Haunted Hawaii-Ghosts, Spirits, Night Marchers and more

Hawaiian Kona Lagoon

Did you know that Kona and Keauhou have haunted places and numerous ghostly sightings? Sure, Hawaii is not one of the top ten most haunted places in the US , but since I began living here two years ago, there are so many stories of people seeing ghosts, having strange things happen to them and so on, that I thought I’d share a few for Halloween!

1. The Kona Lagoon was torn down in 2004 after sitting vacant since 1988 when Japanese developers went belly up, but the second story behind the demise of the hotel was that the hotel itself was haunted.  A story from the Honolulu Advertiser called it cursed.  “Surrounded by ancient temples and archaeological sites, it was built on the dwelling place of supernatural twin sisters, ‘aumakua who took the form of lizards, according to Hawaiian legend. Security guards hired to watch the property when the 462-room hotel closed in 1988 were frightened at night, said Joe Castelli, who lives at the neighboring Keauhou Kona Tennis and Racquet Club. “They told me that they would see lights up there and hear Hawaiians singing and talking,” Castelli said. “…But when they got there, they didn’t find anything. So they said they just didn’t go anymore”, the article states.

Thousands were killed at the human sacrificial heiaus on that property during the time when Hawaiian villages thrived in the Keauhou area and to this day, nothing has been built there. A Hawaiian friend of mine whose mother worked at the Kona Lagoon said that most of the employees left because of the hauntings. She herself had trays flung up at her by angry spirits. My friend who is very attuned to the spirits said the hotel structure blocked them and they could not be released. When the hotel was torn down and the site was blessed, the energy forces of the spirits seemed to have calmed down. The heiau bases have been rebuilt, but the site remains fenced off and blocked from the public with no clear plans to use the land for commercial property.

2. Pele sightings-My husband has seen the ghost of a girl in our home a few times and just last month, during a slumber party for my daughter, two of the party guests saw a young girl out on the lanai. They thought it was one of their friends and when they both went to the screen door and called her name, she vanished. Some people on the island think that if you see a young girl, especially if she is wearing white, it is the spirit of Pele, the goddess of the volcano. People say they have seen a lone woman standing on Saddle Road and she asks for a ride. Friends say if you see this, ALWAYS pick her up.

3. A friend of mine who works at the Kona Sheraton (formally the Keauhou Bay Resort and before that the Kona Surf) say there are two little girls that play in the hallway of the hotel where the guest rooms are located.  The guests call security to tell them to stop. The security guard has been getting that phone call for years and knows that there is nothing he can do, as the girls are just ghosts. The staff also say there is a ghost that stands at the cliff in front of the hotel from time to time and he just disappears when you look away and then back again.

I did a little research and found a post about the haunting of the Kona Surf: “To locals, it’s obvious: the Kona Surf was built on an ancient battleground, and the ghosts are dead warriors. Bones and dirt are crucial, especially here on Hawaii, the first settled island which was home to warring kings. After battles, the dead were interred in unmarked burial caves. Construction crews frequently come upon human bones, and are required by law to stop work and call in archeologists and Burial Council officials to inspect the remains. A priest may come in to give a blessing. Apparently, this didn’t happen with the Kona Surf.

Personally-I was standing near the side of the hotel near the ancient remains of a village near the chapel and felt overcome with some strange force after I was “talking to the spirits”-just saying Aloha and such and almost passed out. I ran off the property and felt better. A spiritual friend warned me about inviting spirits in and not having the training to surround myself with a white light of protection. Again, this was over a year ago and I did not know what to think of this. Now I absolutely believe it.

4. Another spiritual friend of mine, Carol, was walking behind me at the bay next to Keauhou Bay within a few hundred feet of where a village once stood. As we were going across the rocks, she was walking behind me and she let out a cry. I turned around and she was down on the ground. Being 70 years old, I thought she may have tripped and she said that she was PUSHED down. I thought she was nuts, as this was before I heard about the spirits of the ancient Hawaiians. She said that she had felt an energy come up from behind her and then shove her down. We got out of there very quickly!

5. When I ask people who have lived on this island for years, invariably they have a story about seeing a spirit, getting “pressed”, where the spirit pushes on your chest and you feel like you can not breathe or have seen dark shapes along the roads at night. I ask them why no one from the mainland really knows about this aspect of the island and they say they just don’t focus on it. However, after looking up “haunted Hawaii” on Google, I see that my stories are not alone on the web! This was news to me that the  King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel, located near downtown Kona had a nice little write up about it being haunted, as well. “Footsteps. Apparitions. Hauntings. Ancient Polynesian warriors. The pissed off bones of the Hawaiian King himself, buried at an undisclosed location someplace beneath the hotel, that only his ancestors know about. A portrait of Queen Lilliuokalani, that glares at you and breathes. It turns out this place is indeed haunted by more than just Hawaiian royalty, but by dozens of angry, restless spirits. You can even see them during daylight hours — their hair-raising reviews on Tripadvisorwill surely have you heading for the rolling green hills of The Big Island — or flinging yourself into the nearest live volcano.”


