Ahu'ena Heiau

Ahu'ena Heiau stands on the shore of Kamakahonu Bay in Kailua-Kona, on the island of Hawai'i, just across from Hulihe'e Palace. It was the personal temple of King Kamehameha the Great, who lived at Kamakahonu during his final years and ruled the newly unified Hawaiian Kingdom from here until his death in 1819, so the site essentially served as the kingdom's first capital. Later that year, the traditional kapu system was overturned at Kailua when his son, Kamehameha II, sat down to eat with women. The heiau standing today is a reconstruction, about one-third the size of the original, built with traditional materials and methods.

In 2010, CyArk documented three wahi pana ("places of significant meaning" in Hawaiian): Ahu'ena Heiau, Hulihe'e Palace and portions of Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park. Because the heiau is sacred, CyArk requested permission from multiple authorities before the work began and made an offering to the spirits of the wahi pana, affirming that the work would not take or damage anything. At the time of scanning, the heiau was being restored with ti leaves using fully traditional methods, which made it possible to capture the entire structure.