A healthy world ocean is critical to our survival. Every year, World Oceans Day provides a unique opportunity to honor, help protect, and conserve the world’s oceans.

Living in Kauai surrounded by our beautiful ocean, we know first hand how very important Oceans are:

• They generate most of the oxygen we breathe
• They help feed us
• They regulate our climate
• They clean the water we drink
• They offer a pharmacopoeia of medicines
• They provide limitless inspiration! 

Despite the huge challenges facing the world’s ocean, by working together we can support a healthy ocean that is able to sustainably provide for the billions of humans, plants, and animals that depend on it every day. On World Oceans Day, people around our blue planet celebrate and honor the ocean, which connects us all. Get together with your family, friends, community, and the planet to start creating a better future. Working together, we can and will protect our shared ocean. We hope you will be a part of this growing global celebration!

World Oceans Day allows us to:

• Change perspective – encourage individuals to think about what the ocean means to them and what it has to offer all of us with hopes of conserving it for present and the future generations.
• Learn – discover the wealth of diverse and beautiful ocean creatures and habitats, how our daily actions affect them, and how we are all interconnected.
• Change our ways – we are all linked to, and through, the ocean! By taking care of your backyard and helping in your community, you are acting as a caretaker of our ocean. Making small modifications to your everyday habits will make a difference, and involving your family, friends, and community will benefit our blue planet even more!
• Celebrate – whether you live inland or on the coast, we are all connected to the ocean. Take the time to think about how the ocean affects you, and how you affect the ocean, and then organize or participate in activities that celebrate our ocean.

This afternoon, Surfrider Foundation, Kauai will be hosting a Net Patrol in Anahola Beach Park from 4pm-7pm.

Click here for more info.

If you aren’t able to make it this afternoon, please look for other events you can help with and remember you can respect the ocean every day and can help protect the ocean for the future! It’s up to each one of us to help ensure that our ocean is healthy for future generations.

Reside Kauai is proud to support our friends at Hanalei Canoe Club for the 2016 Ha’ena Run!

The 8 mile course begins at the end of the road in Ha'ena at Ke'e Beach, then traverses the scenic stretch of road, and one-lane bridges, along the breathtaking North Shore towards Hanalei town, ending at the historic Hanalei Pier.

Directions for the course and to the Hanalei Canoe Club can be found here. 

Start Times

8-Mile: Runners - 7:00 a.m., Walkers - 6:00 a.m.
There will be a free shuttle bus to ferry people from the Hanalei Pier to Ha'ena beginning at 4:45 a.m., last shuttle for walkers is 5:15 a.m., and last shuttle for runners leaves at 6:20 a.m.

5K Run: 7:00 a.m.
This run starts and ends at the Hanalei Pier. The race can be run or walked but there are no separate awards.

1-Mile Youth Run: 7:00 a.m. right after the 5K Run start.
This run starts and ends at the Hanalei Pier.

Entry Fees and Deadlines

8-Mile Run/Walk and 5K Runs: $40 for pre-registration, $50 on the day of the race.
1-Mile Youth Run: $10

The entry fee includes the pancake breakfast and a T-shirt, late registration does not guarantee a a T-shirt or size!

Mail in entries should be sent no later than Friday May 27th. We strongly encourage participants to register online, the online deadline is Wednesday June 1, 2016 at 12:00 a.m.

Race packet pickup and late registration on Friday, June 3rd from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Hanalei Canoe Club, or at the Hanalei Pier at 4:45 a.m. on race day.

This past weekend many experienced a great Sunday Funday held at Waipa in Hanalei.

Families enjoyed water slides, kids games, entertainment and food from 2pm – 6:30pm

The evening program opened with an Oli by Sabra Kauka who is prominently featured in the film. 

Next, Fern Anuenue Rosenstiel, who is currently running for the Hawaii State House District 14, brought everyone up to speed on the status of Bill 2491, which will be heard in the 9^th Circuit Court on June 15 in Oahu. 

Rosenstiel also gave an update on the final draft of the Joint Fact Finding report on pesticide use by agribusiness on Kauai, which is expected to be released on Wednesday. 

