Everyone In Hawaii Needs To Explore This Incredible Cloud Forest
By Megan Shute|Published April 23, 2016
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Megan Shute
Author
With more than 10 years of experience as a professional writer, Megan holds a degree in Mass Media from her home state of Minnesota. After college, she chose to trade in her winter boots for slippahs and moved to the beautiful island of Oahu, where she has been living for more than five years. She lives on the west side but is constantly taking mini-road trips across the island and visits the neighboring islands whenever she can getaway. She loves hiking, snorkeling, locally-grown coffee, and finding the best acai bowl on Oahu.
Hawaii may be home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, but the islands are so much more than just stretches of white sand and crystalline turquoise waters. From the summits of the island chain’s dormant and active volcanoes to coastal cliffs, Hawaii is home to some pretty stellar sites – including this incredible cloud forest.
Located on Hawaii Island, just 15 minutes from the Kona-Keahole Airport, is the privately owned 70 acres that constitute the Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary, a place of unsurpassed natural beauty.
Sometimes called fog forests, cloud forests are characterized by low-level cloud cover. Unlike rainforests, cloud forests receive approximately 40 percent of their water directly from the condensation on plants’ leaves.
The sanctuary is the most accessible cloud forest found in Hawaii, and is full of Ohia, ancient Koa trees, massive fern trees, and more than 100 varieties of bamboo, as well as various plant species that are either rare or endangered.
Directly above the Kona Coast at nearly 3,000 feet in elevation, the cloud forest assists in supplying water to residences, hotels, agriculture and even golf courses below.