While I had been to this park a few times before, knowing it was expected that one treat the grounds as sacred, I had never ventured quite as far into the park as I did this time. Researchers were studying the freshwater ponds that had been created, which makes sense for the indigenous populations that lived here as a place to store fish near this ocean spot, a woman weaving traditionally and explaining to visitors her process. Shea did not wish to be photographed here, although he might be in the background of a video.
After leaving the park, in other parts of Hōnaunau Bay we got to enjoy an accessible beach where people were snorkeling. We didn’t see a place to rent equipment so I just went in for a dip while Shea read on the beach. Between the cultural center and the beach, near the parking lot, I took a picture of some of the wild goats.
I have mixed feelings about wanting to have my picture taken with a trained dolphin. Here is Shea watching the captive dolphins eat at the Hilton resort we walked around:
Here are wild dolphins from the shore with people in canoes.
This wasn’t Shea’s favorite kind of sand, but I still found it intriguing and comfortable, even though I didn’t go in the water in part for fear of jagged volcanic rocks cutting up my toes again. You can see Maui in the background and there was barely anyone here. I’m not sure if this beach has a name nor would I know how to get back to it because it had such a hidden road to turn off from the main belt highway, but there is a campground. No one was really on the beach while we were there though.
After frustration with the black sand beach, we stumbled upon Manini’owali Beach. I called it the “Trump” beach since “manini” in Italian means “small hands.” Kua Bay is gorgeous, although it looks like nothing but lava fields from the main road. Shea kept on saying how this sand must have been “imported.” Far more likely the sand is just different based on the geological conditions. The sand was fine and we had a lot of fun in the waves. They had outdoor showers and nice bathrooms. We got there early afternoon, so we got great parking too.
Two very cool parts of the gardens touch the shore, which we got to explore. For the rainiest place in the world, we were lucky it was only overcast and did not rain at all while we visited. Here is a compilation of much of our visit in one video:
We took the scenic route closer to the shore down to the Botanical Gardens. We came across this quaint little bridge where people were jumping into the water and horses came by. I’m glad we got out of the car to check it out and take some pictures.
Before heading to Waipio though, we had to go to Tex Drive-In to get malasadas. I always travel far and wide when on the Big Island to have at least one meal here.
We had time before sunset to pull over and enjoy the lookout between Waikoloa, where we were staying, and a spot in Kona that I knew I wanted to get to before the sun descended on the horizon.
