The Legend of Twin Rocks

The village of Kahali'i once stood on a large point of land extending into Onomea Bay, and its descendants remember a legend about two rock formations at the head of the bay, said to be a young man and woman known as the lovers of Kahali'i. According to the story, when a village chief saw many canoes with sails approaching the shore and feared an attack, the chiefs and elders met in council and decided to build a reef to prevent a landing on their beaches. Because they could not complete such a task quickly enough, they asked the two young lovers to become the village's guides and protectors by giving their lives, and the pair willingly accepted. That night everyone in Kahali'i was ordered to remain indoors from sunset to sunrise without making any light or sound, on penalty of death. At daybreak, the people went to the shoreline and found the lovers gone and, in their place, two gigantic rock formations at the entrance to the bay, attached to each other as if standing guard. The chief told the people that no canoe could pass the treacherous currents swirling around the rocks unless the guardians allowed it, and the lovers and their offspring still stand today as sentinels at the head of the bay.

Papaikou, Hawaii · United States