Pono Kai + Waikaea Canal

Before the condominiums and resort pools, this oceanfront land held one of the largest pineapple processing operations in the Hawaiian Islands. The Kauaʻi Pineapple Company ran a cannery near this location from the early 1900s through the mid-20th century, processing millions of cans annually at peak production.

Pineapple workers — many of them Filipino immigrants recruited through the HSPA after 1906 — lived in nearby camps and worked long hours. Their labor funded the schools, churches, and community halls that still stand in neighborhoods just behind this coastline. The Filipino community's contributions to Kauaʻi's east side are often understated in the written record.

When the pineapple industry mechanized and moved offshore in the 1960s and 70s, the canneries came down and resorts replaced them. The Waikaea Canal, visible nearby, once served as a critical waterway for this industrial corridor. The community memory of what this land produced — and who produced it — persists in the oral histories of families who have lived here for generations.