Explore - Kahana Bay
Located on the windward side of Oahu, the Ahupua'a O Kahana State Park is just a shorts drive from the North Shore and about 26 miles out from Honolulu. This quite and unspoilt area sits on ancient Hawaiin land which was once home to an thriving fishing village before the 19th century!
The park itself consists of 2 hiking trails that are both relatively easy. We went on the shorter one of the which is more commonly known as the lookout trail or the Kapa'ele'ele trail. You start from the orientation centre and there will be signs to a dirt path leading to the 1.2 mile trail up to the lookout. A lot of trail is covered by the natural canopy of trees and plants, until you walk higher up where parts begin to open up to the stunning view below.
Once you get to the actual look out you can see clear right across the bay below and the surrounding mountains where you realize how the spot gets it name. The bay itself isnt really clear water as you may expect, but is murky because of the runoff from the Kahana stream. The entrance is opposite the beach park side which you can drive to via the Kamehameha Highway.
Back in the day, fishermen would be able to spot schools of fish from the lookout by the reflection on their scales and shadows in the water. Using smoke signals, they would be able to signal to the fishermen waiting below where to go!