Kālia Bay

In ancient times, many Hawaiian families lived in the area near Pi‘inaio Stream, where fish were easily netted from nearby ponds and native men and women fished, dived, and gathered seaweed from bountiful waters. Originally Waikīkī’s third stream, the Pi‘inaio entered the ocean here where the ‘Ilikai Hotel now stands, forming a large, muddy delta crossed by several small tributary channels, unlike the Kuekaunahi and ‘Apuakēhau streams. Together, these three streams fed a natural irrigation system that supported taro fields, fishponds, and migrant waterfowl, and after the arrival of the Chinese in the 19th century, rice fields and duckponds were added. The word ‘Ilikai, meaning “the surface of the sea,” suited an area rich in fish, eels, shrimp, lobster, octopus, crab, and limu, and Kālia’s fishermen caught so much that they were known as “human fishnets.” As recently as the 1930s, residents still called it one of the most productive seafood-producing bays ever known, seeing thousands of white crabs on the beach in season and catching them by the bucketful. After development, the abundant fishponds and reefs of the old Kālia beach settlement, and the simple Hawaiian lifestyle practiced by its residents, became nostalgic memories. The Paoa‘ohana family were well-known residents of the Kālia district, and its most famous member, Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, spent his teenage years here practicing the skills that later led him to the Olympics.

Urban Honolulu, Hawaii · United States