From Waikoloa Around the Southern Most Point

June 24, 2010

We finished up at the Marriott Waikoloa with a morning snorkel looking for turtles. On the way to the beach we came across a pair of Saffron Finches on the lawn.

We found the turtles but in water that was too shallow and cloudy to snorkel.

What we did see was a trigger fish (humuhumu et cetera et cetera) with a pattern different from the ones on Maui. we also found a purple polka dotted puffer fish.

We headed south from Wailoloa, stopping to take a picture with Haleakala on Maui 80 miles away in the background. Our first stop was the quilt shop in Kona. Then we found Kona Brewing Co. and had lunch there. From there we drove through Kona and down the west coast of the Big Island, taking in the views from the road sometimes 1000 feet above the water.

One of the viewpoints was from the Coffee Shack where we stopped for a cappuccino and latte and got to see the resident Gecko eating from a dish.

We rounded the southern end of the island and arrived in Naalehu, the southernmost town in the United States, at 19° 3.8' North Latitude. We stopped in the local bakery, (the southernmost bakery of course) for a snack and communed with the local bird life, a yellow billed cardinal.

Continuing on the same road but now heading north instead of south since we rounded the southern end of Hawaii, we came upon Punalu'u Beach State Park. Known for its black sand beach and turtles.

The sand was black, the surf was high and impressive and there was one turtle on the beach. Unfortunately some inconsiderate (and apparently uninformed) tourists crowded around the resting turtle and he said "I'm outta here" and crawled into the water.

While we were there three life guard types showed up in a hurry and one launched off the beach into the surf on a surfboard and was patrolling back and forth in the waves. Then a helicopter showed up and landed and sat with the rotors turning and engine running. Suddenly two zodiac type fishing boats appeared around the end of the rocky point at the end of the beach. It appeared that one was out of gas and was being towed by the other one through the surf to get to the beach. The unpowered boat was at times going through the surf broadside, but fortunately never capsized. After a somewhat wild ride they made it into the relative shelter of the bay and all the rescue people departed. I guess they had radioed for help. The guy who paddled out into the waves on the board impressed me the most.