Built as a guide for ships coming from and headed to Asia for trade, this lighthouse on Kauai’s northern point was erected in 1913. The original manned light was replaced (decommissioned) with a low-maintenance light characteristic of most current lighthouses in 1976.
The peninsular strip of land on which the lighthouse sits and the adjacent cliffs make for an aviary playground. Varieties of sea birds soar, glide, and swoop on the strong winds that blow up the cliff line. Some of the birds speed into the ocean, diving deep into the water for fish. The 203-acre Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge surrounds the lighthouse and facilitates a healthy habitat for these ocean-going birds from albatrosses to frigates to red-footed boobies. Kilauea Point is on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
