Hawaii is known for its beautiful beaches, sunsets, and wonderful marine life. This afternoon's photo walk combined all three of those! I flew into Kona airport on the Big Island. It is always such a wild sight to see the azure blue ocean crashing up against the jet black lava rocks that the airport is built right ontop of. After grabbing a rental car I had a few hours to spare before meeting my boat, so I did a bit of exploring.
Just north of the airport is a sign for Kekaha Kai State Beach. I didn't see the road on my rental map and I soon found out why. After a few hundred meters of pavement, the road turned into a crazy, offroad, lava rock filled path that looked like something out of a jeep commercial. However, I did see a car similar to mine coming out, so I intrepidly continued all the way to the parking area. It would turn out to be so worth it.
I could actually see several beaches, like oasis amongst the old lava flows, from my seat in the airplane as we came in for a landing. I wanted to check out each one. It turns out that their is a trail through the lava rocks to the North of Kekaha State beach that connects to the more isolated beaches, like Makalevena Beach. I had heard about this beach from some of my friends so I was eager to check it out.
All I can say is, 'wow.' The beaches themselves are beautiful. The palm trees lining the coastline are so iconic for this part of the world. The sunset was stunning. And a majestic sea turtle posed for closeups on one of the remote beaches I explored. It is amazing to think that all of this is lying in wait to be discovered just minutes from where all the tourists fly into the airport. Yet so many never get off the beaten path to see it.
One of my favorite all time turtle shots. Sometimes Hawaiian green sea turtles will haul out on the sand to rest and soak up the warmth.
Coming over the dune to one of the secluded beaches along the coast. I had to walk across long stretches of lava rock to get here.
This is right at the beginning at Kekaha State Beach park.
Gotta love the sunsets here in Hawaii.
Some natural framing gives a feeling of seclusion here on this isolated coastline.
And the view just keeps getting better.
Check out on pinmapple.com as well!
[//]:# (!pinmapple 19.790550 lat -156.030336 long Beauitful Makalawena Beach d3scr)
Happy Exploring,
Dai Mar
