Kekaha Kai State Park

Kekaha Kai State Park, formerly known as Kona Coast State Park, is a located along the North Kona coast on the island of Hawaii. It includes Mahaiʻula Beach, Makalawena Beach and Kua Bay. The name comes from ke kaha kai which means “the shore line” in the Hawaiian language.

The first obstacle to overcome is getting to the first beach – Mahaiʻula Beach. It is clearly marked from the highway but they neglect to tell you that it is a 4wd road over the lava rock. I considered it and decided that the Nissan Versa rental car did have 4 wheels, so I strapped on a pair and went for it. A few miles of teeth chattering I arrived at the parking lot – filled with other Nissan Versa’s – where I unpacked and set out on the short hike to Mahaiʻula Beach.

Mahaiʻula Beach would, should be more popular, but the poor road keeps it somewhat less used than other beaches of this scale. Although small, it has a unique feature in that the beach is very steep, so the waves come in fast and strong. I was tempted to dive right in but chose not to risk injury on my first big-wave beach… you know, since I am still recuperating from my recent bone breaks. After a few pictures, I moved on.

A few miles North is the Kua Bay area of the park, not that I would know that since no sign existed on the highway. I just happened to turn down an unmarked street and got lucky. Apparently I must have missed that memo as everyone else in the state knew where to go for another great big-wave beach, and this one had an asphalt road leading all the way too it. It was packed…

I took a little longer with the photo’s on this beach as there was ample activity and bikini clad hotties to keep my attention. I did what I could to keep the camera pointed at the water, not the T&A all around. As you can see, I was far from being the only “spectator” on the beach.