The middle of Day two we drove to Punalu'u beach. It was a clear day and beautiful temps at the higher altitude. Even so, we had the top down (and frequently had the heat on too~~ wimps!) We drove straight down HWY 11 through acres of huge, chunky lava fields and as we descended to sea level on the 45 minute drive we passed through rows of Macadamia trees and the lower we got the more verdant the vegetation got. Eventually leading us to the small road sighn that led us to Punalu'u Beach. WE arrived to a serene, quiet beach.
The sand is actually volcanic ash from the Lava flow at Kapoho. When the lava hits the water it shatters and it is deposited a few miles down the coast here to the beach area. Although it is a beach, the swimming here is very dangersous. More of a place to just go and see the turtles, waves, sea life and beautiful views. the sand was amazing, dark, hot, sparkly, shiny. It is said there is a curse if you take any (besides what sticks to you) That being said, we took none. I did, however, see that when the tour bus showed up the small kiosks of vendors flung open their shack doors and were selling various items ($1.75 for a 20 oz bottle of pop) and postcards with sand in baggies! The same cursed black sand! WTH? Really? I didn't even touch it...
Big sea turtles, both Hawksbill and green come here and lay on the sand. They can be seen swimming around in the rough waves eating seaweed off the rocks. We were lucky enough to see a few the day we were here.
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