“Probably the most striking scenic point about Kapoho is Green Lake, a beautiful body of deep green water occupying the crater called Waiapele, ‘Pele’s Lake.’” (Mid-Pacific Magazine, 1920)
Missionary William Ellis, at Kapoho, noted, a “cluster, apparently of hills, three or four miles round, and as many hundred feet high, with deep indented sides … (within it) a charming valley.”
“In the centre was an oval hollow, about half a mile across, and probably two hundred feet deep, at the bottom of which was a beautiful lake of brackish water, whose margin was in a high state of cultivation, planted with taro, bananas, and sugar-cane.”
“The steep, perpendicular rocks, forming the sides of the hollow, were adorned with tufts of grass, or blooming, pendulous plants; while, along the narrow and verdant border of the lake at the bottom, the bread-fruit, the kukui, and the ohia trees, appeared, with now and then a lowly native hut standing beneath their shade.”
“The placid surface of the lake, disturbed only by the boys and girls, diving and sporting in its waters; the serpentine walks among the luxuriant gardens along its margin; the tranquil occupations of the inhabitants, some weaving mats, others walking cheerfully up and down the winding paths among the steep rocks”
“But had tradition been silent, the volcanic nature of the rocks, the structure of the large basin, in which we were standing, and the deep hollow in the centre, which we were viewing, would have carried conviction to every beholder, that it had once been the seat of volcanic fires.”
“We asked several natives of the place, if they had any account of the king, in whose reign it had burned, or if they knew any songs, or traditions, in which it was stated how many kings had reigned in Hawaii, or how many chiefs had governed Puna, either since it first broke out, or since it became extinct; but they could give us no information on these subjects.”
“They told us the name of the place was Kapoho, (the sunken in,) and of the lake Ka wai a Pele, (the water of Pele;) and that it was one of the places, from which the volcanic goddess threw rocks and lava after Kahavari.”
“The saltness of the water in the extinguished volcano, proves the connection of the lake with the sea, from which it was about a mile distant; but we could not learn that it was at all affected by the rising or falling of the tides.” (Ellis, 1823)
In 1849, James Dana, an early explorer, mentioned in his geologic report a hot spring, “in a small crater between Kilauea and Kapoho Point.” In the same general area, Dr. Gordon Macdonald in 1950 noted a “small spring-fed pool at the foot of scarp. No Outflow” half a mile northwest of Puʻu Kukae. (Woodruff)
Green Lake “is a little pond, covering perhaps fifteen acres, of water which has precisely the same shade of muddy green you used to get in your box of water colors when you were a lad.”
“You remember, the shade you used to color the trees in the pictures in your school geography! It is remarkable that the pool should be there, in a waterless country, and the tree-clad slopes about the lake make a pretty picture, therefore the Green Lake is worth while.” (Mid-Pacific Magazine, 1912)
Today, it is more commonly called ‘Green Lake,’ a crater lake that occupies part of the floor of Kapoho Crater. This cone in lower Puna was formed by magma erupting through groundwater 300-350 years ago. (USGS)
Tax office records indicate the site is privately owned, by William Appleton. On-line information suggests that arrangements may be made to view the lake (they also note $5 entry.)
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