Taking a break from Terra Firma, I found myself at Windward Watersports in Kailua with the Barefoot Hikers group, getting a crash course in kayak handling and the waters surrounding the Mokulua Islands, also known as Na Mokulua, Twin Islands and the Moks. Don’t stand up in the kayak and avoid the coral reef. Got it.

Who’s first?

We launched from the beach access off Lanipo Road. There is a ban on kayak rental companies from launching at the beaches, luckily the shop let us borrow their truck to haul the kayaks down to the beach.

One leg at a time

I paired up with Jimmy and we climbed in our kayak one leg at a time. Just like putting your pants on.

Use those forearms

We started paddling towards the Mokulua islands, with light winds and 2-3 foot waves. Perfect day for kayaking.

Moku Nui

Left. Right. Left. Right. After making a couple directional corrections to compensate for the currents, we soon spotted the beach on the larger island of Moku Nui.

Beach landing

We dragged our kayak out of the water and onto the beach to avoid being tossed around in the surf. It seemed that waves were coming in from three directions on this beach.

Panoramic view of the Kailua coastline

Click here for the larger image.

Taking a walk on the rocky side

After everybody made it in, we took a short walk on the edge of the island. Going into the interior of the island is forbidden, as it’s a seabird sanctuary for shearwater birds and Bulwer’s petrels.

Queen’s Bath

Jeremy doing a cannonball in the watering hole, known as Queen’s Bath. A pod of whales put on a spectacular breaching show off the islands.

Shearwater burrows

Walking back towards the beach, we noticed a cracked egg lying outside the hill that was pockmarked with shearwater nests. Shearwater birds only have one chick at a time.

Moku Iki

Group photo of the Barefoot Hikers, with the smaller and off-limit island of Moku Iki in the background.

Hit the surf

We didn’t have that much time to explore the island, as we had to return the kayaks back to the rental company by 4:30pm. It was already 3:20pm, so we all decided to head back as the waves were also getting bigger.

Aim for the green house

It was a little harder paddling back, due to the currents and bigger waves. In fact, we “surfed” some of the waves coming back!

Back on the beach

Coming back to the beach access was a lot easier than landing on the Moks. We just basically glided in and dragged our kayak onto the beach.

GPS Tracks

The entire trip was 2.1 miles. Almost makes me want to buy a kayak!

The Lanikai Pillbox or Ka’iwa Ridge Trail was a welcome break after the taxing hike we did two weeks ago. Having done this short and easy hike a couple times before but always ending at the second pillbox, I decided to stretch it out a bit and finish it at Luika Place. That being said, I picked up my friend at Luika Place and drove towards Mid-Pacific Country Club. If you plan to meet up in this area, make sure you agree on a time and place as cell phone service for T-Mobile users does not work in that part of Lanikai.

Trailhead

We found cars were quickly filling up the limited parking on Ka’elepulu Drive and took one of the last few spaces. This is a very popular hike with locals and tourists alike, even President Obama made it up here last month.

View from the First Pillbox

The view from the first pillbox goes to show that you can still get great views from 500+ feet and one doesn’t have to always climb 2,500+ feet ridgelines to get fantastic views, although it doesn’t hurt : ). Click here to see the original and much larger panoramic image.

Mount Olomana

We made our way past the second pillbox, before heading down the trail to look towards Mount Olomana. Having done that hike before, I heard that you can climb down the backside of the third peak or Ahiki, but that’s for another day.

Enchanted Lakes

Looking towards the Enchanted Lakes neighborhood, home to Kaelepulu pond that once covered nearly 190 acres before development shrunk it down to it’s present 79 acres. Click here to see the original and much larger panoramic image.

Lanikai Pillboxes

Looking back at the two pillboxes or bunkers that were built in 1942 to serve as observation posts and fire control stations for the gun batteries that used to be at Bellows. Now it’s home to grafitti and people taking in the views.

Na Mokulua

Coming down the trail, the two islands offshore seemed very close. The Mokulua islands, in Hawaiian, means two islands. They are also called “The Moks” or “The Twin Islands.” The larger island is called Moku Nui and the smaller, Moku Iki. Many kayakers visit the larger island and it does get crowded on the weekends.

Trail view

Here is a panaromic view of the trail, which we started from the left and will end going down the ridge in the middle. To the right, you can see Bellows airfield which I believe is now defunct. Click here to see the original and much larger panoramic image.

Slippery slope down

Going down the hill towards my friends truck that was parked at Luika Place was probably the hardest part of the hike as the trail was composed of loose rocks and dirt. All in all, it was a short and sweet hike that took us a little over an hour to complete. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday morning.