Razor-sharp spikes crown rocky Makaluapuna Point, known informally by the nickname Dragon’s Teeth. The formation does look uncannily like the mouth of an imaginary dragon. The 3ft-high spikes are the work of pounding winter waves that have ripped into the lava rock point, leaving the pointy ‘teeth’ behind.
Signage states that the outcropping is sacred to Native Hawaiians. Although the public is allowed access to the ocean by law, visitors are strongly discouraged from walking onto the formation out of respect for native customs. The adjacent Honokahua burial site is off-limits to the general public.
Both sites are of cultural significance to Native Hawaiians and should not be inspected up close. Respect the signage. The point is also potentially hazardous. It is subject to powerful waves, particularly the northern winter swells, and covered by uneven, sometimes sharp, rocks.
For a view of Makaluapuna Point, you can skirt along the outside of the 13-acre burial site below the parking area, but don’t enter areas marked ‘Please Kokua,’ which are easily visible islets of stones bordering the Ritz’s manicured golf greens. Do not walk across the greens.
Get here by driving north to the very end of Lower Honoapiʻilani Rd, where you’ll find parking and a plaque detailing the burial site. The path to the point leads down from the plaque along the northern edge of the Kapalua Bay Golf Course.
