Photo: Forest & Kim Starr · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsLandmark· Oahu· Hawaii
Kualoa Regional Park and Mokolii (Chinaman's Hat)
21° 30.6′ N · 157° 49.8′ W
The 12.5-acre basalt cone of Mokolii, the 'little lizard', sits a third of a mile off Kualoa Point at the north end of Kaneohe Bay, with a 20-minute scramble to its summit. Kualoa Regional Park's grassy point and beach face it across the shallows.
Practical
Coordinates are Mokolii (Wikipedia); the park is at about 21.511,-157.837. Mokolii is owned by the City and County of Honolulu and is open dawn to dusk; reach it by kayak, dinghy or swimming, or wade at low tide. Wedge-tailed shearwaters nest in burrows: stay on the trail. Noodle's Notes rates hiking Mokolii a must-do from Hakipuu Anchorage. The waters off Kualoa are a regulated Kualoa ocean waters area (Zone B is slow-no-wake under HAR 13-256-73). The ship channel into the bay passes just south and east of the islet.
Best for
Dinghy landing and summit scramble with the whole bay below you
Season
Year-round; calmest in summer
Nearby
- Kualoa Ranch0.8 NM away
- Hakipuu Anchorage (Kaneohe Bay West End)1 NM away
- Kapapa Island (Kaneohe Bay Barrier Reef)2.6 NM away
- Kaneohe Bay Ocean Waters Rules and Sandbar Alcohol Ban2.8 NM away
- Kaneohe Bay Sandbar (Ahu o Laka)2.9 NM away
- Kona Wind Days (Windward Oahu)3 NM away
- Ahupuaa o Kahana State Park3.4 NM away
- Pacific Cup Finish at Kaneohe Yacht Club (even years, July)3.6 NM away
Place data includes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).