We live in an oasis surrounded by thousands of acres of lava so when new activities become available to this somewhat isolated location….it’s big news :) Check out the photo of a zoning sign that appeared in the Waikoloa Beach Resort near the King’s Shop’s gas station. These are the signs mandated by the County whenever a use permit is being requested by a land owner and in this case a 18 hole putting course.  The Tax Map Key listed is on or near the King’s Shops. I called the County Planning Department and they mentioned the hearing is in Kona at the County Facility on February 15th if you are interested in contributing to public comment or learning more about this project. I see it as a “good thing” as low impact, children friendly activities for those windy days or early evenings under the stars are rare here.  Let’s hope they are approved and they actually follow through and build it sooner than later!

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Lissette and I give each other for Christmas a 4 day pass to the Waimea Ocean Film Festival which for us is the best gift of all-incredible sights and sounds of our ocean. The films are shown in multi venues including the Fairmont Orchid in the Mauna Lani Resort, very close to our home. Most films, but not all, are related to the ocean and are video masterpieces. The films vary in length from 5 minutes to full length documentaries that are often only published for promotional purposes by their sponsors like Red Bull, Ford or Tag Heuer. As an example we saw a Ford sponsored movie that highlighted surfers searching for the next XXL wave site featuring big wave surfer Andrew Cotton. We saw a full length feature called The Big Wave Project with 90 minutes of some of the largest big waves ever surfed in locations like Peahi, Maui (Jaws), Nazare, Portugal and Waimea Bay, Oahu. Often these documentaries include a question and answer session with either the films featured surfer or other person involved like the film's producer, camera...

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Many of us locals have had time to trade stories and log in our "book of life" where we were and what we were doing regarding the "false alarm" we all received on our cell phones on a recent Saturday morning regarding the "missile launch". Yes-it was probably painful and or stressful for a lot of people so I do not mean to be too light hearted with my experience but instead hope to illustrate what happens when you have no clue as to what was happening. As most of you know-I like to surf-maybe too much but that's the way it is… :) Saturday morning early was no exception. Surfline was reporting massive swell (40'-60') into Northwest shores and for those of you reading this and not familiar with our location-we live on the NORTHWEST shore. I checked the buoy report for buoy #51101 which gives us some indication of what's coming in at a NW direction and all results pointed to-get in the water! :) I paddled out before 7:00 am and much to my surprise no one was out-strange. My friends are usually there at the same time or before and...

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(Hawaii Department of Health/Courtesy graphic) County and State team up to tackle effluent issues on Big Island including Puako Road area near Mauna Lani Resort Many of my friends make a living in the dive industry and most of the great dive sites are located adjacent and just off shore of Puako Road. When they reported the beaches along Puako Road were closed by the Hawaii County Health department due to high levels of waste water bacteria, I was not surprised. Having spent time as development director at the Big Island Country Club site, where aerobic pre treatment was mandated due to the developable lots and golf course comfort stations being located in close proximity to the potable water wells, I knew the Puako area was in need of similar, advanced, waste water treatment being so close to the ocean. Many of the homes along this scenic road were built as far back as the 1930’s and modern waste water treatment was not facilitated or known. Since then the area has been regentrified where these basic homes have been replaced...

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Yesterday was the first day of winter and a large, winter storm blessed us with rain in our lava desert home and snow on the volcanoes including Mauna Kea. I took a few photos from the Nohea community gates and also from the Mauna Lani resort entrance. Mauna Kea is covered all the way from it’s top at 13,800 ft to the 9000’ level in 2-3’ of snow-quite an accumulation. I’ve begun to see snow men at sea level where people have loaded snow into trucks and brought it down to build them in contrast to our typically tropical flora and millions of acres of lava rocks. We hope everyone is having a glorious holiday season wherever you are come see us where 9 out of the world’s 11 climate zone exist-including snow capped volcanoes :)

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I love to swim as part of my fitness regime and appreciate the health benefits and friendships that I have developed over the years. Our group not only trains and competes together but we also participate in open water swims, surf and scuba dive adventures. A great combination of friends and water activities! I can not be in a better location on the Big Island for access to a true lap pool. Like many of you, I swam on my neighborhood and high school swim teams as a youth. As an adult I have participated in several masters swim groups or swam on my own with friends for the past 30 years. Lap pools with lanes and gutters to absorb the wave splash are rare and are spread quite a distance apart on the Big island with one lap pool in Kona, 30 miles away and the other in Waimea 16 miles away at Hawaii Preparatory Academy. Coached masters swim groups are equally rare with the Waimea group meeting at 5:30 AM which makes for an early morning, cold workout with low temperatures at 2500’ of elevation. The Mauna Lani Racquet Club i...

