There are dozens of Hawaiian legends about Kauai’s North Shore. Here, we’ll discuss two of them.

Mo’o in the Wet Cave

In Ha’ena, there is a cave filled with water that, when the sun is in just the right position, turns a beautiful bright blue. The usual brownish cast of the water is said to be from the hair of a beautiful mo’o who would sit near the entrance of the cave, combing her long hair.

Ages ago, an ali’i from Wainiha fell in love with the mo’o and the pair disappeared. Several months later, the mo’o wahine reappeared, nursing a baby at her breast. When the people asked where their ali’i was, the mo’o drew a finger across her neck, indicating the ali’i was dead. In outrage, the alii’s followers tried to kill the mo’o but she dove into the water and escaped.

For this reason, the cave became more commonly known as Wai-a-kapa-lae, water of terror. And quite a terror it can be. In more recent years, several people have drowned in this cave and several more barely made it out alive.

Pareidolia is a psychological phenomenon that causes people to perceive meaning in random or ambiguous stimuli, usually visual, and see patterns or objects where there are none.

When reviewing their pictures, people from all over have claimed to see a face on the wall of Waiakapalae Cave. Interestingly, a lot of these visitors’ pictures show the same image on the left wall of the cave as the mineral deposits form an unusual pattern. Even more intriguing is that not everyone gets that face-looking shape in their pic... could it be the mo’o watching over her home?

A Menehune Atop Pu‘u Makana

High above the beaches of Ha’ena is Nā pali ʻōahi o Makana, “the cliffs of Makana, where fire was hurled forth.” As the sun made its way down toward the horizon, men would climb sheer cliffs over 1100 feet high to the peak of the mountain called Pu’u Makana for the ‘ōahi ceremony. They carried with them hundreds of hau or papala sticks about 8 or 10 feet long and 2 or 3 inches wide. The core of these sticks were soft and burned before the outer layers, which made them perfect for this display. When the last ribbons of sunlight finally faded, the men would hurl the burning sticks off the cliff one by one. These ahi ʻau hau, or firebrands, would first fall a bit, and then, under the right conditions of wind, rise as the breezes carried them slowly out to sea, sometimes up to a mile out. All the way down, the firebrands would leave an impressive trail of glowing embers. For hours, this would go on until the men’s supply of hau and papala sticks was gone. This spectacle drew large crowds that would gather on the Ha’ena flat below the peak to watch the display of bravery and beauty.

A boy name Nou always dreamed of throwing the ahi ‘au hau. He begged the older men to allow him to come with them but they told him he was too young and too small. A mischievous child, he once followed the firebrand throwers up the cliffs but, being so small, he was left far behind in the darkness. As luck would have it, he came across a menehune who had slipped on the edge of a sheer drop and gotten his foot stuck under a rock. Nou pulled him up and moved the rock so the menehune could be freed. In return for saving his life, the menehune promised Nou that he would become a champion in throwing the ahi ‘au hau. He made his way to the peak of Makana where he found a group of angry men waiting for him. He begged for them to give him just one chance and they agreed.

However, they warned him, “If your throw is not impressive and your ahi ‘au hau does not go farther than our own, we will toss you off this cliff ourselves for troubling us.”

Desperate to prove himself, Nou took his first burning stick and threw it as hard as he could. Immediately, the stick began to fall straight down the side of the mountian but then, the menehune pufffed and blew the firebrand far out to sea. It was a magnificent throw and Nou won the prize offered by the ali’i. However, the other firebrand throwers killed Nou in a fit of jealousy. Saddened, the menehune stole Nou’s body and placed it in a cave and sat at the entrance to protect the bones of his friend. He sat so long that the sun came up and he turned to stone. If you know where to look, you can still see the menehune guarding the entrance to cave so that no one is able to pass and defile the bones of of his friend, Nou.

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