Hangin' in Kona

I'm visiting Kona for the first time in over 3 years. Weather's perfect, pace moderate...not really slow, but not bad. As usual, I patrol the beaches north of town when here. This was my first visit to this one. It used to be called Kua Bay, and as late as 2006 it was accessible only by a rough dirt road. Now it's part of a state park, the access road has been paved, and the beach is called Manini'owali. It's much busier than it used to be, but it's certainly a beautiful spot.

I'm staying at the Kona Bali Kai, a moderately priced condo complex right smack on the water.

This is my fourth or fifth time here...great location. The surf is only about 50 feet from my lanai! The sunsets are gorgeous and you can watch the surfies. It's a fine place.

The morning light here is also beautiful.

This pic shows Makalawena Beach. Though it's only about 3 miles north of the airport, the access to it is still dicey...a very bad 2 wheel drive road, then a trail over jagged a'a lava, or an even worse 4 wheel drive road. This, it's still rather uncrowded. I set up at my usual slotation spot under an ironwood tree and lazed the day away, reading a fine travel book by Paul Theroux...good literature for such a locale.

This pond is just a few yards mauka from Makalawena. It's a Hawaiian phenomenon! Fresh water flows for miles down the mountain, thru the lava field, and surfaces and merges with seawater a very short distance from the ocean...only about 100 yards in this case. The water is about 75 degrees...very refreshing on a hot day! There are little fishes swimming about. It's a grand place to sloat in and cool off after a day at the beach.