Teresa Tico also spoke as well as presented a special premier screening of the trailer for her and Keely Brosnan’s new film Poisoning Paradise. The film, directed by Danny Miller focuses on pesticides on Kauai and the movement behind Bill 2491. 

The evening culminated with the screening of the award winning film by Josh Thorne,  'Aina : That Which Feeds Us'.

You can watch Aina in it’s entirety here.

If you haven’t visited Kauai’s 100% locally sourced grocery store on the Eastside, get on over there!!! 

Collin Darrell and Adam Watten launched Hanai last month in the old Kojima store in Kapa’a. It’s an all-local grocery market with high-quality, organic produce, meats and dairy. The market is open from 2 to 8 p.m. on Thursday through Sunday.

Hanai’s shelves are stocked with farmers market finds plus amazing extensions. You can find fresh fruits, vegatables and herbs as well as soups, meat, eggs, compotes and jams.

Hanai even stocks dog food—a blend of beef, kale and breadfruit priced at $7.50 per pound.

Hanai also offers market meals: All the ingredients needed for a delicious dinner for two or more. You don’t need a cutting board or a knife to prepare it, and it’s ready in 15 minutes. On a recent Thursday, the market meal, priced at $30, included Kauai shrimp with fennel, eggplant, edible flowers and coconut curry.

The market is the first in a three-part concept that will eventually include a restaurant and butchery. Food and beverage workshops are soon to follow, with topics such as Hawaiian fish identification, anatomy, cookery methods and traditional uses.

Open Thursday thru Sunday, 2 to 8 p.m., 4-1543 Kuhio Hwy., Kapaa, Kauai, hanaikauai.com 

In partnership with Alu Like and AmeriCorps, Malama Kaua`i is hosting paid agriculture interns on Malama Kaua`i Community Farm in Kilauea, Waipa Foundation in Hanalei, and with IWIKUA/KUGA Agriculture in Waimea during June & July 2016.

Participants will work full-time, 40 hours per week, and have the opportunity to learn about agriculture, agroforestry, natural resources, farming & more while gaining work experience, meeting new professional connections, and earning some extra cash! There will also be guest speakers and field trips included. This program is for Hawai`i residents only; off-island candidates will not be considered.

For complete information on the available programs, please download our Summer 2016 Internship Overview sheet. If interested, please apply as soon as possible by downloading, completing, and submitting our Summer 2016 Ag Internship Application Form.

Completed applications should be submitted via email at megan@malamakauai.org or fax at (808) 828-0485. If you do not receive a confirmation within 3 days please call us to confirm receipt of your application.

Interested applicants may contact Megan to get more information at megan@malamakauai.org or call (808) 828-0685 x12.

Deadline for applications is May 25th for AmeriCorps & May 16th for Alu Like – get your app in today!

What: A Community Event featuring the best Hawai'i has to offer in Music, Hula, Cultural Practitioners, Kaua?i made products, Displays by community groups, a Silent Auction and Ono Food.
Theme:  “Keeping the Culture Alive”
When: Saturday, May 14, 2016
10am – 5pm
$5 admission fee
Children under 5 are free.
Where: Wai?oli Beach Park – He?e Rd, Hanalei
Park & shuttle from Wai?oli Town Park

May Day by the Bay is a Community Event celebrating the Hawaiian culture through Music, Hula, Cultural demonstrations by local Practitioners, a Kaua?i made products Craft Fair, Displays by community groups, a Silent Auction and Ono Food. This event showcases the best parts of Kaua?i – the people, culture and beauty. 

Come and enjoy Hawaiian music and hula performed by talented musicians and dancers that will keep you entertained all day. You’ll have the opportunity to learn and play konane – Hawaiian Checkers, make a lei, and learn more about lauhala and coconut weaving, and kapa making. Shop in the Crafter’s Tent where all of the vendors are local and their products are made on Kaua’i. Sample the food of Hawai’i, it’s a must to try sweet, delicious Kulolo and chocolate covered bananas. There will be a Silent Auction, and opportunities to see whatcommunity groups are doing to make Kaua’i a better place and learn how you can support their efforts.

