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Halawa Valley Review
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Halawa Valley 
- Address: Eastern end of Rte. 450, Kaunakakai, HI
- Phone: 808/553-9803
- www.gomolokai.com
- Category: Viewpoints
- Location: East Molokai
Fodor's Review:
As far back as AD 650 a busy community lived in this valley, the oldest recorded habitation on Molokai. Hawaiians lived in a perfectly sustainable relationship with the valley's resources, growing taro and fishing until the 1960s, when cultural changes plus an enormous flood wiped out the taro patches and forced the old-timers to abandon their traditional lifestyle. Now a new generation of Hawaiians has returned and begun the challenging work of restoring the taro fields. Much of this work involves rerouting stream water to flow through carefully engineered level ponds called loi. The taro plants with their big dancing leaves grow in the submerged mud of the loi, where the water is always cool and flowing. Hawaiians believe that the taro plant is their ancestor and revere it both as sustenance and as a spiritual necessity. The Halawa Valley Cooperative gives tours of this restoration project and leads hikes through the valley, which is home to two sacrificial temples, many historic sites, and the 3-mi trail to Moaula Falls, a 250-foot cascade. The $75 fee ($45 for children) goes to support the restoration work.
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