**IMPORTANT PARK NOTICES**
Monitor weather reports before your park visit!
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[OʻAHU] – UPDATE 10/3/25: Sand Island State Recreation Area – Comfort stations are CLOSED until further notice due to a transformer issue impacting the pump. Portable toilets are available at each comfort station. Camping has continued to be CLOSED for construction from August 30th, 2025 to December 31, 2025.
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[OʻAHU] – UPDATE 9/11/25: Kaʻena Point State Parks - Mokuleʻia Section – Kaʻena Point Vehicle Access Permits Closed for 2025. Purple 2024 permits valid through 2025. Please create an account on Explore Outdoor Hawaiʻi at https://explore.ehawaii.gov/Web/. You will need an Explore Outdoor Hawaiʻi account to apply for a 2026 Kaʻena Vehicle Access Permit, please create an account. Continue to check the Kaʻena Point State Park website for 2026 permit application updates.
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[O’AHU] - UPDATE 9/10/25: Mālaekahana State Recreation Area-Kahuku Section - State Parks is issuing a Request for Qualifications/Request for Proposals for parties interested in developing campgrounds. More info: https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dsp/announcements/malaekahana-state-recreation-area-rfq-rfp-2026/
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[MOLOKA’I] - UPDATE 8/29/25: Pala’au State Park Pavilion: Due to continued renovation work, the pavilion and camping is CLOSED until further notice.
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[KAUA’I] - 7/11/25: VISITORS TO WAIMEA CANYON AND KŌKEʻE STATE PARKS CAUTIONED TO EXPECT DELAYS AND LIMITED PARKING.
Beginning July 14, 2025, Waimea Canyon Lookout with be closed for construction of safety improvements through early December, 2025. This closure, in addition to several overlapping roadwork projects by both DOT-Highways and DLNR-State Parks, will cause delays, impact traffic patterns, and restrict overall parking capacity in these two popular parks through the end of the year. DOT work is continuing on Waimea Canyon Drive, while work on portions of Kōkeʻe Road from the Kalalau Lookout to Puʻu o Kila lookout will be starting the same week. Visitors can drive as far as the Kalalau Lookout, where improvements will also be initiated on July 17, with limited parking available. We urge patience and driving with care as these various improvements are ongoing. Local visitors are encouraged to enjoy these parks and lookouts on weekends, when most work will be suspended. Waimea Canyon Lookout will be closed for the duration of the project including weekends.
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[KAUAʻI] - UPDATE 3/21/25: Pā‘ula‘ula State Historic Site - Due to construction improvements, the park closure will begin starting March 24 until further notice.
Whales and Dolphins
Posted on Dec 8, 2014
Humpback whales (koholā) venture to Hawaiʻi each winter from Alaska, and are by far the most common whales seen in Hawaiian waters, although there have been sightings of fin, minke, Bryde’s, blue, and North Pacific right whales as well. Dolphins (nai‘a) are year-round residents. These magnificent animals can be viewd from shore by watching for their spouts as they surface to breathe. They also breach, leaping out of the water and creating great splashes which can be seen from a great distance at good viewing spots.
Humpbacks can approach lengths of 50 feet and weigh up to 45 tons. They are known for their breaching and leaping behaviors, as well as fin and tail slapping, as well as singing. Males sing when in Hawaiian waters, but are silent when they return to Alaska, where they feed throughout the Spring and Summer. The whales mate in Hawaiʻi, and females birth their calves here the following year.
Spinner dolphins live in pods often made up of dozens of individuals for protection and coordinated hunting. Common in Hawaiʻi, they frequent calm protected bays during the day where they rest and care for their young. These areas are important to avoid predators and recover from long nights of hunting in the open ocean. They are spectacular leapers, and as their name aptly suggests, they spin rapidly during their aerial manuoevers. Spinners are relatively small dolphins, measuring about 6 feet (2 meters) in length as adults, and have a distinctive coloration – dark on top, gray in the midle, and light on the belly.
Whales and dolphins should not be approached. Dolphins enter shallow bays in Hawaiian waters to rest, to mate and to give birth. These behaviors often lead to conflicts with human visitors entering their waters. Swimmers and boaters should remain at least 50 yards (45 meters) away from dolphins so as not to affect their rest or social behaviors. Humpback whales similarly birth their calves in Hawaiʻi each winter. Federal law requires no one approach within 100 yards of a Humpback Whale in Hawaiʻi Waters. For more info, visit https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dar/species/marine-mammals/
All marine mammals are protected by federal and state law. An overview of this protection is provided below. For more information, check out the following websites:
- NOAA’s Office of Protected Resources
- Hawaii Administrative Rules 13-124: Endangered and threatened wildlife
