Three 'M"-beaches. Stunning Hidden Gems of the Kona Coast

This is Makalawena Beach.  It could be on Bermuda, with the pink highlights to this pure coral sand beach.  To get to this world-class undeveloped, secluded oasis you either drive two miles on a rugged track that only 4x4's with maximum clearance can negotiate, then walk half a mile; or you drive 1.2 miles on a rugged, rocky dirt road that 2-wheel drive vehicles can negotiate if you have the guts, and then park and walk a mile.

It's the classic "no pain-no gain" beach.  The reward is *so* worth the effort it takes to get there. 

I'm calling Makalawena our M-1 beach for this report, and it's in the middle of a long hike over remote lava fields and rocky beaches including jagged lava flows, wave-smoothed black lava boulders, and loose white coral rocks.  I even met 'coral man' along the way.

The hike continues past some algae-filled spring-fed lagoons, which the ancient Polynesians tapped for drinking water.

M-2 is Manini'owali Beach.  It has paved road access and the parking area overflows every afternoon.  The first view, below, is taken looking south with the hill called Pu'u Ku'ili poking up in the background.

I climbed that too, and here's the view back toward M-2, with extinct Kohala Volcano, the oldest of the Big Island's five volcanic summits, in the distant background.

Here's another view of the side hill trail on Pu'u Ku'ili, with the neighboring Island of Maui's main summit, Haleakala, looming in the distance.

Here's the view of M-2, this from the other end, with Kohala behind.

It's a nice beach, but too crowded for me.  Nevertheless, it's the beach where angels come to practice playing their harps.

On the way from M-2 to our M-1 paradise, the hike traverses shoreline of the sprawling Kekaha Kai State Park, which has limited development so far, but big plans.  There are other 'beachy' areas with nice views along the way, but these are stone-pebble beaches with strong surf--great views but not great for swimming.

So next we'll move on to M-3.  This is Mahai'ula Beach, accessible at the end of the rugged unimproved 2-wheel drive route.  They're building a nice bath house here, and I assume there are plans to pave the road eventually.

Now, to get from M-3 to M-1 you hike some rugged coastal lava where there isn't much trail in places, though the route is still part of the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail.  One part of the ancient trail had been widened for vehicle 4x4 traffic at one time, though it's now only for foot traffic.  Here's a look at a bit of that, looking south on the approach to the M-3 beach.

In the other direction, this rugged rocky trail runs for 6/10 mile before you emerge at the magnificent secluded Nirvana of Makalawena Beach.  Here is the first view of that beach looking north as you emerge from the lava trail.  In the background you can see Pu'u Ku'ili peeking above the far end of the beach, nestled between Kohola on the horizon at left, and Mauna Kea in a wreath of cloud at right.

And so we've come full circle in our description of this five mile stretch of Big Island shoreline.  Here's an interactive map of the GPS Track for most of this section.  You can zoom in at will to get a close-up of the beaches and rugged lava crossings to reach them.

Powered by Wikiloc

My love affair with this coast has only intensified as I continue to hike the Ala Kahakai route south toward Kona.  I only have a few more hikes to go and I'll arrive at Ali'i Drive and the tourist mecca of Kailua-Kona.  Watch for these reports, which will be forthcoming after Tropical Storm Olivia clears the area.

The Shoreline Trail - More History, more luxury pit stops per mile than any other trail in the world.

Smooth lava stones from the beach set in place hundreds of years ago as stepping stones for barefoot Polynesian travelers.  Mauna Kea is in the background, its summit hidden by cloud.

I continue extending my walk along the continuous Shoreline Trail of western Hawaii Island.  The title of this post says it all.  It passes multiple ultra luxury resorts with shore-side bars and restaurants.  It sends the hiker across countless world class beaches, and it connects these with centuries old footpath past fresh-water ponds, through rugged sun baked lava fields, above precarious high cliffs with sea arches and crashing surf, past exotic pre-historic petroglyphs and foundations of sacred altars and Polynesian fishing villages.

Bottom line:  The Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail surely has the greatest concentration of 'points of interest' of any trail in the world.

This report covers two more short hikes extending the continuous route southward from previous reports.  These hikes took me from Kiholo Bay where Kamehameha I constructed a gigantic fish pond, destroyed by a lava flow in 1859.

through the gated Four Seasons Hualalai Resort, with more than a mile of concrete path along the shoreline past luxury villas, seaside restaurants, and a golf course

to Kikaua Point State Park where the public can lounge on a little shady shoreline patch of lush grass just feet from the surf with panoramic views of the most gorgeous shoreline anywhere.

Along these few miles of coastal trail, I ran across an ancient game-board, called a Papamu, cut in the lava bedrock. 

This 8 x 8 'board' was for playing the game of Konane, kind of like checkers, played using white and black pebbles, and sometimes played as a life-and-death duel in place of warfare.  The loser lost his life.

I also passed a replica carving of the war-god Ku. 

