Kaula and Leeward Islands Business & Shopping Hawaii Directory

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Kaula Island in eList Hawaii Directory

Kaula is a small, isolated islet, lying about 20 sea miles or 23 land miles to the west-southwest of the southern end of Niihau, and 150 sea miles west and a little north of Honolulu. Its position is about 20 degrees 39 North, 160 degrees 31 30 West. Estimates of its height have been getting progressively smaller, until now they range between 500 and 600 feet, with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey map of 1934 giving it as 550 feet. The elevation of the light is 562 feet. Estimates of its area likewise vary from 108 to 136 acres. Submarine soundings show that the islet lies near the south-eastern edge of a submarine platform having an area of at least 30 square miles with depths of from 6 to 50 fathoms. Kaula is crescent-shaped, two thirds of its ridge having a fairly level crest, but the south end sloping down gradually. The concave side of the crescent is toward the east, from which side, at a distance, the island looks like a sleeping seal with its head to the north. The lower slopes have been cut back into a sea cliff which makes the slopes almost impossible to climb, even after one has succeeded in landing on the wave-cut terrace, which cannot be done unless the sea is moderately calm. The Lighthouse Service has had to blast and build a trail to the summit from the convex (west) side, and at times it is necessary to land by means of a hoist.

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