Kohala, Hawaii

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kohala is the name of two districts — North Kohala and South Kohala — on the northwest portion of the island of Hawai‘i in the Hawaiian Archipelago. Both the northern and southern portions of the district that lines the western shore is commonly known as the Kohala Coast, homes to the area's premier golf courses and seaside resorts.

Locals commonly use the name singularly when referring to the area surrounding the towns of Hāwī and Kapa‘au.

King Kamehameha I, the first King of the unified Hawai‘ian Islands, was born in North Kohala near Hāwī. The original Kamehameha Statue stands in front of the community centre in Kapa‘au, and duplicates are found at Ali‘iolani Hale in Honolulu, and in the US Capitol in Washington, D.C.. (see Kamehameha Statue).

The natural habitats in Kohala range across a wide rainfall gradient in a very short distance - from less than 5 inches a year on the coast near Kawaihae to more than 150 inches a year near the summit of Kohala Mountain, a distance of just 11 miles. Near the coast are remnants of dry forest, and near the summit is montane cloud forest, a type of rain forest so called because it obtains some of its moisture from "cloud drip" in addition to precipitation.

Kohala can also refer to Kohala Mountain, the oldest of Hawai‘i Island's five volcanic mountains.