Visiting the Kīlauea Lighthouse in Kauaʻi

Let Your Light Shine

When we were on the island of Kauaʻi in Hawaiʻi, one of the places that we thought we might enjoy visiting was the Kīlauea Lighthouse. Although it involved a drive of a little over an hour from where we were staying, we packed up the rental car one day and headed that way.

The Kīlauea Lighthouse was built in 1913, although it has not been in operation since 1976. The lighthouse was restored for its centennial anniversary, and it was renamed the Daniel K. Inouye Kīlauea Point Lighthouse in honor of the well-known senator from Hawaiʻi.

You are not able to actually go inside the lighthouse, but you are able to walk the grounds around the lighthouse. It was interesting to see the lighthouse up close, and it was interesting to see the view from  Point on which the lighthouse is located. But more on that another time.

The  Lighthouse is actually a part of the Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge. There are several birds that are native to the area that live in the refuge. You might not want to look straight up. But it is cool to see all of them flying around and to see them over across the way on another point of land, too.

There is a small admission fee for Kīlauea Point, but it was only $5 per person. We thought it was worth it to be able to see the lighthouse and the wildlife reserve. That was also the highest admission we paid for anything we did in Kauaʻi, by the way. You do not have to spend a lot to have a good time.

There is also a very small visitor center and bookstore, and restrooms, too. You can learn a good bit about the history of the area by reading the various signs around the grounds, or you can just enjoy seeing the lighthouse, the shore, and the wildlife.

Us and the Lighthouse

In front of the Kīlauea Lighthouse, there was an older gentleman volunteer whose job was to take photos of people with the lighthouse. I was fine just taking an arms-length selfie like we often do, but he was insistent in a very friendly way, so I handed my camera over to him. The fisheye lens was still on the camera, and I think that may have taken him slightly by surprise when he looked through the viewfinder, but he did fine with it.

I do appreciate what he was doing because unless you have a super wide-angle lens on your camera, you have a hard time getting yourself in photos on vacations. And even with a super wide-angle lens, the photos might not look like you want them to. So I appreciate his service. He was also happy to tell you about the history of the lighthouse, or just chat about anything in general, too. 

Even though we have some of our standard self shots from this trip, it is nice to have a photo from a distance of the two of us, too.

See more photos from our trip in the 2018 Kauaʻi Trip section.

Bible Verse

Send Your light and Your truth; let them lead me. Let them bring me to Your holy mountain, to Your dwelling place. - Psalm 43:3

About the Photo

The first photo is somewhat standard, with some subdued colors in the processing. I felt that bold colors would have been a little too much for this stately structure, so I went with less instead of more.

For the photo of us, I gave it a fun “tourist antique” photo look. It reminds me of photos from old cameras from when my grandparents would go on vacation. One day someone may see this and think that we are really old because our photo looks really old. But that is okay. Processing can be fun. And who says all of your photos have to look “new,” whatever that might mean.

Photo: Each photo is a single Raw exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10
Lens: Olympus 14-42mm IIR  and Rokinon 7.5mm f/3.5 Fisheye Lens
Date: July 10, 2018
Location: Kīlauea, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi