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Makaleha Beach Park,  North Shore, Oahu

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Introduction

The fertile valley of Makaleha was once the home of Kalamainu’u, a mythological woman who lived in a cave. She was an ‘e’epa, a person born as a mo’o, or lizard, who could deceive humans by assuming the form of a beautiful woman. In Moolelo Hawaii, Hawaiian historian Samuel Kamakau tells this legend about her, which includes descriptions of the valley and the surf sites visible from it.

“Kalamainuu lived at Makaleha in the district of Mokuleia in Waialua. Punaaikoae was the son of chiefs of Kauai and lived at Kapaa in Puna. It was from there that Punaaikoae was taken by Kalamainuu. He was a skilled surfer accustomed to the waves of Makaiwa and of Kaohala and to those of Kalehuawehe at Wailua near Kapaa. Kalamainuu was in search of a husband and found Puniaikoae surfing on the waves of Kalehuawehe. As the chief’s surfing party were turning toward shore, a beautiful woman appeared on a long board and the chief, seeing the pretty woman, left his own board and leaped upon hers to make love to her and the mysterious woman drew him by her power out to sea.

“They went to her home in Makaleha where sweet potatoes and both kihi and lapa varieties of taro grew abundantly and there was plenty of poi, awa and bananas. The woman supplied the fish of that land that were usually caught by torching, the kumu, the uhu, and all kinds of fish. Hence all they did was to remain together night and day and make love to each other.

“After several months had passed the young man lost his good looks and grew pale under her constant companionship. One day he went up to a ridge facing seaward; and when he saw the surf of Pekue rolling in sideways and breaking toward Waialua, and the surf of Kapapale and of Kauanui, and the surf lines of the breakers of Puaena, he yearned for the waves of his native land. ‘May I have your permission’ he said, ‘to go down to the sea and surf. I long for the surf of my homeland.’ Kalamainuu replied, ‘Yes, go to surf, but do not speak to anyone along the way. If you meet two men farming by the roadside and they call to you, do not stop to speak to them. This is my command. Go and enjoy yourself and then come back home.’ ”

In 1999, Hawaiian language immersion school ‘Aha Punana Leo produced a movie version of the legend called Kalamainu’u. Distributed in a video format, the movie tells the story of Puna’aikoa’e and his adventures with the e’epa enchantress of Makaleha. Actors in the movie, students from ‘Aha Punana Leo’s schools, speak entirely in Hawaiian.

Makaleha means “to look about in wonder or admiration.” Makaleha Stream, an intermittent stream from Makaleha Valley, enters the ocean on the east side of the Mokule’ia Polo Field. Makaleha Beach Park, an undeveloped, 28-acre pasture, borders the stream. A public right-of-way from Farrington Highway leads through the park to a long, wide sand beach. The right-of-way is used primarily by fishers and surfers.

Kai’ahulu, or “foamy sea,” a private beach retreat for employees of Castle and Cooke, adjoins the east end of the park. Edward Tenney, a long-time Castle and Cooke employee, donated the land to the company. Sylva’s Channel on the reef off Kai’ahulu is a well-known surf site that is popularly mispronounced as Silver Channel. Surfers named the spot for Edward Sylva who lived next to Kai’ahulu from 1965 to 1977.

West of the beach park and outside the Mokule’ia Polo Field is a large rock awash that is popularly known as Devil’s Rock. As the only rock island on the Mokule’ia shore, it is a well-known landmark among boaters and surfers. Devil’s Rock may be the island that Thomas Thrum called Ke’anini in his 1907 Hawaiian Annual. In a description of Kalakiki heiau, a temple that was beneath Pu’u Kaupakuhale back of the Waialua Sugar Mill, Thrum says, “It is deemed unwise to express an intent to go a-fishing abrest of Kalakiki unless in an indirect or figurative way, else Keanini, the shark god deity of the heiau, which is a huge rock lying awash a few hundred feet from the shore, will cause the phosphorescent lights to so dog one’s efforts as to render the attempt futile.”

Public amenities: none.

Ocean activities: fishing, surfing, swimming.

This description is taken from John R. K. Clarks book "Beaches of Oahu - Revised Edition" which is published by University of Hawai'i Press and available from amazon.com at this link. We thank John R. K. Clark for providing his description of Hawaii's beaches to improve beach safety.