Koa Wood

Koa is a well loved Hawaiian wood that comes in two primary colors: a luminous honey-gold, and a darker reddish-brown. The lighter golden shades of koa are the most highly praised. The spectacular grain and unique attributes of golden koa create a lustrous, three-dimensional look that makes the wood appear to be lit from within.

Koa is known as the wood of kings; there was a time when only royalty were allowed to own it. The word koa means bold, brave, fearless, and the wood of the koa tree is said to bestow these qualities onto the owner. It is no wonder, then, why Koa wood was used by the Hawaiians to build their ocean-faring vessels; they felt that these qualities would be imbued in their canoes as well as in their sailors. The Hawaiian koa canoes became the Polynesian fleet, which navigated the Pacific Ocean a thousand years before Columbus sailed to the New World.

Koa wood is valued for its beauty, strength, and medicinal properties. Historically, it was used in the making of ocean-faring canoes, paddles, spears, and carvings (often sculpted images of gods). Today, Koa wood is used in the making of high-end furniture, instruments (especially guitars and ukuleles), canoes, carvings, bowls, and other specialty items.