He seems to be the most popular totem for tourist consumption, but Kuka'ilimoku (his full name) was a very complex God.  Beside being 'Ku the supreme one' and 'Ku of the maggot-dropping mouth' and 'Ku the land snatcher', he was also 'Ku the supporter', 'Ku pulling together the earth', and Ku of farming, Ku of the deep forest, and Ku adzing out the canoe, etc.

Other sights along this segment include another excellent sea-arch,

a sun-bleached skull of the ubiquitous feral goat set on the crumbling wall of an ancient dwelling,

and countless little puddles where Ku and his cohorts were naturally manufacturing pure Hawaiian sea salt.

As with all of this amazing trail, the walk was magical.  Never a dull moment.

Then back near home I had a chance to indulge my fascination with specimen trees.

This is one of the most awesome I've seen anywhere.  It is Albizia saman, called simply 'saman' or 'rain tree' or 'monkey pod'.  It is native to the tropical new world, and its spreading habit is even better than the live oak.

It seems to defy gravity

This one is distinctive because it is set in the nicest, best-kept cemetery I've ever seen, the Alae Cemetery north of Hilo, with a wonderful ocean view overlooking Hilo Bay.

Where to next?  Well, I have more of the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail to do.  Stay tuned.

Back in the Saddle - Third time's the charm

I've discovered that the Pu'u 'O'o Trail, at about 6000 feet elevation, located in the 'saddle' region between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, is my favorite place to hike on the Big Island.  Except for a tendency for unpredictable rain and mist to threaten the area at almost any time, it's just about ideal.  Temperature is perfect for hiking, and the setting varies from stark, barren lava to deep lush rainforest.  In places that change happens in just a few steps - see the headline photo above and note the forest in the near background at left.  So with several variations in between the two extremes, there's very little opportunity for boredom.

After two previous visits to this trail that were hampered by rain and fog, I returned today because the weather was about as clear as it gets.  This meant views of the nearly 14,000 foot summits that this venue straddles, and bright sunshine for viewing everything else.  The ubiquitous blossoms of the ohia tree, for example, practically glow with their particular shade of intense red.  Here's one with Mauna Loa as its backdrop and nothing but lava and smaller ohia trees in between.

Ohia is one of the pioneer species on new lava, and since the big island is continuously being re-surfaced with new lava, it is perfectly adapted.

I got an early start to take full advantage of the sun, before its heating began to stir up clouds; and that meant hiking amid the heavy dew--one source for the moisture that would make those clouds.

Besides the Ohia, the other distinctively Hawaiian pioneer species on lava include Uluhe, the Old World Forked Fern, which behaves more like a climbing vine than a fern,

and a fern that behaves more like a tree--the Hapu'u 'i'i, which can get upwards of 20 feet tall, and whose giant fronds unfurl leaflet-by-leaflet in an amazing choreographed ballet.

On raw lava, these Hawaiian tree ferns take on miniature form

But in the older forest--patches that were spared by the flow of new lava--they reach their full glory.  Here is one shown in the shadow of a massive old tree, which I haven't yet identified.

Clouds did roll in by late morning as the breezes began to stir, though they were benign and shallow and not posing any rain threat.  All they threatened to do was to close down the 'Big Sky' that made views like this so impressive.

Mountain weather is almost universally best before 10AM.  I had captured all my good photos by then and just enjoyed the cool breezes as I strolled back to my car.

Next up - more hiking along the North Kona Coast, as I extend the length of continuous trail I'm discovering there.

Pololu and Waipio - the Big Island's most dramatic coast

Surfer studies the waves at Waipio Valley

Weather has turned nice so I took advantage of it to do two of the most popular short hikes on the island, one on either side of the rugged north coast of Kohala Volcano.  The sheer sea-cliffs on this part of the island are a result of a massive landslide that happened a quarter of a million years ago or so.  The same thing happened on the north coasts of Molokai and Kauai producing equally inaccessible coastal cliffs.

The views are spectacular.

Looking over the Waipio Valley Overlook

Pololu beach and the rugged cliffs and islands beyond as seen from the trail on the way down from the overlook parking area.

Close-ups show numerous waterfalls cascading off the cliffs, still draining the deluge of rain from Hurricane Lane.

The valleys themselves are serene settings where thriving Polynesian settlements once existed, where the inhabitants lived off fish from the sea and taro from the lush fertile lowland soil.

Waipio stream, looking up the valley

Pololu Valley

It used to be possible to hike the entire distance along the coast between these two valleys, but landslides have closed this continuous trail.  What I did were fairly short out-and-back hikes on each end, and since both hikes were fairly short, I had a chance to visit two state parks with nice loop trails.

On the Waipio side, up at about 2200 feet in elevation, is the seldom-visited Kalopa State Park, which is a forest reserve.  The forest trails were pleasant and cool compared to the lower elevations, and the things that caught my eye were mostly the little things:

Along the Kohala Coast west of Pololu Valley is Lapakahi State Historical Park where one can almost feel the ghosts of this fishing village going about their daily routines.

In the next report I return to my favorite hiking area--the Saddle between the two big mountains.  Coming soon.