My husband believes that our island, due to the vibration of the volcano, which is made of lava, which is silica based, is resonating at a higher frequency which puts us closer to the 4th dimension. This allows those living in the other world to be closer to those living in this world. Or is that that the Hawaiians so truly believed that their spirits were locked in their bones that the desecration of their bones by unthinking construction workers through the years has unleashed their unholy fury upon the land? Who knows, but the unearthing of bones and the wrath from the ancients still is causing problems in Oahu, as well. Check out this story:

Interstate H-1 Honolulu, Hawaii

Hawaii’s busiest freeway is the famous east to west Interstate H-1, and it is also the most haunted route on the island. The ghostly tale begins in 1953 when troubled workers dug through the mountain on a daily basis while apparitions of Hawaiian warriors did their best to frighten the road crew away. The men were continuously taunted by the spirits with angry appearances from the miffed apparitions who refused to be up heaved from their burial grounds deep within the mountain. Scared workers walked off the job without question which made the excavation turn into a seven year long event.

New crews were hired to continue with the project that was quickly becoming known as one of the most haunted in the area. Endless piles of ancient human bones were found from the non-stop digging. These bones were considered sacred, thus making digging a problematic issue for the worried crew. The warrior spirits were highly agitated by the presence of the workers, and the crew started to rebel by refusing to dig any further. Eventually the highway was completed in 1960. A friend of mine just told me a few days ago that equipment moves around the site of the H-1 and a tractor was moved  two miles from the site with no apparent tracks during the night.

When you come to Hawaii-come in respect for the land and the culture that resides here. And if you stay in Keauhou, notice if your dreams don’t seem a little more vivid..there IS an energy here. Happy Halloween!


Spread the word if you love what you heard! #365kona so we can say Thanks!

Meet the Author

Julie Ziemelis

Julie Ziemelis is an entrepreneur, business owner, author, blogger and vlogger in Kailua Kona. She created and moderates the “365 Things to Do in Kona” page and the Kona Newbies group on Facebook. She blogs at 365Kona.com and MoveToHawaii365.com and vlogs with her husband, Eric, at “365Hawaii” on YouTube. Julie also authored the books, “How to Move to Kona” and the “Insiders Guide to Buying Real Estate on the Big Island of Hawaii”. You will most likely find Julie in Kona hiking, running, biking, taking photos and sharing Aloha.

Leave a Question or Comment About this Topic

  • Janelle hawkins says:

    I lived on Hawaii in the 80’s. When the Mauna Lani Hotel was built (i was working there at the time) the owners of the hotel ignored Hawaiian beliefs that a corner of it was built over a sacred trail to the sea. At the time of the blessing, every Kahuna refused to bless that particular corner. When the hotel opened, almost every guest using that room would report very strange happenings and would demand to be placed in another room. I lived in Kalauoa and had several encounters with Night Walkers in my house until i rearranged my furniture to appease them. And, lastly, i had a definite encounter with Madame Pele while walking my dogs on the upper road. She took the form of a white peacock and I had the strangest feeling that I have ever had. She literally stared at me with very eerie eyes. Yes, I believe!

    • Victoria says:

      I have seen the menehunes twice on Maui back in the 80’s when I lived there. They came in the form of fireballs off the ocean and landed on the sand in the form of little people and ran down the beach.

      But the most significant form of a spirit came to me when I was leaving the island to go back to the mainland after coming here to look at real estate to buy. I was the only person in the rental shuttle being taken back to the airport after returning my car. It was the 4th of July in 2006. The gal driving the bus asked me why I chose to visit the BI. I explained I had planned to purchase property. The next thing that happened was someone else possessed her body and that spirit spoke in a very different deep man’s voice and proceeded to inform me that the reason I was here to buy was because I was ancient Royalty thae use to live here in my past life. Then he said, Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono , which is the Hawaiian state motto, meaning, The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness. He was confirming that I was given the right to live here in peace, because I had lived here in my past. After he spoke, I asked a question and the woman driving the van, went back to her original female voice, and said, what are you talking about and denied remembering any of those words came out of her mouth. My head was spinning after that and I moved here the following year.

  • pearl quintal says:

    WELL I KNOW THAT ON THE BIG ISLAND THE CROSS ROAD AT THE TOP OF PUNALUU BEACH RIGHT ON THAT CROSS ROAD ON THE RIGHT U TURN THERE AND GO ALL THE WAY UP U WILL COME TO THE HIEAU CHICKEN SKIN LIKE U NEVER EXPERIANCED THE FOG COMES DOWN COVERS U AND U KNOW IF U DONT LEAVE THEN U WONT BE ABLE TO .GO THERE AND TELL ME OF UR EXPERIANCES.IT AINT NO BUL.

