Essential Travel Experience #82 – Appreciate a Rugged Coastline

There is nothing more dramatic than a rugged coastline with rocks jutting here and there and waves crashing. Sure, beaches are great and fun for the whole family, but a picturesque, rugged coast captures our imagination and stimulate all our senses. They make great places to sit and contemplate life. For those interested in animals and ecology, they are also wonderful places to explore. Tide pools often contain a fascinating collection of creatures whose life revolves around this small microcosm of the biosphere.

So, here is my own collection of interesting and dramatic shorelines. Once again, I will begin in Hawaii, which is blessed with many prime examples of this phenomenon. Lumahai Beach, on the island of Kauai, has both a lovely crescent-shaped beach and jutting rocks which harbor beautiful, colorful coral reef fish.

Lumahai Beach

Wainapanapa State Park, on the Road to Hana (Maui) features a black sand beach and lovely off-shore rocks, some of which form sea arches.

Wainapanapa State Park

Makapuu Point, on the island of Oahu, is a classic rocky beach.

Makapuu Point

The Pacific Coast of the United States is extremely rugged in places, and known for its sea stacks and interesting offshore formations. Check out Cannon Beach, in Oregon,

Cannon Beach

and Ruby Beach in Washington State.

Ruby Beach

The Monterey Peninsula, in California, features Seventeen-Mile Drive, a winding route that parallels the rocky coastline.

17-mile Drive

Much of the US’s Atlantic coast is sandy and rather non-descript. However, New England features the kind of rugged coastline that this post describes. In Martha’s Vineyard, Gay Head makes a great impression.