The Hawaii Beach That’s Unlike Any Other In The World
By Megan Shute|Published June 12, 2017
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Megan Shute
Author
With more than 10 years of experience as a professional writer, Megan holds a degree in Mass Media from her home state of Minnesota. After college, she chose to trade in her winter boots for slippahs and moved to the beautiful island of Oahu, where she has been living for more than five years. She lives on the west side but is constantly taking mini-road trips across the island and visits the neighboring islands whenever she can getaway. She loves hiking, snorkeling, locally-grown coffee, and finding the best acai bowl on Oahu.
Nestled on the shoreline between Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and Naalehu town on the Big Island, Punalu’u is perhaps the world’s most famous black sand beach, and an absolute must-visit for anyone living on - or vacationing to - the Big Island.
Lined with a thick belt of coconut palm trees, Punalu’u Black Sand Beach is located just 30 miles south of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the stunning Ka’u coast.
The shiny, black volcanic sand is a magnet for honu: visitors may find themselves basking in the sun alongside Hawaiian green sea turtles - and maybe even an endangered hawksbill turtle, if you’re lucky.
Other natural attractions include anchialine ponds - coastal rock pools linked by natural plumbing to the nearshore waters - and a lush, spring-fed wetland located behind the beach.
This expansive black sand beach is perfect for swimming and snorkeling when the conditions are right, and picnicking, coastal hiking, and even camping (with a permit, of course) when the ocean currents are too strong to hang out in the water.
Made from small, pitch-black fragments of lava that was created from lava flowing into the sea, the sand at Punalu’u can get quite hot when the sun is shining, and setting up camp below the shade of the coconut palms is always a good idea.
With striking black sand, towering coconut palms, and crashing blue waves, there is little more jaw-dropping than the stunning Punalu’u Beach. Visitors are sure to be overwhelmed by the beach’s serene beauty, and you won’t find another beach quite as special anywhere in the world.
Just a warning: please do not take any of the beach’s jet-black sand home with you. As enticing as it is, the sand here is finite, meaning it is not replenished by the fish like many white sand beaches, and Pele will almost certainly curse you.
