The Halona Blowhole
Dec. 27th, 2021 06:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerOahu travelog #15
Sandy Beach Park, HI - Mon, 27 Dec 2021, 4pm
By 2pm today we already felt like it had been a busy day. We were up before dawn to head out to Diamond Head Crater, where we had a great hike along with what seemed like half the population of Honolulu. We returned to the hotel and got lunch from a nearby food truck, then we went out to the beach for a while. For a day that was originally supposed to be overcast all day (as of yesterday's forecast) it's been sunny and warm all day. Get while the getting's good!
By 2:30 we were wondering what else we could do while the daylight lasted. We were tired from what we'd done already (the hike and the beach) and concerned about how long it would take to jump in the car and go anywhere. We checked our maps, though, and found... the Halona Blowhole! It was just 11 miles east of Waikiki along the coast highway. That still took about 35 minutes to drive to.
There's a parking area along the edge of the cliff from where you can watch the Halona Blowhole in action. That's where I stood as I recorded the video shown above. When a big enough wave crashes against the lower tier of rocks, water is forced up through a crevice and shoots out in a huge fountain.
You can see in the video there are people down near the blowhole. Getting there semi-safely involves a hike from the Sandy Beach Park beach access about 1/2 mile further up the road.
You can see I say semi-safely because there are a lot of wet rocks to cross to get back to where the blowhole is.
To the west of the blowhole is an interesting cove beach.
The wave action in this little cove is fierce. 6-foot breakers pound the body surfers repeatedly. There looks to be no undertow or riptide, though. I presume that's because it's a slot cove. The folks getting pounded in the water seemed to be enjoying it. I can imagine I would have, too, when I was a younger man.
Sandy Beach Park, HI - Mon, 27 Dec 2021, 4pm
By 2pm today we already felt like it had been a busy day. We were up before dawn to head out to Diamond Head Crater, where we had a great hike along with what seemed like half the population of Honolulu. We returned to the hotel and got lunch from a nearby food truck, then we went out to the beach for a while. For a day that was originally supposed to be overcast all day (as of yesterday's forecast) it's been sunny and warm all day. Get while the getting's good!
By 2:30 we were wondering what else we could do while the daylight lasted. We were tired from what we'd done already (the hike and the beach) and concerned about how long it would take to jump in the car and go anywhere. We checked our maps, though, and found... the Halona Blowhole! It was just 11 miles east of Waikiki along the coast highway. That still took about 35 minutes to drive to.
There's a parking area along the edge of the cliff from where you can watch the Halona Blowhole in action. That's where I stood as I recorded the video shown above. When a big enough wave crashes against the lower tier of rocks, water is forced up through a crevice and shoots out in a huge fountain.
You can see in the video there are people down near the blowhole. Getting there semi-safely involves a hike from the Sandy Beach Park beach access about 1/2 mile further up the road.
You can see I say semi-safely because there are a lot of wet rocks to cross to get back to where the blowhole is.
To the west of the blowhole is an interesting cove beach.
The wave action in this little cove is fierce. 6-foot breakers pound the body surfers repeatedly. There looks to be no undertow or riptide, though. I presume that's because it's a slot cove. The folks getting pounded in the water seemed to be enjoying it. I can imagine I would have, too, when I was a younger man.
