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Tide Pools at Kaena Point

Posted: October 23, 2007

When I hike to Kaena Point along the Waianae coast I like to drop down from the jeep road to walk right on the rocky coast, especially at low tide.  While the going along the rocky edge is tougher and longer, seeing the many tide pools there is well worth the effort. 

At the end of the paved road between Keawaula Bay (Yokohama Bay) and Kaena Point is a rugged limestone shelf at the edge of the ocean.  Fishermen cast their poles just beyond “Moi Hole”–a small cove cut into the limestone with a sea cave cut deep into the rocks.

 

A few hundred yards further along the shelf is an amazing tide pool, no longer than 10 feet in diameter that is carved into the limestone.  Large basalt rocks in the pool grind the limestone into sand when waves hit the rocks making the pool ever larger.  If you look closely you can see a small fish in the limestone tide pool as waves surge and crash against the rocky shore. 

Further down the rocky coast are innumerable tide pools carved into the coast that shelter tiny fishes and invertebrates that live on the Waianae Coast.  If you look closely you can see purple shingle urchins living on the rocks at the edge of this tide pool. 

The tide pools along the rocky coast to Kaena Point never disappoints.  There are always amazing natural sights to see.