Ka Lae

South Point (Ka lae means "the point" in Hawaiian) is really a neat place. Just like so many other places on the Big Island, this place is not only beautiful, but it has a great history as well. It is the southernmost point of the United States, and is recognized as a National Historic Landmark District. Evidence suggests that the Polynesians landed at this location when they discovered Hawaii. They traveled from the south, and the Big Island would have been the first land they would have come into contact with. The evidence shows that people were living here as far back as 124 AD.

Because of the currents that come together here, the fishing is especially good. Ancient Hawaiians drilled holes into the rock so that they could tie their fishing canoes to the cliff face. This would allow them to venture out away from the shore and not have to worry about getting caught in the current. The current was named "Halaea Current" after a chief that was carried away to his death here.

The structure you see in this pic was built to hoist canoes up the cliff face with cables and pulleys. There is an extremely old ladder that hangs down, which is one of the few ways to get back up after jumping in (which is almost as much of a thrill as jumping in).

When you walk up to the edge of this cliff, it can take your breath away. The wind is howling, and it could probably blow you off the edge if you werent ready for it. This is the view down to the water, which is about 40ft. The water is incredibly clear, and you can see the bottom which must be another 40ft. down. If you are thinking about jumping, standing on the edge and looking down is a bad idea.

Once you have jumped off, it feels like you are falling for a really long time. The sensation is pretty intense, and it only seems to get worse the more times you jump! You have to enter the water as straight as possible with your feet pointed down, or you will slap the bottom of your feet really hard. A belly flop could be very dangerous here (or at least REALLY painful).

Once we jumped in, we swam around for a bit with the mask on. It was beautiful, and you can see incredibly far. There are all kinds of fish swimming around down there. River was even able to jump in a little ways off at a place where she could get back out. She loved it.

It turns out that this place only sees conditions like this periodically throughout the year. Most of the time the current is way to strong to jump in. Hopefully we will get a chance to do some fishing here soon. The locals actually catch some really good fish here. It is not uncommon for them to catch yellowfin tuna, mahimahi, wahoo, etc.. This is really pretty amazing, becase in the Gulf of Mexico you have to travel at least 50 miles offshore to have a shot at species like that.

Who will be the next to jump off the cliff?