Kealakomo Overlook, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

At Kealakomo, the road breaks over the edge of the Holei Pali. The upper portion of Kilauea is separated from the coastal plains by a series of fault escarpments, where the lower coast has moved down relative to the rest of the mountain. Sometimes these movements are catastrophic and enormous chunks of land slide of into the sea, such as at Kealakekua Bay in Kona and on the Hilina Pali, here in the Park.

In 1975 a 7.2 magnitude earthquake heralded the movement of the lower fault block, dropping it by as much as ten feet downward and sliding it seaward by as much as twenty feet. This movement triggered a local tsunami which swept a group of a few dozen young campers who had horse-packed into the abandoned village of Halape thousands of feet inland; fortunately, only two men a some horses were drowned, the others miraculously survived.

The Kealakomo Overlook has a covered pavilion and picnic tables, incredible views, a generally cool breeze but no services available.

Video written and produced by Donald B. MacGowan; videography by Frank Burgess and Donald MacGowan; Narrated by Frank Burgess, Original music written and performed by Donnie MacGowan. For more information about traveling the Big Island in general and Island Activities in particular, visit www.tourguidehawaii.com, www.tourguidehawaii.blogspot.com and www.lovingthebigisland.wordpress.com.

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