My family and I arrived in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii yesterday afternoon for a little summer vacation. YAY! I keep pinching myself as I can’t even believe I am really here!!! Anyway, during the flight I made a list of a few places to stalk while in Hawaii. But today I thought I’d do a post on one of the most famous movies ever filmed on the Big Island – Waterworld. When I was a little girl my family spent every summer vacationing in Kona and I was actually here in the summer of 1994, the year Waterworld was filmed. I was quite the little stalker even back then and I dragged both of my parents down to Kawaihae Harbor during filming to see the Waterworld set in person. 🙂 The atoll set was extremely odd looking and I remember thinking “What the heck is this movie going to be about??” Weird as the set was, it was still very cool to see be there to see it in person. And since Hawaii is such a laid back place, even when a movie is being filmed, pretty much anyone could walk right up to the set and snap some pictures. The pic above is one my dad took that summer in 1994.
The town of Kona was pretty much all abuzz with excitement over the filming that summer. The producers of Waterworld even chose to use numerous locals both behind the scenes and in front of the camera during filming. One of our family friends, Harry, portrayed one of the “Smokers” in the movie, and, knowing what a little stalker I was, snapped some pics of himself on the set to give to me. 🙂 Harry also gave me one of the bullets from the inside of the bullet belt he wore around his neck during filming.
Because Waterworld was filmed over 14 years ago, the set is, of course, long gone. Rumor has it that part of the atoll was actually sunk during the filming of the movie, and that producers simply left it at the bottom of the ocean despite demands from the city to retrieve it. Perhaps I need to do some underwater stalking this summer and take a little scuba diving recognisance mission to see if the sunken set is still there. 🙂 While you can no longer see the set above sea level, you can still visit the harbor where the movie was filmed. It is not too far from downtown Kailua Kona.
Remnants of the filming can still be found around Kona, though, even 14 years later. There is a picture of Kevin Costner prominently displayed to this day on the wall at Drysdale’s Two Restaurant in Kona. Apparently several Drysdale waitresses were slightly obsessed with Mr. Costner and would go down to the Harbor to watch filming every day dressed in their Drysdale’s uniforms. One day they were lucky enough to get a picture with Kevin, which they later had him autograph, and then displayed on the wall. Drysdale’s restaurant used to be owned by baseball great Don Drysdale. Rumor has it his wife got the restaurant in their divorce settlement, though, and I believe she still owns it to this day. Drysdale’s is defintely a Kona staple and I highly recommend stalking it, even if you are not a Kevin Costner or a Don Drysdale fan.
Until next time, Aloha and Happy Stalking! 🙂
Stalk It: To reach Kawaihae Harbor from Kailua-Kona, take Highway 19 north until it turns into Highway 270, past Puukohola Heiau National Historic Site. The Harbor will be on the left hand side. Drysdale’s Two Restaurant is located at 78-6831 Alii Drive in Kailua Kona. Be sure to order their saimen and the Fowl Ball sandwich – two of my favorites!!! 🙂