J and K Adventures

Saturday, March 3, 2018

Kailua-Kona: Excursions going North

After we got groceries, unpacked and settled in, we decided to prioritize spending time at the ocean. The condo owner left a wonderful book called "The Big Island Revealed" that gave detailed directions and information about every beach and snorkeling spot. We followed the book and went north through the lava fields, past the airport and past most of the resorts on the Kohala coast. Our first stop was the furthest away, about 30 miles away from Kona. Hapuna Beach is regularly voted one of the most beautiful beaches in the US and we couldn't argue. A long white sand beach with lifeguards, showers, water and picnic tables greeted us.

The gorgeous white sand of Hapuna Beach in Kohala HI

Big smile

View

Looking North

First view of the Beach looking south

South Hapuna Beach

Ready to swim. I happily swam in the ocean almost every day.

Headed for the waves

AND, the inevitable Asian with selfie stick.

Next we went to a beach called "A" Beach. It has a long Hawaiian name starting with the letter A, but it is unpronounceable. Anyway, This beach was in front of a fresh water fish pond which the ancient Hawaiians used to raise fish for the royalty. There was also a big resort there. To the right of the beach, some rocks were good for snorkeling. Adding to the beauty was the bright blue sky that followed a huge rain/thunder storm the night before.

Looking across the lava to the sea

The volcano that spewed the lava

Looking all the way to Haleakala on Maui

Ready for more beaches

"A" Beach snorkeling area

"A" Beach looking north toward the resort

The boat I swam to twice.

J goes snorkeling

I shot these with the water camera while swimming

My goal

The beach and volcano behind it (wreathed in clouds)

A family of paddle-boarders

Wet and happy!

Our next beach adventure was to Beach 69, so designated because it used to be behind telephone pole #69. It's also called Waiamea Beach. It was just south of Hapuna Beach, in fact you had to drive through the Hapuna parking lot to get to the road. This beach had lots of trees and rocks and the waves breaking over the shore was a booming concert of sound. It was very laid back and peaceful.

Beach 69

Lots of rocks on the north end

And crashing waves

Our spot under the trees


Little kids collecting shells and boogie boarding.		It was much calmer on the south end of the beach

Selfie before swimming

AND....the inevitable Asians taking selfies

The last beach we visited on the shore North of Kona was Kua Bay Beach. This spot was the closest to Kona and our condo and we visited it twice. To get to the beach we had to walk down a trail and over lava and it was a balancing challenge, but well worth the effort. This beach was perfect for boogie boarding and swimming out past the surf. The shore slopped away gradually. We even saw spouting and breeching humpback whales off-shore!

Kua Bay. Perfect waves

And that gorgeous color

Jeff is ready to Boogie Board. So much fun!

Lots of swimmers and boogie boarders.

The next posting will be of the beaches and attractions we visited driving south from Kona.

Kailua-Kona Hawaii: A tale of two Condos

Jeff and I spent the time after we returned to Springfield from Arizona recovering from the flu (and Jeff from pneumonia) and catching up on chores. Before we knew it, it was February 13th and we were on our way to Portland for the night before take-off But fate put a bump in the way of a smooth departure. The trouble light in our little car started flashing and it almost stopped running. We parked it at the Clarion Hotel and Jeff jumped into action. He called AAA and with some negotiations and a lot of phone calls, arranged to have the car towed to a Ford dealership for repair while we were gone. There went the excursion budget! Guess we'll have to snorkel with the Manta Rays and go parasailing next time.

Luckily the rest of the journey went smoothly as we flew from PDX to SFO and then to Kona. I was surprised that the airport was in the middle of a lava field. We got talked into choosing a 4-wheel-drive jeep Renegade for our rental car and headed for the condo.

You may remember that our condo in Arizona was almost perfect. The Kailua Shores was not so much. Positives were a great location in the middle of the most touristy area of Kona, a nice view (through trees and over a church) of the shore, a comfortable bed, reasonably clean and enough space and storage.

Negatives were too many to name, but primarily, it was extremely noisy. Located next to a major street and just a block away from Alii drive, the main tourist street, it was a constant blast of noise from trucks, motorcycles and loud car exhausts. Combine that with the church bells, blowers and mowers, car alarms, a two-day drumming festival (not kidding) and chopping down and grinding up of trees (also not kidding) and we were eager to leave whenever we could. It might have been tolerable if we could close the doors and windows, but the condo had no air conditioning so the windows and doors were always open when we were there. (Luckily the weather, although cloudy, was warm and balmy and never really too hot or humid).

We are nothing if not adaptable though. It was reasonably quiet in the morning and evening, so that's when we spent time there. We could even hear the waves at night. During the day we explored both north and south of the Western side of the big island. It also helped that friends and family were sending pictures of snow, ice and rain that made us grateful to be in Hawaii, noisy but warm!