KANEANA CAVE OAHU EXPLORING LOST HAWAII - PLACES OF POWER, HISTORY, MYSTERY AND MAGIC

Come Exploring Lost Hawaii-- here we are on the island of Oahu-- this is an excerpt from my ebook Exploring Lost Oahu, Places of Power, History, and Mystery. http://www.amazon.com/Exploring-Places-History-Mystery-ebook/dp/B009PSAN8W

And what better than a spooky place - full of legend -- a great place to explore --

2. KANEANA (MAKUA CAVE) WAI’ANAE DISTRICT

Home of the Shark God’s Son.

It led me downward,

In the heart of the Wai’anae mountains,

This cave of Makua;

It was dark, and damp, and very closed in,

And I am sure I felt an evil force

As if some dark, bloody deed had there been done;

So strong was this sense of malevolency

I hurried out

Into the warm sunlight,

Into the blinding day.

Stearns, Norah D., Honolulu Star Bulletin, Sept. 9, 1939

Mysterious Kaneana Cave was once a sea cave formed through the ages by the relentless power of the waves. It sits at the base of a cliff outcropping and is about 100 feet (30 m) high and 450 feet (137 m) deep. The cave is estimated to be around 150,000 years old and was once underwater.

At the entrance of the cave, a rock ledge about twenty feet above the floor of the cave has wave-rounded boulders deposited by the sea thousands of years ago. The floor of the cave is beach sand, covered by a black coating of particles that have dripped from the rocks through the long ages. The interior of the cave is huge and cavernous, unfortunately marked with graffiti. Dark, narrow passages lead to further caves, and black pits beckon the unwary. Take a flashlight and be careful where you step.

For those who like exploring, another less known cave, Upper Makua Cave, is also here. Head west on Farrington Highway for one hundred yards and look up. The large cave is on a ledge above the cliffs with a big kiawe tree at the entrance. The route up is unstable so take care not to slip and fall. The ocean view from the top is beautiful.

In ancient times, kahuna or priests conducted secret rituals at Makua Cave, and as recently as fifty years ago, religious rites were performed. In an old photograph, men can be seen standing within the cave’s far depths, conducting rituals in the light of flaming kukui torches.

The cave is the ancient, legendary home of the shark god’s son. This horrible personage could change from shark to man at will. As a handsome young man, he lured travelers into his cave, and then changed back into a shark and ate them on his slimy, white stone altar at the back of the cave’s watery depths. He was finally captured and killed by angry neighbors.

For more on this site and directions -- also description of the hikes to this and the cave above -- see Exploring Lost Oahu, Places of Power, History and Mystery