Our February 2014 visit to Hawaii continued with a day at the Mahai'ula section of Kekaha Kai State Park. The park is located about 2.5 miles north of Keahole Airport in Kailua-Kona. Access to the beach is by way of a once paved 1.5 mile track across lava to a graded parking area. Signs that advise motorists to "Drive Carefully Unimproved Road Ahead" are not kidding. The road ends near the beach south of Mahai'ula Bay. A parking area and wheelchair accessible vault toilets have been built there. In addition, a network of sidewalks provides access to several picnic tables and the beach. To reach the beach at Mahai'ula Bay requires either walking along the soft sand and across the lava flows or parking at a smaller parking area a few hundred feet from the end of the road and hiking down a gated lava road. The lava road is an easier and quicker walk, but not as scenic.
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| Picnic tables |
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| A lone tree grows next to driftwood |
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| The beach is alternating lava and sand |
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| Green sea turtles bask in the sun beside the bay |
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| Surfers hone their skills at the northern edge of the bay |
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| Waves crash against the rocks at the northern edge of the bay |
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| The beach abruptly ends at a lava field |
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| These buildings are in disrepair and have been posted as off limits to visitors |
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| Lava rocks have been stacked to make a fence |
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| An old water tower stands at the north end of the bay |
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| Mahai'ulu Bay is not very large |
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| The lava field acts as a partial breakwater for the bay |
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| In the constant battle between land and sea, the sea always wins in the end |
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| A wave crashes against the lava shore at the southern end of the bay |
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| Another wave comes ashore |
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| A very small arch has formed in the lava |
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| A wave crashes through the arch... |
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| ...before draining back to the ocean |
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| Looking north across the bay toward the water tower under the palm trees |
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| Another wave crashes against the rocky shore... |
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| ...and flows back into the bay |
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| The white sandy beach glows with the setting sun |
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| The beach is fairly steep |
Waves on the sandy beach
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| A tree grows in the sand just above the normal high tide |
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| The sun sinks low in the sky |
Golden light
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| Sunset is quick and twilight is fleeting in Hawaii |
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| The lava flow paths are easy to discern decades after the eruption is over |
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| The lava road providing pedestrian access to the bay |
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| A very distinct boundary between the lava and the sand |
The park website is http://www.hawaiistateparks.org/parks/hawaii/index.cfm?park_id=47.
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