Tag Archives: On The Coast

Surfing at Keokea

People surfing off of Keakea Beach Park Hawaii

Last week, I went out to Keokea Beach Park for the first time in quite a while. It’s a scenic little park, with a breakwater protecting a shallow area where kids can get in the water safely, a rarity on this stretch of coast.

People surfing off of Keakea Beach Park Hawaii
People surfing off of Keakea Beach Park Hawaii
People surfing off of Keakea Beach Park Hawaii

Outside the breakwater, waves rolling in from the northeast had lured some surfers into the water. It looked a little hairy, riding those waves, apparently headed for the rocks. But the surfers were angling across the waves, from right to left as I looked at them, and so were pretty safe unless they made a major mistake. Those who did end up in the water were dismounting rather than wiping out.

People surfing off of Keakea Beach Park Hawaii
People surfing off of Keakea Beach Park Hawaii

Spencer Beach Park from the air

Spencer Beach Park in Hawaii from the air

Spencer Beach Park is a place I visit fairly often. Recently, I had the opportunity to fly to Maui and, while I was in the air, took the usual plethora of photos. Some of these were of the park.

The top photo shows the park with its sandy beach, surrounding trees, and calm blue waters offshore. It also shows how close the recent brush fires came to the park. The building on the left side of the photo is the visitor center for Pu’ukohola Heiau National Historic Site, which adjoins the site.

In the bottom photo, Spencer is at the lower left. To the right is Mauna Kea resort, which did suffer some damage in the fires. Mauna Kea Volcano provides the backdrop.

Spencer Beach Park and Mauna Kea fire area from the air

A bevy of bridges

A bridge over an inlet on the coast in Hawaii

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Bridges.’ See more responses here.

The top image is an elegant bridge on the coast, in the Hilton Resort at Waikoloa. It spans an inlet from the ocean into a lagoon. This bridge is part of the coast path, which is open for anyone to walk.

A bridge over a gulch in North Kohala, Hawaii
A bridge over a gulch in North Kohala, Hawaii
A bridge over a gulch in North Kohala, Hawaii

The Big Island’s main use of bridges is to span the numerous gullies that run from the mountains down to the ocean. On the east side, some of these bridges are quite long and high, with vertigo-inducing views over the edge. These three bridges cross gullies in North Kohala on the winding road from Kapaau to Pololu. The third has several houses nearby, so a walkway has been added. This is surely safer than walking on the road, though not by much judging from its appearance!

Two anoles meet on a wire in Hawaii
A green anole hangs onto a line.

Finally, bridges of a different kind. Anoles and geckos use lines, attached to the house, to get around. Sometimes these one-lane bridges lead to encounters with fellow travelers. In this case the smaller anole leapt off into the cane grass, but that was its intended destination anyway. In the second photo, this anole was using the washing line to bridge the space from the house to a hedge.

After the fire

Land burned by a brush fire near Spencer Beach Park, Hawaii

A few days ago, I headed out on the trail from Spencer Beach Park to Mau’umae Beach Beach. I was curious to see how far last month’s brush fire, that burned near Mauna Kea Resort, had reached down by the ocean. A hundred yards into the walk the answer became clear. It reached the shore. Spencer Beach Park was untouched, but the woods on the edge of the park are one tree deep in places.

Land burned by a brush fire near Spencer Beach Park, Hawaii

I walked back to Spencer on the service road, a quarter mile inland. The power line ran along the ground or was draped in blackened trees. There was a clump of poles and other supplies in one spot, ready for restoring service.

Powerline down following a brush fire near Spencer Beach Park, Hawaii
Power poles and other supplies waiting to be used after a brush fire in Hawaii
A high voltage sign on lumber being used after a fire in Hawaii

The vehicle access road to Mau’umae Beach beach is closed now, as two small wooden bridges were destroyed in the fire. Currently, and for the foreseeable future, the only access to the beach will be along the coast trail from Spencer. It’s only a 15 minute walk, but that’s often enough to discourage people from going there.

A view towards Mau’umae Beach after a brush fire in Hawaii

Tree down

A tree blown over in Hawaii

Since the big windstorm of a few weeks ago, I’ve seen a number of Kiawe trees looking like this, on their sides with a disc of roots and dirt exposed. They’ll get cut up and probably used for smoke meat, but it will take a while to clear all of them. This one was below the trail at Pu’ukohola Heiau National Historic Site in Kawaihae.