The Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage

The Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage 2013-2019

Sponsored by Hawaiian Airlines

The Hawaiian name for this voyage, Mālama Honua, means “to care for our Earth.” Living on an island chain teaches us that our natural world is a gift with limits and that we must carefully steward this gift if we are to survive together. As we work to protect cultural and environmental resources for our children’s future, our Pacific voyaging traditions teach us to venture beyond the horizon to connect and learn with others. The Worldwide Voyage has been a means by which we now engage all of Island Earth—bridging traditional and new technologies to live sustainably, while sharing, learning, creating global relationships, and discovering the wonders of this precious place we all call home.

The Malama Honua sail plan included more than 150 ports, 18 nations, and eight of UNESCO’S Marine World Heritage sites, engaging local communities and practicing how to live sustainably. During the voyage, over 245 participating crew members, including more than 200 formal and informal educators, have helped to sail the vessel and connect with more than 100,000 people throughout the world in communities across the South Pacific, Tasman Sea, Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and the Caribbean Sea, including Samoa, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia, Indonesia, Mauritius, South Africa, Brazil, U.S. Virgin Islands, Cuba, the East Coast of the United States, Canada, Panama, and the Galapagos Islands.

Hōkūleʻa has voyaged traditionally since 1976, sailing over 150,000 nautical miles throughout the Pacific.  The Worldwide Voyage began in 2013 with a Mālama Hawaiʻi sail throughout our own archipelago, and continued on to circumnavigate the globe through 20142015, 2016 and 2017. June of 2017 marked her historic homecoming to Hawaiʻi capping the global portion of the voyage.

After returning to Hawaii in the fall of 2017, Hōkūle‘a and Hikianalia continued to sail around the Hawaiian Islands, a voyage known as the Māhalo, Hawaiʻi Sail, to reconnect with local communities and schools and to share stories and lessons learned on the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage. In 2018, crewmembers also embarked on the Alahula Kai o Maleka Hikianalia California Voyage which marked the final leg of the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage.

For each of the past and current legs of our current journey, you can click on any of the various legs below for crew lists, stories, videos, and blogs. Enjoy these stories from our sail for a sustainable future!

Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage: 3-minute overview video

Click here to learn more about the Mahalo, Hawaiʻi Sail