Location: Papakolea Beach, South Point, Big Island
One of the benefits of having an island formed by numerous volcanoes is uniquely coloured beaches! One such by-product is Papakolea Beach, otherwise known as Green Sands Beach. Many other travellers had mentioned to me that this was a must see thing while on the island.
To get to Green Sands, one must drive about one hour south of Kona and then hike about one hour to reach the beach. So I laced up my hiking shoes and off I went. Before arriving to the parking lot to begin the hike, I came upon a farm that advertised free coffee samples, free honey samples and free washroom. All three good things to check off the list before a hike. While sampling the 12 different and delicious honey, one of the workers mentioned that they also had free beach showers when I was done the hike as I would “come back orange”. Apparently, most of the hike takes place over clay soil and leaves you covered with a layer of orange dust. I looked down at my white shirt and knew I was in trouble! Advanced as they were, I wasn’t convinced that my sink-laundry skills could effectively remove orange dust stains from a white shirt. I therefore decided to suck it up and put on the only other thing I had with me; a black, long sleeve shirt. It’ll be fine!
There are individuals who offer shuttles to bring you down to the beach, however at 10$ each way, I opted to walk (I discovered after that they operate illegally; the area surrounding the beach and thus the access to it is privately owned and the owner does not allow for ‘commercial’ vehicles to operate). 2 hr round trip. The hike itself isn’t difficult. There’s no scrambles over rocks or even real uphill climbs. It’s a relatively flat surface. The difficulty, is the exposure. there are no trees or any other structure to offer shade. It was a hot day and my black shirt was just soaking up those rays. The view, however, was pretty incredible!
After walking through clay-like sand, and slowly being covered by a thin layer of dust transforming me into a carrot lookalike, the reward was waiting at the end: Green Sands Beach! The location itself is spectacular. Nestled amid towering volcanic cliffs, the water shimmering an unbelievable turquoise color.
A perfect hidden gem of a beach! The calm, clear water looked so inviting, however I did not have the opportunity to go for a swim. Plenty of others did take advantage!
And the ‘piece de resistance’: the green sand. The sand is a mixture of green crystals (olivines), remnants of the 49,000 year old cinder cone belonging to Mauna Loa volcano with solidified lava (black sand) and coral (white sand). It’s hard to describe without seeing it in person.
Interestingly enough, this is one of the only 4 known green sand beaches in the world! The others can be found in Guam, Galapagos & Norway. It is also the southern-most point of the United States!
A kind soul agreed to give me a ride back in the back of his pickup truck. A very bumpy and dusty 30min later and I was backed.
Before heading back home, I made a quick detour to another famous landmark: Punalu’u Bake Shop, the most southern bakery in the US. A quintessential Hawaiian treat is the malasada, a Portuguese type of donut. I had been told that their lilikoi (yellow passion fruit) malasada can’t be beat! Unfortunately, they were sold out, so I settled for lilikoi cheesecake instead! Luckily as well, there was a food truck parked across the street that sold acai bowls (ah-sah-EE), so I didn’t feel too guilty about indulging in my cheesecake! After a long day, it was exactly what I needed.
On the drive back, I spotted quite a bit of wildlife: I literally had to stop to let a chicken cross the road. No joke. Chickens are everywhere here, they’re like the pigeons of Hawaii. As well, I spotted quite a few mongooses scurrying across the road (the squirrels of Hawaii). And finally, a sheep and lamb blocked the road for several minutes until finally moving to the side. As I drove past, I swear it was laughing at me…