Hawaii - Part 3

Our final few days were spent in the Kona area.  For the entire month of February, Dad was renting a condo in Waikoloa Village and had spent the two weeks before I got there finding the more remote sights and beaches in that vicinity.  I got to reap the benefits of his reconnaissance work before heading home.

On the first beach day, we hiked about 45 minutes to a beach that could only otherwise be reached via a burly 4-wheel drive road.  Consequently, there were only a few people there.  The next day we hiked to a couple pools that Dad had discovered a couple weeks before.  The first was filled with amazingly clear water and all the rocks in it were covered with gold algae - giving the pool a wicked cool gold-algae-in-the-middle-of-an-oasis look.  You know what I'm talking about.

Dad taking a golden bath - that almost sounds dirty

Later that day we got on the mega-tourist trail and found ourselves at Mauna Kea Beach.  This fit all of my stereotypes of Hawaii and had some excellent boogie boarding waves.  At one point I nearly got to use my WFR skills when a man was pulled from the water after sustaining a head/neck injury.

Mauna Kea Beach and Resort

Then there was the tsunami.  Since we were staying 6 miles from the coast and up over 2,000 feet in elevation, we were plenty safe.  However, we couldn't execute our plans as the coastal areas on all the islands were evacuated due to the perceived tsunami threat.  We spent most of the day sitting in the condo, watching the news as the tide rapidly went up and down as if it were possessed.  Several hours of this was enough to make us want to go out and play golf, so we did.

On our last day, Dad took me to see the Green Turtles.  These critters were amazing.  Amazingly lazy.

The name of these guys seemed to be a bit of a misnomer.  They really don't look that green.  If I got to name 'em, I'd call 'em Black and Tan Turtles.

The entire time we were hanging out at the bay watching the turtles, the tide was still fluctuating like it did the day before due to the tsunami.  Kinda creepy.  After bugging the crap out of the turtles, which were trying to sleep (that's why they go onto land) and probably a bit freaked out by the possessed tidal surges, we spent the last bit of time we had at Hapuna Beach State Park.  This was the largest beach on the island and a classic way to end the trip.  Too bad the waves were all screwed up by the tsunami effects to be any good for boogie boarding.