Chinaman’s Hat – July 10, 2012

I always thought that it was difficult to get to Chinaman’s Hat. However, while hiking with my fellow hikers, it is apparent that people swim there all the time. I also found out that during low tide, you can actually walk there. In contrast, there are stories of many people dying at Chinaman’s Hat. A few months ago, a group of military men went out to have some fun at Chinaman’s Hat. Unfortunately the tide got too rough and a few drowned. In a different story, someone fell off the trail while trying to get to the top of Chinaman’s Hat and was badly injured.

These conflicting stories got me thinking that going to Chinaman’s Hat was a crap shoot. I started to think about the risk. All I wanted to do was to hike to the top. I did my research, looking at articles online and asking people in the hiking community about advice.

My plan of attack was to kayak there during low tide. This will decrease the odds of our kayak tipping over. I checked the tide reports the night before and saw that low tide was about noon. I estimated the paddle out there would take 45 minutes. Once anchoring the kayak, we would find a trail and hike up to the summit and take some pictures. Then we would circumnavigate the island, looking for a beach I’ve seen while doing research online. Then we would kayak back.

The Hawaiian legend of Mokoli'i (a.k.a Chinaman's hat) involves two of the most famous goddesses in Hawaiian Mythology. It tells of a mo'o, a dragon-like creature attacking the ahupua'a of Kualoa from the ocean. Hi'iaka brave, went to battle this mo'o. With help from Madam Pele (Hi'iaka's sister), Hi'iaka was able to defeat the dragon and save the ahupua'a of Kualoa.

Joining me today was my wife Shell. We have some experience kayaking on neighbor islands. In 2000, we kayaked the Wailua River in Kauai. In 2002, we kayaked Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island. After renting out the kayak at Go Banana’s in Aiea, we made the 45 minute drive to Ka’a’awa.

Once at Kualoa Regional Park we carried the kayak to the ocean and started. With the tide pushing us back, we got off to a rough start. Kayaking to Chinaman’s Hat takes some muscle. It took us over 30 minutes to get to the small beach. We saw three women making their way down the summit. It looked steep.

After unpacking our stuff, I found the trail and headed up the mountain. Shell followed, but decided to stay back. There are a few trails, which gives multiple options. Knowing me, I chose the hardest option. There was one rock face which I had to boulder on an 8 inch ledge. The drop off was about 40 feet. Yikes! One or two more rock faces needed to be navigated to reach the summit. I was worried about my footing, but my handholds were solid. I did it without incident. Believe me; it wasn’t easy, especially with crappy reef shoes on. I immediately took pictures at the summit enjoying the great views.

After 5 minutes, I walked down to meet Shell at the beach. By then, there were at least 15 more people coming to the island. Shell and I decided to go around the island. In about 5 minutes, we encountered a beautiful hidden beach. The experience was magical. If you go, you will know. From the beach, the trail goes around the island, but vegetation is blocking the view at the bottom.

We made the loop back to our stuff at the beach, took a few pictures, and headed back. Going back was initially difficult because the tide was pushing us out towards the open ocean, but with some maneuvering, we headed back to shore.

No doubt I would do this again. Maybe next time, we would just paddle out there with a life vest on. I’ve heard people say that there are sharks on the way there; however, we didn't see any going and coming back. If there are sharks, they probably got lost.