Ahu'ena Heiau
A wahi pana (a sacred area) of Ahuʻena Heiau, an ancestral place of great cultural and spiritual significance for Kānaka Maoli
Access to Ahuʻena
For kama‘āina, cultural practitioners, outside tour guides, and malihini (visitors) please use the link below to schedule access between the hours of 8:00 am – 4:00 pm. You can also join one of our guided tours. If you would like information about Ahuʻena Heiau, please visit www.ahuena-heiau.org
About The Guided Tour
The King Kamehameha Cultural Historical Tour is a unique historical tour in Kailua Kona as it takes place at Kamakahonu, the very grounds where King Kamehameha resided. It is the land area where he launched his canoes to go fishing... where he viewed his kūāhewa (winds) on the slopes of Hualālai. It is where he trained his young son, Liholiho to be king after him... and where he met with his council of chiefs. It is where his wives resided and close to where the rest of his family resided. It is where Ahu’ena Heiau was situated and was the same heiau King Kamehameha renovated when he resided there in 1812. Perhaps the most significant of all aspects of this tour, is how we are able to take you to Ka Hale Pua ‘Ilima - the exact location where the first and great King of the United Hawaiian Kingdom, breathed his last breath on May 8, 1819.
We begin in the Monarchy Room where portraits of the kings and queens of Hawai'i from King Kamehameha the Great to the last reigning monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Queen Lili'uokalani are prominently displayed. Walking out to Kamakahonu Bay, we stop at several portraits in the Herb Kane Foyer. Herb Kane is one of the finest artists that Kona has ever produced, whose eye for detail and love for the history, people, and moments in Hawaiian history is appreciated by all. The tour ends in the main lobby of King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Resort - in front of a larger-than-life portrait that captures one day in the life of King Kamehameha the Great at Kamakahonu. This can only be described as, “The Last Portrait of the Kamehameha Family.”