lohe’s Cove Traditional Cache

Our Cache Pup Lohe (short for Kolohe) loves to romp in the water and fetch his stick in the quiet lagoon at Alan Davis Beach, also known as Queen’s Beach, on the Ka Iwi Coastline. According to Place Names of Hawaii by John R.K. Clark, Alan Sanford Davis was the former head trustee of the Campbell Estate and leased 3000 acres from Bishop Estate from 1932 to 1946. He had cattle and called the ranch Awawamalu. My wife’s mom remembers playing at the Davis’ house not far from the beach with his daughter, Nancy Davis (Pflueger) when they were young. The local fisherman started calling it Alan Davis Beach. The fishing was very good with numerous moi and aholehole close to shore. Aholehole can still be seen schooling in the swimming area outside the low reef of the beach. On April 1, 1946, Mr. Davis heard a tapping outside his wall. This was actually the first of several large waves from the tsunami that would eventually devastate the property. He took his wife and two daughters up to higher ground and went back for his dogs and some personal property between the third and fourth waves. He was in the house when the fourth wave struck but made it through the knee deep water and back to the road. The fifth wave destroyed the house and fearing worse the family drove up the road to the Makapu’u lighthouse, where they witnessed the water receding all the way out to the island next to Rabbit Island. When the final wave came in the noise was tremendous. The Davis family never returned to Awawamalu Ranch. It is now part of the Ka Iwi Coastline preserve and is considered conservation land but still zoned urban. Until it is zoned conservation, it will not be safe from future development. The cove has some nice tide pools that are great for little kids. It also has a big pole that sticks out over the lagoon that the big kids like to dive off of into the water. Please enjoy the area, and clean up after your dogs so that we can keep taking Lohe the cache pup there too.