In an

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

like the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...

the water between

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

s is typically called a ''

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

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

Hawaiʻi Hawaii ( ; ) is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, th ...

, arranged from northwest to southeast.

Kaulakahi Channel

The Kaulakahi Channel separates the islands of

Niʻihau Niihau (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ), anglicized as Niihau ( ), is the seventh largest island in Hawaii and the westernmost of the main islands. It is southwest of Kauai, Kauai across the Channels of the Hawaiian Islands#Kaulakahi Channel, Ka ...

and

Kauaʻi Kauai (), anglicized as Kauai ( or ), is one of the main Hawaiian Islands. It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauai lies 73 mi ...

. 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

and

Oʻahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

, at a distance of . Kaʻieʻie Waho means "Outer Kaʻieʻie," named after the ʻieʻie vine (''

Freycinetia arborea ''Freycinetia arborea'', or ''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. It ...

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

Kaiwi Channel

The Kaiwi Channel (also known as the Molokai Channel) separates the islands of

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. Paddleboarding is usually performed in the open ...

and outrigger canoe paddling contests which traverse this channel; swimming the channel is one of the seven challenges in the Oceans Seven open water swimming series.

Kalohi Channel

The Kalohi Channel is the stretch of water separating

Lānaʻi Lānai is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. It is colloquially known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation. The island's o ...

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. Kaiolohia 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 component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

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

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 monotypic taxon, only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh u ...

s migrate approximately from

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

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 channel between

and

Kahoʻolawe Kahoolawe (Hawaiian: ), anglicized as Kahoolawe ( ), is the smallest of the eight main volcanic islands of the Hawaiian Islands. Unpopulated, it lies about southwest of Maui. The island is long by wide, with a total land area of . Its highes ...

. It literally means "the road to

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

", 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 Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...

, at a distance of . ʻAlalākeiki means "crying baby."

ʻAlenuihāhā Channel

The ʻAlenuihāhā separates the island of

and the island of

. The maximum depth of this channel is , and the channel is wide. There is a significant wind funnel effect in the channel, which is subject to scientific investigations. ʻAlenuihāhā means "great billows smashing."`Alenuihāhā is more correctly literally translated to `Ale = cresting, rippling, to form waves; nui = big, large; hāhā = to breathe or blow hard

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 Mountains, ...

. 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, Niʻihau, 18 miles due west of Kauai, Kauaʻi. This uninhabited, barren islet was one of the first five islands sighted by James Cook, Captain James ...

. Kumukahi means "first beginning".

Hoʻomoʻa Channel

The Hoʻomoʻa Channel separates the islands of

and

Nihoa Nihoa (; or ), 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 Necker ...

. Hoʻomoʻa means "to cook".

Hawaiʻiloa Channel

The Hawaiʻiloa Channel to the northwest of the islands of

. Named after Hawaiʻiloa, 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