After 20 years, the popular Kauai site, Makauwahi Cave Reserve, closed last month.
Makauwahi Cave Reserve is the largest limestone cave in Hawaii and has
preserved over 10,000 years of sedimentary history. Its ceiling
collapsed 7,000 years ago, giving it an open ceiling. David Burney and his wife, Lida Pigott Burney, founded the reserve in 2004, and they and their staff have since reintroduced thousands of
native and Polynesian plants to the reserve. They also opened a tortoise
sanctuary on the site, which they have also closed, and maintained an interpretive
trail on the south shore coastline.
The Burneys said they and are closing it due to financial reasons. With the closing, the property has been returned back to the landowner Grove Farm Co., which is owned by AOL co-founder Stephen Case.
"Uncertainty over Grove Farm's future plans for the property prompted the company's officials to tell the Burneys and their staff that no more grant-funding can be sought because the company did not wish to have any 'encumbrances' on the property," the Burneys said in a statement.