Friday, March 19, 2010

Holei Sea Arch, Papakolea beach & Ka Lae

After we left Volcano National Park, we went to Holei (small native Hawai'ian tree) Sea Arch. The Sea Arch is located at the end of Chain of Craters Road. Holei Sea Arch
Looking down over the edge
(very daring of me to take a shot like this)

Doug & me
One has to be careful around unstable cliffs



I shouldn't make fun and may get a comment telling me so. The winds blow so hard here that trees nearly lay sideways. They take advantage of the wind with a wind farm. The cliffs are eighty to ninety feet high but waves reportedly come over the edge of the cliffs at times.
"the hole"


We witnessed a couple of local geologists jumping into the hole. The waves come up and then go down and that is when they jumped. You can climb back out or they said you could swim under water a short distance and come out at the edge of the cliff wall. Despite just getting married the day before, Doug's son had to jump. We tried to tell him it wouldn't be cool if he widowed his bride the day after the wedding. Tyler ready to jump off at Ka Lae South Point
Papakolea Beach circled by Pu'umahana
(a cinder cone formed 49,000 years ago)

One of two green sand beaches in the world. The green sand is crushed olivine, a green semi-precious mineral found in eruptive rocks and meteorites.
To reach Papakolea beach, one has to hike for two hours across dry, sandy, rutted roads. Or, you can take a four-wheel drive like we did. We packed seven into a jeep. I sat on Doug's lap in the front seat. We had four in the back seat. It was a lot of fun. It took us close to an hour to reach the beach and then we had to park and hike down. With the exception of maybe six other people, we had the place to ourselves. Needless to say, the journey to Papkolea isn't for the faint of heart. There are no facilities, no water, nothing. But the lure is undeniable.
Our crew at the beach
Doug & me

2 comments:

Together We Save said...

Wow- these pictures are amazing!!

Pam said...

Looks like great fun! I loved the huge waves there and the amazing breezes all the time. Great photots!

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