The Hawaiian Islands are home to many awe-inspiring things: pristine beaches, crystalline waters, stunning mountains, cascading waterfalls, and plenty of unexplained natural phenomenon. From weird waterfalls to crazy caves, these 10 natural phenomena you’ll only find in Hawaii are sure to baffle you.
- Wailuku River’s Boiling Pots
batschmidt/Flickr Located just one mile past the famous Rainbow Falls on Hawaii Island’s Wailuku River is an equally gorgeous – but quite deadly – natural phenomena. Pe’epe’e Falls feeds a series of several pools known as the boiling pots. Connected by a series of cascading waterfalls along columns that were formed from the slow cooling of basalt lava, these pools appear to be bubbling – almost as if they were boiling.
- Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Matt Northam/Flickr Hawaii Island, more commonly referred to as the Big Island, gains approximately 36 acres of land every year, thanks to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park’s Kilauea Volcano. While technically, this isn’t unexplained, it is pretty crazy!
- Maui’s Kaihalulu Red Sand Beach
Courtney Nash/Flickr Located south of Hana Bay on the eastern coast of Maui, Kaihalulu is one of the few red sand beaches in the world. You’ll have to access the stunning beach via an overgrown cliff-side trail, and the water is rough, but really, the views – and photo opp – make it worth a trip.
- Moonbows Over Hawaii
Arne-Kaiser/Wikipedia CC Lunar rainbows are an atmospheric natural phenomena that is created when light from the moon is reflected and refracted off water droplets in the air. Even though I’ve read the explanation, I’m still baffled.
- Oahu’s Spitting Caves
Anthony Quintano/Flickr The picturesque Spitting Caves are found below a high cliff where waves crash underneath and shoot into the cave, ejecting the water like a reverse blowhole - fascinating, huh?
- Mount Waialeale
Michelle/Flickr Deep in the heart of Kauai, the lush, emerald Mount Waialeale, one of the wettest places on the planet, rises more than 5,000 feet into the sky and is covered by an ever-present blanket of clouds. The mountain’s summit receives approximately 450 rains each year, yet, just miles away, the rainfall drops dramatically - with an average only 10 inches of rain annually.
- Golden Ponds of Keawiki
Rosa Say/Flickr In the middle of a massive lava field, on the Big Island’s Kohala Coast, is this pair of gorgeous and shimmering freshwater pools. It is said that the ponds are home to a thriving population of golden algae that gives the pools a luminescent glow.
- Kauai’s Blue Room
_e.t/Flickr An otherworldly cave that shines with a brilliant blue light, Waikapalae Cave, also known simply as the blue room, is the stuff of dreams. A grotto at the back of the wet cave was once home to a surreal blue pool of water, an illusion supposedly created by the sun reflecting off the calcite.
- Rainbow Falls
Richard Bitting/Flickr A short trail from the parking lot offers views from the waterfall’s summit, and if you visit on a sunny morning, you might experience how the falls got its name – waianuenue means rainbow in Hawaiian.
- Lithified Sand Dunes
Garden State Hiker/Flickr These sand dunes along Kauai’s southern shore have slowly been turned to stone – or lithified – over time. You’ll have to hike to this location, but the beautifully strange photo opportunity is definitely worth the trek. I guess I’m wondering how sand dunes stayed put long enough to be turned to stone.
Have you experienced any of these fascinating natural phenomena?
batschmidt/Flickr
Located just one mile past the famous Rainbow Falls on Hawaii Island’s Wailuku River is an equally gorgeous – but quite deadly – natural phenomena. Pe’epe’e Falls feeds a series of several pools known as the boiling pots. Connected by a series of cascading waterfalls along columns that were formed from the slow cooling of basalt lava, these pools appear to be bubbling – almost as if they were boiling.
Matt Northam/Flickr
Hawaii Island, more commonly referred to as the Big Island, gains approximately 36 acres of land every year, thanks to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park’s Kilauea Volcano. While technically, this isn’t unexplained, it is pretty crazy!
Courtney Nash/Flickr
Located south of Hana Bay on the eastern coast of Maui, Kaihalulu is one of the few red sand beaches in the world. You’ll have to access the stunning beach via an overgrown cliff-side trail, and the water is rough, but really, the views – and photo opp – make it worth a trip.
Arne-Kaiser/Wikipedia CC
Lunar rainbows are an atmospheric natural phenomena that is created when light from the moon is reflected and refracted off water droplets in the air. Even though I’ve read the explanation, I’m still baffled.
Anthony Quintano/Flickr
The picturesque Spitting Caves are found below a high cliff where waves crash underneath and shoot into the cave, ejecting the water like a reverse blowhole - fascinating, huh?
Michelle/Flickr
Deep in the heart of Kauai, the lush, emerald Mount Waialeale, one of the wettest places on the planet, rises more than 5,000 feet into the sky and is covered by an ever-present blanket of clouds. The mountain’s summit receives approximately 450 rains each year, yet, just miles away, the rainfall drops dramatically - with an average only 10 inches of rain annually.
Rosa Say/Flickr
In the middle of a massive lava field, on the Big Island’s Kohala Coast, is this pair of gorgeous and shimmering freshwater pools. It is said that the ponds are home to a thriving population of golden algae that gives the pools a luminescent glow.
_e.t/Flickr
An otherworldly cave that shines with a brilliant blue light, Waikapalae Cave, also known simply as the blue room, is the stuff of dreams. A grotto at the back of the wet cave was once home to a surreal blue pool of water, an illusion supposedly created by the sun reflecting off the calcite.
Richard Bitting/Flickr
A short trail from the parking lot offers views from the waterfall’s summit, and if you visit on a sunny morning, you might experience how the falls got its name – waianuenue means rainbow in Hawaiian.
Garden State Hiker/Flickr
These sand dunes along Kauai’s southern shore have slowly been turned to stone – or lithified – over time. You’ll have to hike to this location, but the beautifully strange photo opportunity is definitely worth the trek. I guess I’m wondering how sand dunes stayed put long enough to be turned to stone.
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