Public Access

I am not an experienced beach person, but I find this interesting about the beaches on Hawaii. All beaches are open to the public. Public access is established by law. So, even if a super fancy hotel is built on the ocean, the beach in front of that hotel is available to the general public AND the hotel must allow some way for the general public to get to the beach. I learned about this opportunity when we spent time on Kauai and lived just up the road from the Princeville Resort (formerly the St Regis). This very nice hotel provided a series of stairs that one could take down to the beach. Cindy liked to walk this stairs for exercise. I would walk up, but not down. I was always amazed to see surfers bounding up the stairs with their boards. The hotel also graciously allowed use of its elevator to provide access. Taking your board on the elevator would probably have been pushing it a bit. Very nice. It must be the Aloha spirit. I don't know if this is the case in other states.

We visited another beach today that was also situated in front of a hotel/golf course. Cindy, Oleg, and Natasha hit the beach to swim and boogie board. I could not find a location with a comfortable seat in the shade so I decided to hike some of the Ala Kahakai Trail. The trail follows the coast line for 175 miles and I must have done a 1/2 mile or so. The existence of such a trail speaks to the same commitment to preserve access to the coast line. The picture that follows was taken from a vantage point where I turned around and shows the hotel behind the beach where the rest of the group was swimming. You will have to look very close to see if you can find Cindy.