Just Outside of Jurassic Park

We cut our beach day short because the afternoon light was slowly waning, the water was getting increasingly choppy, and we still had so much more planned for our day trip before heading back to Honolulu. 

Several miles down the Kamehameha Hwy we drove by Ka'a'awa Valley, the filming location of Jurassic Park, 50 First Dates, and more recently the TV series Lost.  Just past Ka'a'awa Valley is Kualoa, which was considered a sacred place as it was the training grounds and possibly burial site of ancient Hawaiian chiefs or ali'i.  The land comprising Kualoa and Ka'a'awa Valley has been owned by Kualoa Ranch since 1850s.  Today Kualoa Ranch offers horseback riding and ATV tours in addition to other activities.  The ATV tours sound fun I may have to check it out when I return in October. 

Not too far away was the Kualoa Regional Park where we decided to take another pit stop and take in the marvelous views Kualoa Mountains and an off shore islet called Mokoli'i or more commonly Chinaman's Hat.