  • pearl quintal says:

    WELL I KNOW THAT ON THE BIG ISLAND THE CROSS ROAD AT THE TOP OF PUNALUU BEACH RIGHT ON THAT CROSS ROAD ON THE RIGHT U TURN THERE AND GO ALL THE WAY UP U WILL COME TO THE HIEAU CHICKEN SKIN LIKE U NEVER EXPERIANCED THE FOG COMES DOWN COVERS U AND U KNOW IF U DONT LEAVE THEN U WONT BE ABLE TO .GO THERE AND TELL ME OF UR EXPERIANCES.IT AINT NO BUL.

  • SOUTH POINT THE BIG ISLAND IN 1995 WE WENT CAMPING UP THERE AND WE HAD A BIG RV MY SON AND HIS FRIENDS WAS DRINKING AND WE WENT TO SLEEP CAUSE IT WAS 12 OCLOCK MIDNIGHT.WELL WE WAS WAKING UP BY SOMETHING LIFTING OUR 12000 LB RV A SHAKING IT .WE GOT UP AND OPENED OUR DOOR FROM THE RV TURNED ON THE LIGHT OUT SIDE AND SCREAMED STOP FOOLING AROUND BUT THERE WAS NOBODY THERE .THE NEXT DAY WE WENT OUTSIDE AND THE GROUND WHERE WE WERE PARKED WAS FULL WITH BEER CAN S WE CLEANED IT UP AND MOVED THE RV OFF THE PATH TO THE HEIAU AND WE SLET DOWN THERE FOR 2 MORE NIGHTS WENT FISHING AND WE WERE NEVER BOTHERED .MY MOM SAID IT WAS THE NIGHT MARCHERS WE WERE ON THE PATH .BUT WE RESPECTED THEM AND KEPT THE PLACE CLEAN THATS Y WE CUD STAY THERE.

  • SOUTH POINT THE BIG ISLAND IN 1995 WE WENT CAMPING UP THERE AND WE HAD A BIG RV MY SON AND HIS FRIENDS WAS DRINKING AND WE WENT TO SLEEP CAUSE IT WAS 12 OCLOCK MIDNIGHT.WELL WE WAS WAKING UP BY SOMETHING LIFTING OUR 12000 LB RV A SHAKING IT .WE GOT UP AND OPENED OUR DOOR FROM THE RV TURNED ON THE LIGHT OUT SIDE AND SCREAMED STOP FOOLING AROUND BUT THERE WAS NOBODY THERE .THE NEXT DAY WE WENT OUTSIDE AND THE GROUND WHERE WE WERE PARKED WAS FULL WITH BEER CAN S WE CLEANED IT UP AND MOVED THE RV OFF THE PATH TO THE HEIAU AND WE SLET DOWN THERE FOR 2 MORE NIGHTS WENT FISHING AND WE WERE NEVER BOTHERED .MY MOM SAID IT WAS THE NIGHT MARCHERS WE WERE ON THE PATH .BUT WE RESPECTED THEM AND KEPT THE PLACE CLEAN THATS Y WE CUD STAY THERE.

  • Lightgiver says:

    I was in Hawaii for two weeks in February of 2016. We stayed at the Racquet Club, next to the Keauhou Beach Hotel, that’s closed. I got there and the same night, I was awakened by the sound of very loud rattles. They seemed to be coming from right outside of my window. I was on the 2nd floor, but I expected to see someone standing there any minute. My bed began to shake very strongly. I am a very sensitive person, spiritually, and I thought I was being welcomed by the spirits. Maybe I was and maybe not. This happened every single night, but I began to notice that the rattles were preceded by the sound of large rocks being hit together. It seemed like some kind of ceremony and they traveled alongside the sprinklers. The sounds moved across the resort as the sprinklers came on, but every time they would be so loud outside of my window and shake my bed. The other people that I was sharing the condo with did not hear it until the second week. Then they heard drumming and felt like the entire building was shaking. I got so tired of this nightly ritual that I took flowers over to the Kings Quarters, that sealed off on the beach, and honored the Kings and asked them to please stop bothering me, because I was leaving as soon as I could. Nothing happened that night, but they tried to start again on the next evening. Each time I began to hear them, I would send White light out and ask them to go away and the rattles would stop. I felt like it was a fight of light and darkness the entire time I was there. And to add to all of this, I saw UFOs every single night that I was there!! I had an unbelievable experience when we drove to the white cliffs on the Island. I experienced what happened to those Hawaiians who were slaughtered there and all I could do was cry and pray for their souls, for over 2 hours! Hawaii is REAL and I’m good on going back there. I left the Island with Love and Light and my body literally transformed while I was there. I have not been the same since I returned from that trip. I had to change my entire diet and become a strict vegetarian/fruititarian and that’s NO JOKE. My life was transformed by that trip. Days after my experience with reliving the slaughter of all those people, I met a man who’s family has practiced Lomi Lomi for over 2 centuries. He is a master and he told me that I relived my own slaughter on that island with my tribe.

    • Julie Ziemelis says:

      Wow! I just had a friend who was staying at the Royal Kona have the feeling of being pressed. Your story is the most vivid with NIGHTLY activities. I have heard people come here and realize that they had had a previous life here. Yours is definitely one of the more intense experiences. Thanks for sharing!