Day 11 Big Island - Turtles, Wave Fun, Beach Time, and a Bitter Disappointment

August 2nd, 2022

After breakfast, we go to White Sands Beach or Magic Sands Beach across the street. From the balcony, we saw some people in the water. Is the sand back today? After seeing only black rocks last time, I can hardly imagine there could be a white beach here.

As we cross the road, we can already see white sand at the upper part of the beach where there were only black rocks last time! Yeah!!! Unbelievable! While there are still some black rocks on the beach, the white sand is back, and the left part of the beach has a complete sand covering again. Magic!

Before we plunge into the crystal-clear turquoise waters, we already see a turtle near the beach, close to bathers in the water. Wow, there are turtles here too! 😍

We pack our snorkeling gear, the underwater camera, and jump into the sea. It's soooooo awesome!!!

After a few minutes, we see several turtles. Despite the lifeguard constantly making announcements not to get too close to the turtles and not to touch them, not all bathers can resist and swim to the turtles and even hold on to them. Impossible.

At first, we think the turtles want to go to the beach, but then thanks to the underwater camera, we realize that the turtles want to eat the washed-up seaweed, algae, or whatever is swimming around at the transition from water to the beach. The only problem is that it's hard to see the turtles when they go in or out with the increasing waves and the stirred-up sand.

I almost step on one when I try to go into the water again later.

The waves are getting stronger, and at some point, there are such big rollers coming that I get a complete nasal lavage twice before I decide to dive directly under further waves.

We have so much fun in the sea, with the waves, and previously with the turtles. What a cool experience!

For lunch, we go back to the apartment and have noodles with tomato sauce. After that, we pack our beach stuff and drive to the north to explore another beach.

Around 2 pm, we reach Hapuna State Park. It costs money: $10 per car and $5 per person in the car. There are machines in the parking lot for payment, and the tickets are checked by attendants with neon vests. Although the husband doesn't really feel like paying, we pay the $30 and go to the beach with our beach gear. The beach is huge, with light sand and turquoise blue water.

Unfortunately, dark clouds are gathering above us in the sky. Will it reach the beach!? Well, we want to swim. The daughter doesn't really feel like swimming and prefers to chill under the beach umbrella. We jump into the sea with our son. In the middle of the beach, some people are snorkeling, I grab my snorkeling gear and take a look. Except for a big rock and a few fish, there's only fine white sand to see, nothing else.

While we splash around near the shore, the first gusts of wind sweep over the beach umbrellas, and shortly after, it starts to rain heavily. Oh no...

We simply stay in the water, enjoying the cooling "from above" and watch the daughter as she brings all the towels to safety under the beach umbrella.

As quickly as the rain came, it's already over. We leave around 4 pm and continue to the north. Something very special is still waiting for us today, which the daughter and I are excited about!

For her 18th birthday, I gave her a 2-hour horseback ride in Hawaii. We were last riding together in South Tyrol in October 2021 on a riding farm (see travel blog adventure-suedtirol). That was incredibly fun, and horseback riding in Hawaii would be something very special! We've been looking forward to the horseback trip since the beginning of the Hawaii trip and are excited as we reach the "Paniolo Adventure Ranch" on the Kohala Mountain Rd in the north of Big Island. From a distance, we can already see many saddled horses tied next to a building.

We park in the parking lot, put on our riding pants, and are thrilled. We booked a 2-hour "Afternoon Paniolo Ride". The husband is about to leave the parking lot with our son (they don't ride and want to do something else), when an employee comes to us and briefly explains that there was an "incident", no one from the staff will come for the ride, it unfortunately has to be canceled, and we will of course get our money back.

I can't believe it. I can't grasp it.... Why today of all days? And why??? We don't get any further information, are allowed to use the bathroom briefly, take a photo of the horses, and leave the ranch. We are so incredibly disappointed and sad, after all, we were really looking forward to it 😭😭😭

(Edit November 2022: the ranch is still closed - currently until mid-January 2023)

A few tears later, we reach the town of Kohala, where we pass a statue of King Kamehameha. We continue to the Pololū Valley Lookout (we skip the trail down today) and then continue to the Scenic Overlook below Kiholo Bay, between Kukio Beach and Waikōloa Village, to enjoy the sunset.

We are still a bit melancholic that the horseback riding didn't take place, but there's nothing we can do about it now.

In the evening, I write an email to Paniolo Adventure and inquire about an alternative or rescheduled date in the upcoming days. There's not much else we can do. Since our next few days are already planned, we unfortunately have little flexibility. Well, hope dies last...