Day 10 Big Island – Sunset on Mauna Kea & Star Gazing

August 1, 2022

Today, we're heading to the beach first. After breakfast in the morning, we start driving north, past the airport, and shortly after that, we turn left onto the dirt road to Kekaha Kai State Beach. There's already a Ford SUV struggling on the rocky road ahead of us, so we follow closely behind. It's quite bumpy, but we manage to cross the lava fields with landing planes in the background and reach the parking lot. I had seen this road from the plane. Originally, we planned to continue to Mahai'ula Beach or even Makalawena Beach, but the road leading to the first beach is closed off with a barrier. Some tourists continue on foot, but we don't really feel like doing that. Besides, it's hazy, the sun isn't cooperating, and we're not really in the mood for swimming yet.

So, we settle for Kekaha Kai State Beach right in front of us and hope to see a "Sea Monk" after seeing the sign. Unfortunately, there is none to be seen at the beach. We explore some tidepools and then continue driving. After all, we still have a lot to do today!

On the way back, a convertible comes towards us on the road!!!! Brave man! Unbelievable - there's no way he'll make it to the parking lot unscathed 😱🙈🤦🏻‍♀️

We reach Anaehoʻomalu Beach at Waikōloa Village right at 12 o'clock. As soon as we park and unload everything, a siren sounds. We listen for a moment - the intervals are always the same. Other tourists also seem to be wondering what it means. An elderly local couple walks past us and tells us that it's just a tsunami drill.

Oh, a tsunami!? Surely just a drill??? They laugh and confirm that it's definitely just a drill - precisely at 12 o'clock. Well then…

The beach is quite busy. We don't want to stay here for too long because the kids are already starting to feel hungry, so we put on our swimwear and head into the cool water.

The beach looks nice, but the water is slightly milky, and there are large and sharp rocks everywhere. We carefully wade into deeper water and swim further out where there are hardly any rocks and we can still touch the bottom. Many tourists are snorkeling around us, but when I put the camera underwater, all I see are rocks. Hm…

As the wind picks up while we're in the water, we don't stay in for too long. After drying off, we drive over to Waikōloa Village for lunch. We decide to go for the healthy and delicious "salad" bar option and get delicious bowls at "Island Greens". They're really tasty!!!

For dessert, we absolutely have to have a real Hawaiian shave ice today. It's right next door, and the price of $5.50 per shave ice seems fair - we saw a stand on Maui for $8.50. We're the only guests at the ice cream shop, so the lady at the counter chats with us. She finds it fascinating that we're spending 4 weeks in Hawaii and gives us some tips. She also emphasizes how much she would love to travel to Europe someday.

We enjoy our shave ice outside next to the koi pond. Delicious! And so colorful 😜

I can't resist and quickly dip my Insta 360 camera with its underwater housing into the pond to take some videos and photos with the curious koi fish 🤭

In the hot afternoon heat, we also visit the Waikōloa Petroglyphs, not far from Waikōloa Village between the golf course, Outrigger Hotel, and industrial building. We cheekily park in the parking lot of the industrial building. There's no sign saying that you're NOT allowed to park here, so we walk directly from the parking lot into the lava field where the petroglyphs are located. We walk the short loop trail and then cut across the lava field to get back to our car.

We take a quick drink and get back in the car, turn on the air conditioning, and continue our journey!

It's 3:30 PM, and we still have time, so we make a stop a little south of here at the Four Seasons Hotel. Here, you can get a free "beach pass" at the security gate and then use the "Kukio Beach" as a day guest. We're not sure if we want to swim and if we have enough time, but we're curious.

When we arrive at the beach, we're actually a bit disappointed. It's not really nice. Small rocky coves and lots of stones in the water. Hmm, I don't think I want to go swimming here. We walk along the path by the resort for a bit and then turn back. It's not worth it, so let's continue.

We drive on Saddle Road towards Mauna Kea. The landscape changes abruptly from green to yellow-white, with dried-up hills like in the Shire from Lord of the Rings.

There are goats and sheep everywhere along the road. Hopefully, none of the animals wander onto the road in front of us, as some of them are standing dangerously close to the edge…

We pass Bradshaw Army Airfield and stop at Mauna Kea State Recreation Area. It's time to change. It's not (yet) really cold, but we want to go higher later this evening. We exchange our beach outfits for long pants and can't resist making a detour to the nearby playground. Even the 18-year-old daughter becomes a child again when it comes to climbing 😁 After all, you're never too old to climb.