The Kauai chapter of the Surfrider Foundation has declared Kilauea to be the first community on Kauai to be free of plastic foam.

Robert Zelkovsky, Surfrider Kauai’s publicity and membership coordinator, said that’s the reason the group chose Kilauea as the epicenter for the movement to rid Kauai of polystyrene foam entirely.

The organization took on the National Surfrider’s Rise Against Plastic campaign about three years ago. It was a landfill teeming with trash and roadways lined with litter that prompted members to take action. 

Zelkovsky said they started with a survey of the restaurants on Kauai. At that time, 30 percent of the 270 restaurants questioned did not use polystyrene foam.

All of the restaurants in Kilauea are now polystyrene foam-free.

Polystyrene foam is a type of plastic product that is petroleum based, which means it comes from oil. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the substance is the fifth-highest source of hazardous waste in the world and it can take about 500 years to decompose.

Surfrider Kauai plans to place signs in Kilauea recognizing the town as Styrofoam-free as soon as the group gets permits for signage.

Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge which re-opened for visitation on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2016 will be celebrating the 103rd anniversary of the Daniel K. Inouye Kilauea Point Lighthouse on Saturday, May 7, from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Lighthouse Day is an annual event that commemorates the completion and lighting of the Daniel K. Inouye Kilauea Point Lighthouse on May 1, 1913. Tours of the lighthouse will be offered every half hour beginning at 10:30 am- 7:00pm. Lighting of the lighthouse will occur just before sunset and closing, at 6:45 p.m. 

The Refuge’s Friends group, Kilauea Point Natural History Association will host Refuge volunteer and newly published author, Hob Osterlund, for her new book-signing. Naomi Yokotake and Halau O Hanalei will treat you with colorful hula and Hawaiian music, and the Waipa Serenaders wind down the day’s events with traditional Hawaiian melodies. Temporary tattoos and a Jr. Refuge Ranger badge will be offered for the keiki, and keiki at heart, while volunteer docents and staff will be on hand to answer questions throughout the day.

This will be a free event where fees will be waived in honor of Lighthouse Day. Carpooling is highly encouraged as parking is limited.

                             Coco Palms - pic courtesy The Garden Island 

 Developers of Coco Palms met with the Kauai County Planning Company Monday morning and announced they had secured funding for demolition as well as construction plans.

The construction plans are needed to obtain a building permit,

Private Capital will foot the bill for demolition of the resort, which was destroyed during Hurricane Iniki. The final price of construction is almost $3.5 million.

Coco Palms officials want to breathe new life into the resort, a project that is estimated to be $23 million.

Once the closing papers are in order, demolition will start immediately, a Coco Palms, LLC representative stated.

During the meeting Commissioner Wayne Katayama asked Coco Palms representatives about the timeline of the project. Their representative stated

“The current plan is to open the hotel during the first quarter of 2018.”

The Planning Commission will meet on May 24 to get a status of the progress of the closure with Private Capital.

Rendering of proposed 'Unbound by Hyatt 'Coco Palm Resort

The developers looking to rebuild the historic Coco Palms Resort into the Hyatt branded “Unbound Collection” have a Monday, May 2 deadline to show county officials progress made on the project.

Coco Palms Hui LLC went before the Kauai County Planning Commission this past Tuesday to present an update on the East-side Kauai project. Since the funding for the $135 million development isn’t expected to be finalized until Monday, the extension of the hearing was granted. During Monday’s hearing, the county could make a decision to either change or terminate Coco Palms Hui’s permits for the project.

In August, Kauai County officials released the first set of permits needed to begin demolition work on the resort, which has been closed since Hurricane Iniki severely damaged the property in 1992. The state Historic Preservation Division also officially verified that Coco Palms Hui had satisfied all of its requirements, paving the way for building and demolition permits to be released to the firm. 

The permits gave Coco Palms Hui six months to complete the demolition work, which was a February deadline, although the county gave additional deadlines through April.

The new 350 rooms resort would include 273 hotel rooms and 77 suites within the hotel’s existing footprint. Developers have stated a 2018 opening date.