Honolulu · US

Kānewai Spring

Kānewai Spring is one of Honolulu's last surviving natural freshwater springs — a crystal-clear, lava-tube-fed pool in the Kuliʻouʻou neighborhood along the Kalanianaʻole Highway. Named for Kāne, the Hawaiian god of fresh water, it is a place kūpuna (elders) describe as "where the mountain gives birth to the ocean": its artesian waters flow through an ancient Hawaiian fishpond, into the Paikō Lagoon Wildlife Sanctuary, and out to Maunalua Bay, sustaining native species and ecosystems that depend on the freshwater-to-saltwater connection. Nearly all of Oʻahu's southern-coast springs have been filled in or dried up by development. Kānewai's survival is the result of a remarkable community effort: since 2010, the nonprofit Maunalua Fishpond Heritage Center and hundreds of volunteers have cleared decades of jungle overgrowth, restored native vegetation, repaired the traditional Hawaiian dry-stack stone wall, and brought the water back to life. In 2017, $2.65 million raised from state, city, and private funds permanently purchased and protected the property.