Mānana, Volcanic islet in Honolulu County, United States.
Mānana is a tuff cone with two vents or craters, rising to 361 ft (110 m) and measuring 2,319 ft (707 m) long by 2,147 ft (654 m) wide, covering about 63 acres (25 ha). Its only sand beach is a small storm beach on the west to south-west leeward side, about 30 ft (9.1 m) wide, curving to the western side. The islet lies 0.75 mi (1.21 km) off Kaupō Beach near Makapuʻu, with the smaller volcanic islet Kāohikaipu right next to it.
John Adams Cummins established a rabbit colony on Mānana in the 1880s while running the nearby Waimānalo plantation. The rabbits were eradicated about a century later because they were destroying the native ecosystem of this seabird breeding area.
The name Mānana means "buoyant" in Hawaiian, while people here call it Rabbit Island because of how it looks from the shore.
You can see and photograph the islet from the mainland, but landing requires permission from the state authorities to protect resident wildlife. It's best to view it from a distance using binoculars or from a guided boat tour.
Mānana is a State Seabird Sanctuary whose breeding population includes about 80,000 sooty terns, over 10,000 wedge-tailed shearwaters and 20,000 brown noddies, plus a few Bulwer's petrels and red-tailed tropicbirds. Hawaiian monk seals also haul out on its shores.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,615 contributors worldwide.