Near the end of the two-mile Mahaulepu Heritage Trail that begins at Shipwreck’s Beach on Kauai’s southern shore is a short path through the trees that leads to an often overlooked opening in the rocks.

Many tourists turn around at this point, but if you’ve done your research, you will get down on your knees and crawl through the crevice. Here, you will find yourself inside a cramped chamber that gives way to a jaw-dropping, lush natural amphitheater of sorts. This is the gorgeous Makauwahi Cave, an expansive cave and sinkhole often considered to be one of the Pacific’s richest fossil sites.

For a rich historic experience, head to Makauwahi Cave, the largest limestone cave in Hawaii, as well as one of the state’s largest archaeological sites.
Wolfram Burner/Flickr
During their search for fossil sites on Kauai’s southern shore, four archaeologists discovered the cave’s access sinkhole in 1992, though the cave was known historically by Kauai residents and was known to be an ancient Hawaiian burial site.
Wolfram Burner/Flickr
A local archaeologist rediscovered the Hawaiian name of the cave, Makauwahi, or “smoke eye” in Hawaiian, in 2000 when he found reference to the cave in an essay written by a high school student more than a century prior.
Anthony Crider/Flickr
According to the Makauwahi Cave Reserve website, “the rich fossil-bearing sediments of the Makauwahi Cave, over 33 feet thick in some areas, have an unusual chemistry that preserves almost everything that fell in there over the last 10,000 years or more.”
Wolfram Burner/Flickr

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The sinkhole has preserved records of floods, droughts, hurricanes, a massive tsunami, the pollen of now extinct native plant species, in addition to countless bones.
Wolfram Burner/Flickr
Bones found in the cave include those of various extinct animals, including some 40 species of birds, half of which are now extinct.
Wolfram Burner/Flickr
In 2004, the Makauwahi Cave Reserve was founded, and is now subject to environmental restoration after being used for sugar cane and maize farming in previous decades; the area is now populated by threatened plant species.
Wolfram Burner/Flickr
Free tours are offered by the reserve four days per week, giving visitors a glimpse into Hawaiian history by viewing various fossils and artifacts that have been unearthed in the last twenty-some years – including everything from shells and bones to early Hawaiian tools.
Wolfram Burner/Flickr

Not only is the site a wonderful place to visit, but to participate in volunteering tourism, in which island visitors can work alongside reserve staff and local volunteers to discover and protect Hawaii’s archaeological history.

How cool is this beautiful cave system and sinkhole? Tell us, what other unique spots in Hawaii would you like to see featured on our website? Sound off on our Only In Hawaii Facebook page.

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