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Hilo, HI to Hapuna Bay, HI November 4-5, 2017 Lissette and I knew another extreme athletic event was on island when we were returning from dinner in the mountain town of Waimea at 8:00 pm on Saturday night. As we descended the narrow and winding, Kawaihae road toward the coast, we spotted someone running against traffic and up hill toward us-dangerous. As we approached we could see the runner had “Christmas” lights on their vest and a light mounted on their head. We knew they were definitely not “local” because know one that drove this road, night or day, would run on it at night. We continued to pass numerous other runners on the Queen “K” highway all the way home to Mauna Lani. Their support vehicles were stacked along the side of the road-all decorated with bright banners, inflated animal figures and glow in the dark paint. The “night” runners peaked our interest and we decided to do a web search to figure out who had invaded our island this time. Low and behold we found the group-RAGNAR. Ragnar’s websi...

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It was windy and hot so it was not a great beach day on the coast last Sunday so Lissette and I decided to take a drive upcountry to the old Saddle Road and see what we could see! Wind on the coast usually signals clear, blue skies in the days to come and strangely the winds relent as you climb in elevation out of the resort areas. Once you reach the Mamalahoa Highway or “upper road” you can expect a change in weather, cooler, as well and typically with cloud cover. The clouds can bring rain or in our case this day, beautiful, perfect weather!! Saddle Road also known as Hawaii Route 200, traverses Hawaii Island for 52.7 miles from downtown Hilo to its junction with Highway 190 near Waimea. The “old” Saddle Road now breaks off the “new” Saddle Road or Daniel K. Inouye Highway just past the Pohakuloa Training Area and eventually intersects Highway 190 near Waimea town. It is also the direct route for access to Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa’s observatories at nearly 14,000’ of elevation. The windy and sometimes single...

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Elite pros and qualifying age group athletes converge on our island yearly to celebrate the premier endurance athlete’s dream race-the Ironman World Championship.  This isn’t any Ironman Race…this is the world championship of this grueling distance event at one of the birthplaces of the triathlon sport. Just making it to Kona from home towns around the world once you qualify can be a challenge financially and otherwise further making participation in this elite event hard to accomplish.  This year World record holder and Olympian Tim Don from England was on a training ride Thursday before the race, near the Kmart in Kona and was hit by a car at a marked intersection.  He suffered a fractured neck vertebrae but is hopeful to continue his career in 6 weeks. The athletes started this year’s competition with somewhat calm seas as they swam away from the Kona pier toward the first buoy marked by the iconic Royal Kona Resort.  Then out to sea and back returning to the Kona pier area.  There they transitioned to their bi...

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September 16, 2017 was International Coastal Cleanup day started by the Ocean Conservancy nearly 30 years ago. Even though this is an annual event for some “coastal cleanup” is an everyday event for Lissette and I as we walk and run one of the most beautiful and pristine coastlines in the world within the Mauna Lani Resort. The photos above are just one day’s “treasure” of “opala” or trash in what is as much of our daily routine as our early morning walk and run. I also included a photo of a plastic hard hat I found at the shoreline which floated here from Japan. Plastic, opala (trash) is usually the most evident in and around our shoreline but I’ve found glass bottles, oil filters, fishing nets and other debris while scuba diving, surfing or paddling. I remember finding a plastic beach ball floating 1/2 mile off shore riding my stand up paddle board and a large, ice cooler another time. Yes-I chased down both and hauled them to shore with me:) We do all of this with joy, never condemning silently the source of...

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