This was a long-awaited trip I have been wanting to take to Kiholo Bay. The beautiful finger of turquoise water can be seen from HWY 19 and was so inviting. What’s down there? Well this last weekend was my chance to look.

The access road has been blocked to visitors, so we had to park alongside the road and make the long trek down. To me that is not such a bad thing. For one, it keeps the crowds down. Two, I heard this area had become a tent city for the Micronesians, who were abusing the natural wonders leaving trash everywhere and sudsing up the queens bath. Not a nice thing to see for tourists and locals who want to enjoy the treasures of the islands. Nevertheless, clean up has begun. We began out trip down a cool path through the Kiawe trees and lava rock, deviated through some private property down by the shoreline, and b-lined it straight to the base of the fish pond. As soon as I dropped off my things at a sandy spot on the south edge of the pond I left to explore.

The other name for this pond is Turtle Bay, and I soon realized why. Some turtles gracefully swam and fed while others sun bathed, speckling the peninsula with their salty white shells. I navigated around every finger of the old Mauna Loa lava flow, which nearly took out all of this fish pond, excited to see the large grouping of fish along the edge of the water and the random turtle sighting. I made it to the far end of the pond and paused to take this picture looking back toward the mountains. What a cool magical place.

I look forward to returning.

by Christopher Johnson – www.fromhereonin.com