Old Coast Guard Road, North Kohala Coast, Hawai'i

It was a warm mid 80's kind of day when we headed north from Kailau-Kona on our way to Hawi on Hwy 270 past the junction from Waimea. As is my standard practice to scan all sideroads for something interesting. While on our scouting expeditions I have been known to take all sideroads to see where they lead and today was no exception. I noticed the sign for Coast Guard Road and had to make a U-turn and travel back


(Old Coast Guard Road)

I'm thinking that this road must lead somewhere or else why would it be named ? Perhaps it leads to an Old Coast Guard station.



For a short distance the road was quite smooth but soon we found that it was in bad shape and not maintained. There were pot holes everywhere and we travelled very slowly through this slalom course. Soon we sped up a bit and it seemed better to travel over the potholes and felt less bumpy.



with no landmarks to get your bearings we finally made it over the last hill and saw the water ahead. There was less broken asphalt and more like hard packed dirt and sand



There is a small cliff and rough wave action. There was a beach trail but it was closed due to erosion


(warning signs and trail closed)

We heeded the warnings and stayed well back of the danger



The last ramp was more suited for a 4x4 vehicle rather than our mere Toyota Matrix so we parked on the road above and left the vacant parking lot, Vacant. If we got stuck we would have a difficult time getting help to tow us out



It would appear that this was a former resort but now it belongs to the Parker Ranch and we saw some work trucks parked by the bunkhouses



I could imaging living here in solitude with no one else around. Nice weather, sunny most of the time and no neighbours to intrude upon your private space. Lovely view of the ocean and a mere 1-1/2 north of Kailua-Kona, or less than an hour to Waimea for supplies

We headed back out to the main highway 270 and north again until I saw a sign for an airfield, so naturally I turned the car around again for more exploration. Along the way it looked like there were plans for a new subdivision where construction had stopped. Perhaps due to the economy, who knows, and we passed another wind farm



It's hard to judge distance but I would say a couple of miles and we saw two rows of generators but most of the props were not moving.



It's hard to imagine the size of these towers. We stopped and you can just make out the small door at the bottom which is human height, and our rental car just for scale



Finally we get to the end of the road and come to the airstrip. We pondered for a few moments wondering whether we should rent a plane for a quick view of the volcano from the air. We didn't today but we have rented sightseeing planes before. I have some videos on my youtube channel from a Cessna we rented in Northern British Columbia. (See sidebar for Youtube link for videos of Chilcotin Adventure in 4 parts)



It's a lucky thing we didn't waste our hard earned money with the plane as we found out later there was too much sulphur fumes spewing from the Kilauea Crater and aircraft were advised to stay away. Actually even the road up to the top was closed to all tourist traffic.

I really got into the Hawai'ian way of driving and only stored my Pink Crocs on the floor for emergencies, leaving them inside the car when I exited the car to take photos


(Real original brand named Pink Crocs, not the NothingZ copycat brand)

I am a great fan of Mexican food while travelling and we found an authentic Mexican restaurant in Hawi, of which I will have more to say to finalize our Hawai'ian adventure


(in the meantime, happy eating)