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Beautiful area and a favorite of locals. Although remote still has bathroom facilities. A lot has been said about the road which I think is good as it detours some visitors. We made it fine - it's a rental car, right?
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Date of experience: March 2021
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We went on a Sunday and there was a decent number of people, but not over run. Many of the people were not tourists & clearly visit frequently given their day camp set ups. We rented a Jeep Wrangler and went down the 4WD road. I would not recommend doing this unless you really want an adventure and/or you have some experience driving a serious rocky road. We made it fine, and at the time of this review was totally doable, but it wasn’t without a few serious considerations about if this was a huge mistake. The beach is terrific, the kids had a great time — but unless you enjoy a true 4WD experience I would not recommend going that route. …
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Date of experience: February 2021
1 Helpful vote
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I went here on a Friday and when I left at 2:00pm, I stopped counting when I hit 100 people. I thought I read that there are hardly any people that come here. Well not on Friday’s. It was still a nice day! It takes about 15mins to drive down to Mahailua beach, and then you walk to Makalawena beach. You don’t have to walk along the water. I did this going there, which is beautiful, but coming back I took the trail and it was much faster. It’s about a 30min walk to Makalawena beach. I hit it lucky, too, saw a monk seal and a turtle, resting on the beach!…
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Date of experience: January 2021
2 Helpful votes
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+1
Be prepared for a hike over the lava flows to reach this beautiful beach. The drive is very bumpy so drive very slow. The hike keeps the crowds way, beautiful sand,swimming is safe as long as the water is calm. Make sure to pack your picnic basket with necessities.
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Date of experience: March 2020
11 Helpful votes
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Can't believe we didn't make it out here until our very last day! Had we only known! The road is really rough, and takes 20 minutes or so from the highway, so pack a full picnic lunch. There are bathrooms and picnic tables and parking, clearly also a popular spot, as we saw a lot of people braving the road coming in as we were headed out mid-morning to catch our plane. We will definitely plan a day here if/when we return to Kona.…
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Date of experience: February 2020
4 Helpful votes
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