A visit to the West Side of Hawaii Island

 

(Early morning view at the Marriot Waikoloa)

 

 

 

Where has the year gone already? It seems like I just got back from my Japan trip and celebrated Thanksgiving and now Xmas is just around the corner.  I always have these "How did the year go by so quickly" thoughts at this time of the year. Oh well, at least I'm enjoying it by visiting the west side of Hawaii Island at one of the nicer resorts with a beautiful sandy beach to relax and explore.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm up early and the light is gorgeous looking out from the balcony overlooking Anaehoʻomalu or A Bay as locals call this gorgeous stretch of skinny beach front. A large anchialine pond is on the other side of the bay used by early Hawaiians as a fish pond to grow a variety of local fish.

 

 

 

The resort at Waikoloa has preserved the ponds nicely and placed a variety of signage to explain the ancient Hawaiian's use of this area, various sea life found at the fish ponds and information about Waikoloa. Native plants, grasses are planted on the jagged lava rock areas around the ponds with the requisite but still nice coconut palm.

 

 

 

The morning light is just spectacular now and I have to take a few more photos while I'm also enjoying the wonderful vistas and soothing morning breezes along the trails.

 

 

There were already quite a few yoga people doing their morning sun breaths along with the joggers, quite a nice way to softly start the morning, don't you think?

The sand is cold and firm, unlike some of the soft and super sandy beaches in many parts of West Hawaii. No matter - its still a spectacular scenery and you can see the entire Mauna Kea mountain range in the background. I walk quite a distance along the shoreline to various coves and rocky beaches.

The blue, blue skies and ocean are really amazing this morning and I'm almost ready to jump into the water and go snorkeling, but I decide to take a longer walk along the shoreline and enjoy the views - hopefully I'll be able to spot some migrating humpback whales this morning, this is one of their favorite hang out spots very close to the shoreline.

 

 

The sailboats are loading up with tourists for their morning whale watching tours. Unfortunately, I was not able to spot any whales along the shoreline this morning. Still, it was a very pleasant hike enjoying the west side of the island - I'm always ready for some pampering at any of the resorts on this side of the island for a change of pace to the east side.