Hawaiian Adventure Part 3: Black Sand Beach and Turtles

A honu rests on the black sand beach called Punalu'u.  It is illegal to get closer than 15 feet to these marine creatures.

From Green Sand Beach we headed east toward Punalu'u, the Big Island's most accessible black sand beach.  We'd read that Punalu'u also offered our best chance of seeing sea turtles basking on the beach.  Sure enough, we found several honu (green turtles) resting on what was truly a black sand beach.  It was gratifying to see visitors respect the turtles' space by viewing them at a distance.  By law, people must stay at least 15 feet away from these threatened marine creatures.

Punalu'u looking east toward the wetlands area.

The black sand beach is comprised of basalt from lava flowing into the ocean.  As it reaches the ocean, the lava explodes and then cools.  The black sand grains were much coarser than those of the green sand beach, about the size of millet.  When we explored the area, no one was sunbathing and nobody was swimming because the ocean here seemed choppy and rough and the beach was lined with rocky a'a lava. 

At the far end of Punalu'u is an interesting and unexpected feature--a wetland.  The wetland is fed by freshwater springs and intermittent streams and is part of Hawai'i's second largest spring complex.  Researchers believe that the wetlands are critical to the health of native marine fauna, possibly serving as nurseries.


Wetland fed by springwater at Punalu'u Beach.

Punalu'u black sand beach looking west.