Each island has a kona coast which is the leeward side, however there is only one Kona. This is the long western side on the big island guarded by those two 14,000 foot twin titans, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. Here you will find dryer and warmer climates, spectacular sunsets, and historical sites.
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This is also where you will feel the pulse of entrepreneurs vying for the tourist trade, and large and small construction projects mushrooming as corporations and retirees invest in a rapidly disappearing dream.
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Although there is at least as much construction activity happening on the windward side of the island, you feel it more here since it is concentrated in a relatively smaller network of roads which tend to hug the coast more here due to the rapid altitude change from makai to mauka in Kona.
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Pictured sunrise looking south from the pier to the main part of Kailua, See the bouys marking the edge of the swim area. It is here where the triathlon starts.
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For narrated pictures see my Kona and Kau travel page at: <a href="http://pahoahi.tripod.com/
kona/kona.htm" target=twain>http://pahoahi.tripod.com/kona/kona.htm</a>
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