Spirit of Aloha | Articles | Island Chronicles | January/February 2004

Island Chronicles
By: CAROL SILVA

Tourists of Old

More than a century ago, well-heeled visitors to the Big Island of Hawai‘i had a curious assortment of activities to occupy their leisurely hours in that unhurried corner of paradise. The traveler arriving with his family might even have shipped his touring car and a chauffeur, along with carefully packed steamer trunks and a nanny, to Hawai‘i to best enjoy the comforts of home.

Most visitors, however, stepped ashore at dockside, hailed horse-drawn hacks or hired automobiles complete with drivers, who were always available to carry a fare to the few hotels scattered near and far.

A good driver was a valuable find. He often served as a guide, scheduled overnight stops and even tailored tour routes to suit particular interests. He also helped arrange horseback rides down lava trails and through native forests or short canoe trips along the coast to special historical and cultural sites. Detours along the way were a significant part of the attraction of traveling by auto. Especially popular was a picnic in the cool shade of palms or among groves of crimson lehua in the uplands.

Many malihini (visitors) disembarked at the Crescent City of Hilo, intending to begin their Big Island stay with a room at the Volcano House. Shortly after leaving Hilo Wharf, the driver would point out Moku Ola, Coconut Island. On a hot summer day, he might suggest that a person be ferried by canoe across the short channel to the island, where the best swimming spots and public bathhouses could be found. Legends and bits of history about Moku Ola�s fame as an ancient place of refuge and healing would be explained before following the road to Volcano House.

Amenities and special activities at the rustic, isolated Volcano House included sulfur steam baths, breathtaking views during an eruption and a number of exceptional trails into and around the crater. One particular guided hike took hotel guests into a cave quaintly dubbed Pele�s Reception Room, where visitors were encouraged to leave their calling cards in a show of common Victorian respect. On their return trek, guests passed a number of fissures in the crater floor into which they gingerly set post cards to scorch the edges as testimonies to their visit to one of Hawaii�s �hot spots.�

After a visit to the crater, many malihini decided to return to Hilo to take in the sights to the north and west of the city. For a mere $5 or $6, a visitor could hire a four-passenger car and a driver-guide for a day’s outing to Rainbow Falls, Boiling Pots and Kaumana Cave. The driver came equipped with torches and a ball of string for his passengers’ use. The cave was so dark that torches were required to light the way. It was also so deep that string was used to prevent anyone from becoming disoriented or lost. (The string was tied firmly to a rock at the entrance and paid out as hikers walked farther in. To return to the starting point at the cave’s entrance, all one needed to do, of course, was to follow the string.)

Kona’s history drew many visitors who came by land or ocean to see the ancient lava flows, stone walls, footpaths, temples and burial grounds, as well as historic sites related to Capt. James Cook. A visitor could view the monument commemorating Cook’s death by taking an outrigger canoe ride across Kealakekua Bay, along the way gazing down through 40 to 50 feet of clear water filled with colorful fish and coral on the bay’s floor. On a windy day, glass boxes were provided to see below the surface ripples. Such an excursion often became the highlight of a vacation.

There was seemingly no end to the variety of activities and adventures for visitors to the Big Island 100 years ago. Some of these activities still remain; others have passed with modern modes of travel and a different sense of culture over time.

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