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I've been traveling to Kauai at least once a year for the past 10 years and the island never ceases to amaze me with it's beauty. The emerald green jungles with their waterfalls, the abandoned sugar cane fields with their tall grasses swaying in the wind and the shear raw beauty of the lava coastlines with the always moving ocean all create amazing photo potentials.
For this image I had to get up early, hike to the ocean using a headlamp and sit, waiting for the sun to rise up. The solitude as you sit on the lava bench hearing the ocean slam over and over into the bench is gripping.
Luck was with me as the ocean had some swells and the sunrise some colour, all coming together to form this image.
Luck favors the prepared. This is a wonderful image. I can only imagine how nice it must have been to experience that morning. I hope to visit the island in a couple of years with my wife. Well done...Kevin
WiseTioga wrote:
A very well done image. Like it a lot. Does this spot have a name other than your Kauai's Thor's Well?
I don't know if it has any official name, but it can be easily reached. It's on the north shore near Kilauea Bay in Kilauea. You can either drive to Rock Quarry Beach and cross the river ( waste deep ) or drive in on Kahili Quarry road as far as you can and then hike the rest of the way down a rough road.
I've always used the Quarry road and hiked in as I don't feel like crossing waste deep water first thing in the morning. The actual blow hole is around the corner. There is a path along the shore that leads you out to the lava bench.
If one goes, stop at the top of the cliffs and observe the ocean. If it's angry and huge swells, maybe it's best to just skip the photo...can be very dangerous if the waves are big. I hiked out once in the morning with the surf too high for my likings. Just sat down on the cliff edge and watched the waves pulverize the shores. There is always another day to get the shot.
That's all for your feedback. I've been to this place a few other times and either the surf was too high or not high enough or the sunrise didn't. It's a beauty to watch when things all come together.