At 5:20 PM, we reach the junction to Mauna Kea. It has become so foggy that we can hardly see Pu'u Huluhulu Cinder Cone and the parking lot on the other side of the road.

Through the fog, we continue driving along the winding road to the Onizuka Visitor Center. This is where it ends for now. The road to Mauna Kea is partially blocked, and there are several ranger vehicles parked parallel to the road. The rangers are closely checking who is allowed to drive up and who is not. The road is adorned with big signs saying "4 Wheel Drive only" and "No Drones Zone".

We turn into the parking lot and want to find out what's next. At the visitor center, they tell us that if we have a 4WD, we must stay at this altitude for at least 30 minutes to acclimatize. After that, we can join the line of cars to the summit. At the end of the line, rangers check the vehicle and decide whether we are allowed to go to Mauna Kea or not.

This is getting exciting! We're driving an "AWD" but not a 4WD - let's see....

A few cars ahead of us is the exact same GMC SUV Terrain AWD - after a quick check, it is allowed to continue. That looks promising! In contrast, the car in front of us is a Mustang convertible!? Seriously????

Of course, the convertible is not allowed to continue and has to turn off and leave the line before the actual ranger check. I'm starting to get nervous. In various forums on the Internet, people have constantly written that you can ONLY go up here with a Wrangler Jeep. That's just a total rip-off... Renting an overpriced car just for Mauna Kea was never an option for me anyway. But now that I see so many other SUVs behind us in line, I'm confident. There are 3 Jeep Wranglers driving ahead of us - after a short instruction, they are allowed to pass the "blockade" too. Now it's our turn.

The ranger looks through the window into the car and asks about the "4WD". We show him the "AWD", he nods and says "Okay". He explains what we need to consider when driving up and down, how the brakes need to be checked after going downhill, that we should drive in certain "gears", and that we must leave Mauna Kea immediately after sunset.

He also asks about the age of our son because children must be at least 13 years old to go up to Mauna Kea. Considering the extreme altitude and thin air, it makes sense. But our son is 14 years old and allowed to come up.

6 PM, we're allowed to proceed and follow the Wrangler Jeeps. While the Onizuka Visitor Center is shrouded in thick fog and clouds, we quickly break through the cloud cover and drive up to Mauna Kea, heading towards the last rays of sunlight. The driver of the Jeep in front of us seems to have never been off a paved road before and crawls up the mountain as if in first gear. I noted the sunset time as 6:58 PM - if he keeps going this slow, we'll never make it in time 🙈

The husband is getting slightly annoyed, but we can't overtake, so we hope we'll reach the top in time. There are still quite a few cars climbing the mountain behind us, so we're not the last ones... or are we!? Now we're under time pressure, and the daughter complains that she needs a bathroom... 🙈

Really???? Where are we supposed to find a toilet here at 4,000 meters above sea level!?

I remember the map the ranger gave us, where there is actually a restroom marked shortly before the summit. The "urge" is apparently so urgent that even the perceived 0 degrees up here with wind and the brown portable toilet cannot alleviate the need for a restroom.

Finally, at 6:45 PM, we reach the summit. The sky is still blue. Phew, made it just in time.

We park next to the other Jeeps and SUVs, next to Mauna Kea and Gemini Observatories, overlooking the other observatories below, and put on our jackets. Darn, I forgot my hat again 🙈

It's chilly.... very chilly!

The sky is clear, and we look down at the closed cloud cover. It's a bit spooky. I'm not a wimp, but how some tourists up here can still bear the cold in shorts and a T-shirt is beyond me. I'm shivering.... 🥶🤭

The sunset is amazing! It's over in less than 30 minutes, and we leave the summit in a line of cars. The thermometer shows 41 Fahrenheit - a cozy 5 degrees Celsius 🥶 (and that on a summer vacation! 🤭)..

Going downhill is quite slow again. We can only drive very slowly and try our best to preserve the brakes. Rangers are already waiting for us at the bottom, measuring the temperature of our brakes. Our brakes are too hot at nearly 600 Fahrenheit (about 315 degrees Celsius). We have to wait for at least 30 minutes in the parking lot for the brakes to cool down. No problem, as we want to stargaze anyway.

Here "down" is 10 degrees warmer. At around 3,000 meters, we enjoy the starry sky until 9 PM and then make our way home, which is quite exhausting as it's raining and foggy again on the way back until we finally reach the coast.

What a cool experience!!!