May 2025.
Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i.

For me, Spouting Horn is one of those places where the coastline seems to breathe. Each incoming wave presses into the lava shelf until the pressure finds its escape, sending a burst of white spray into the air. When I walked the path to the overlook through the small park where the local chickens wandered as if they owned the place, the mood shifted the moment I saw the plume rise and heard the sharp exhale that followed.

Near the fence enclosing the area around the overlook, I spotted this rooster strutting through the grass with the confidence of someone who clearly believed he was in charge. He paused just long enough to give me a sideways glance before returning to whatever important business roosters attend to on a sunny morning on Kaua‘i. It was a small, amusing moment of calm before I continued to the fenced viewpoint above the lava shelf and back into the rhythm of the surf.

Back at the viewpoint, I watched the water force its way through the lava tube in a rhythm that was anything but steady. Some waves pressed in with enough power to send a tall plume into the air, while others produced only a quick hiss and a low burst of spray. According to Hawaiian folklore, that uneven breath belongs to Kaikapu, a giant lizard said to be trapped in the tube after chasing a young man named Liko. Watching the spray catch the light, you can almost see why the old storytellers imagined a trapped creature waiting out the surf.

This final shot shows how much the pressure inside the lava tube changes from wave to wave. The spray was rising almost as high as what I’d seen in my opening shot, but the plume was thinner, more like a sharp exhale than a full‑throated burst. It was impressive in its own way, especially since the display changes with every single set of waves. Local history says there was once an even larger blowhole nearby that shot water nearly 200 feet into the air. Still, plantation owners dynamited it in the 1920s because the salt spray was damaging the sugarcane. Knowing that history makes you realize how dramatic that lost geyser must have been—though the current blowhole still puts on quite a show.

Spouting Horn is part of Spouting Horn Beach Park on Kaua‘i’s south shore, just outside Po‘ipū along Lawa‘i Road. The fenced overlook provides a safe, elevated view of the blowhole as waves force water through a lava tube, sometimes reaching heights of 40–50 feet. The park includes restrooms, parking, and a small vendor area, and it’s one of the most accessible stops along the Kōloa Heritage Trail. More details are available on the Kaua‘i visitor site here.

About the photos: This series was shot with my Nikon Z7 II and processed using Adobe Lightroom Classic and Luminar Neo. To freeze the water’s motion, I used a relatively fast shutter speed of 1/320s. This required a higher ISO setting, which can sometimes introduce “noise” or graininess, so I used an AI-assisted denoise tool to clean up the details. I’ve found that it’s best to handle noise removal early in the editing process; this ensures that later adjustments to color and light work with the cleanest possible image. For those who enjoy the metadata details or prefer a full 2K HD presentation, the images are available in my Flickr album here.

John Steiner.