I swim on Sunday mornings with a group at Hapuna Bay State Park. Most of the participants have known each other for decades and are seasoned in the open water. During the COVID lockdown and subsequent cease to our regular Sunday church service, I started to swim with the group. It’s been a blast getting to know everyone and sharing a great start to the week on Sunday mornings.

We swim from the center lifeguard tower north toward a cove located at the end of the bay and in front of the Hapuna Beach Hotel. We then swim south, 1/2 mile across the bay to a beautiful cove nestled amongst the rocky cliffs where shore fishers are typically present trying to catch an Ulua, Papio, or other large reef fish that hug the shorelines in deeper waters. The round trip is 1.2m if you care to count and or a 40-minute beautiful, fast-moving “snorkel.”

The bay’s sand bottom contrasts with the coral-infused views where I surf at Makaiwa Bay. The sand forms rivulets that generally run parallel to the beach and offer an excellent directional beacon when you are not sighting above the waterline. Frequently, the wind picks up, making it exciting for all. No wonder the Hapuna Rough Water Swim has been held in this location as well as the start to one of the Half Ironman events known as the Ironman 70.5, as it’s challenging plowing northward, typically against the howling trade winds at times.

In January, after one of our swims, our friend Matt mentioned that we should all meet during whale season to swim up the coast northbound from Kapa’a Beach Park (details link) to possibly view nearshore whales and dolphins. He swims this course often and knew that these sea mammals are present this time of year, and it might be a rare, seasonal opportunity to view them in their natural element. It’s not legal to purposely approach whales, but you never know what you might see while cohabitating in their undersea world.

Matt sent an email during the week that winds would be light and there would be little to no swell in the ocean on the upcoming Sunday, which is very rare in the winter season. Several of us affirmed we would meet him at 8:00 sharp to swim up the coast and see what we would “see .” I wore a short wetsuit and used my typical swim goggles and center position snorkel for pool swim training. I knew this would be more of a swim than a snorkel, and I wanted to have the most comfortable gear I am accustomed to rather than a typical mask and snorkel. It was the right equipment for sure as our swim was just over 3 hours total.

We saw large, tumbled boulders with Pyramid Butterflyfish primarily along the coastline and surging waters pushing into the cliff-lined shore. It was very different scenery compared to coral heads and the sand bottom of Hapuna Bay. It indicated heavy coastal surf that caused the massive boulders to become smooth like river pebbles or a lava beach near the south end of our island. These boulders were 4-5′ around, and you could hear the smaller ones tumbling against themselves like a big rock polishing machine.

We could hear the whales along our route and saw them in the distance as we returned to Kapa’a Beach Park. As we were exiting the water, whales and dolphins appeared right where we were swimming just a few minutes earlier. Maybe they were stalking us, not sure, but at least we were close by to these magnificent creatures we have come to love in our two decades on the Big Island.

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Written by Rick Oliver on March 6, 2022
Posted in: Blog, Hawaii Life, Kohala Coast Luxury Resorts |