In an

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...

like the Hawaiian Islands the water between

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

s is typically called a ''

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

'' or ''passage''. Described here are the channels between the islands of

Hawaiʻi Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, arranged from northwest to southeast.

Kaulakahi Channel

The Kaulakahi Channel separates the islands of

Niʻihau Niihau ( Hawaiian: ), anglicized as Niihau ( ), is the westernmost main and seventh largest inhabited island in Hawaii. It is southwest of Kauaʻi across the Kaulakahi Channel. Its area is . Several intermittent playa lakes provide wetland h ...

and Kauaʻi. It is wide. Kaulakahi translates to "the single flame (streak of color)."

Kaʻieʻie Waho Channel

The Kaʻieʻie Waho Channel, also called the Kauai Channel,The Road Atlas of United States, Canada & Mexico (Rand McNally, 2004) p. 30. separates the islands of Kauaʻi and Oʻahu, at a distance of . Kaʻieʻie Waho means "Outer Kaʻieʻie," named after the ʻieʻie vine (''

Freycinetia arborea ''Freycinetia arborea'', ''Ieie'', is a densely branched, brittle, woody climber in the family Pandanaceae, endemic to the Pacific Islands. ''Ieie'' is found in moist forest on the Hawaiian, Marquesas, Austral, Society, and Cook Islands. ...

''). The maximum depth of the channel is over 11000 feet.

Kaiwi Channel

The Kaiwi Channel (also known as the Molokai Channel) separates the islands of Oʻahu and Molokaʻi, and is wide. Maximum depth is . ''Ka Iwi'' means "the bone." There are annual

paddleboarding Paddleboarding is a water sport in which participants are propelled by a swimming motion using their arms while lying or kneeling on a paddleboard or surfboard in the ocean or other body of water. This article refers to traditional prone or kneeli ...

and outrigger canoe paddling contests which traverse this channel; swimming the channel is one of the seven challenges in the

Oceans Seven The Oceans Seven is a marathon swimming challenge consisting of seven open water channel swims. It was devised in 2008 as the swimming equivalent of the Seven Summits mountaineering challenge. It includes the North Channel, the Cook Strait, the M ...

open water swimming series.

Kalohi Channel

The Kalohi Channel is the stretch of water separating Lānaʻi and Molokaʻi. Depth of water in this channel is about and width is . This is one of the less treacherous channels between islands in the archipelago, although strong winds and choppy sea conditions are frequent. Kalolohia Beach on the Lānaʻi coast is also known as "Shipwreck Beach" because of a wreck on the

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock o ...

there. Kalohi means "the slowness."

Pailolo Channel

The Pailolo Channel separates the islands of Molokaʻi and Maui. Some at its narrowest, it is one of the windiest and roughest in the Hawaiian Islands.

ʻAuʻau Channel

The ʻAuʻau Channel is one of the most protected areas of ocean in the Hawaiian Islands, lying between Lānaʻi and Maui. The channel is also protected by Molokaʻi to the north, and Kahoʻolawe to the south. The depth of the channel reaches , and its width is . ʻAuʻau channel is a whale-watching center in the Hawaiian Islands.

Humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hu ...

s migrate approximately 3,500 miles (5600 km) from

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

n waters each autumn and spend the northern hemisphere winter months in the protected waters of the channel. ʻAuʻau translates to "to take a bath," referring to its calm bath-like conditions.

Kealaikahiki Channel

The Kealaikahiki Channel is the 17 mile channel between Lānaʻi and

Kahoʻolawe Kahoolawe (Hawaiian: ), anglicized as Kahoolawe (), is the smallest of the eight main volcanic islands in the Hawaiian Islands. Kahoolawe is located about southwest of Maui and also southeast of Lānaʻi, and it is long by wide, with a total l ...

. It literally means "the road to

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

", both figuratively and literally, as Tahiti lies generally southward of its orientation. Known informally as the "Tahiti Express" for its strength in that direction.

ʻAlalākeiki Channel

The ʻAlalākeiki Channel separates the islands of

and Maui, at a distance of 7 miles. ʻAlalākeiki means "crying baby."

ʻAlenuihāhā Channel

The ʻAlenuihāhā separates the island of

and the island of Maui. The maximum depth of this channel is , and the channel is 30 miles wide. There is a significant wind funnel effect in the channel, which is subject to scientific investigations. ʻAlenuihāhā means "great billows smashing."

Minor Channels and Alternate Names

Lahaina Roads

The middle of the ʻAuʻau channel off Lahaina is known as the

Lahaina Roads Lahaina Roads, also called the Lahaina Roadstead, is an anchorage in the ʻAuʻau Channel lying off the town of Lahaina on the island of Maui in the Hawaiian archipelago and U.S. state of Hawaii. It lies in the lee of the West Maui Mountai ...

. Once filled with whalers when Lahaina was a capital for that industry, Lahaina Roads were later adopted as an alternate anchorage for the main U.S. Pacific Fleet based at Pearl Harbor. However, Lahaina was not used, and the bulk of the fleet remained moored in Pearl Harbor. The Roads are still a common moorage for oceangoing cruise ships and naval vessels of many flags, including the U.S., whose passengers and crews add to the tourists visiting the island.

Kumukahi Channel

The Kumukahi Channel separates the islands of

and

Lehua Lehua Island is a small, crescent-shaped island in the Hawaiian islands, north of Niihau, due west of Kauai. The uninhabited, barren island is a tuff cone which is part of the active Niihau volcano. Lehua was one of the first five island ...

. Kumukahi means "first beginning."

Hoʻomoʻa Channel

The Hoʻomoʻa Channel separates the islands of

and

Nihoa Nihoa (; haw, Nīhoa ), also known as Bird Island or Moku Manu, is the tallest of ten islands and atolls in the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). The island is located at the southern end of the NWHI chain, southeast of ...

. Hoʻomoʻa means "to cook."

Hawaiʻiloa Channel

The Hawaiʻiloa Channel to the northwest of the islands of

. Named after

Hawaiʻiloa Hawaiiloa (alt. Hawaii Loa or Ke Kowa i Hawaii) is a mythical Hawaiian fisherman and navigator who is said to have discovered the island of Hawaii. Legend Hawaiiloa was an expert fisherman and navigator who was famous for his lengthy fishing ex ...

, hero of an ancient Hawaiian legend about the settling of the Hawaiian Islands.

References

Sources

* * {{cite book, last1=Pukui, first1=Mary Kawena, author-link1=Mary Kawena Pukui, last2=Elbert, first2=Samuel H., last3=Mookini, first3=Esther T., title=Place Names of Hawaii, url={{google books, plainurl=y, id=fkw4JooFxZAC, date=1974, publisher=University of Hawaii Press, location=Honolulu, isbn=978-0-8248-0524-1 Channels of Hawaii