Hawaii’s forbidden island
“There are few places in the world” like Niihau, said Catharine Hamm in the Chicago Tribune. From no other destination have I “come away so changed” as from Hawaii’s “forbidden” isle. The smallest of Hawaii’s inhabited islands, Niihau is privately owned and has long been off-limits to tourists. Yet it’s now open to visitors for half-day trips. Upon arriving, our helicopter flew over the isle’s sole village, Puuwai, home to roughly 130 natives who live off the land. As we departed and walked along Nanina Beach, the “sand stretched before us, unending, untrammeled, unpopulated.” Tide pools formed by lava brimmed with marine life. Monk seals “flirted shamelessly” in the waves. In the distance, an eland “bounded with the grace of a running back headed for a touchdown.” I scavenged for Niihau shells, which are used to make leis, and took in “one of the purest places in the Pacific.”
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