Black Sand Beaches and Sea Turtles, Big Island: The Honest Version

You cannot play with sea turtles in Hawaii. Green sea turtles are protected under the Endangered Species Act, and federal law requires a six-foot minimum distance from them at all times. Approaching, touching, or attempting to ride a sea turtle can result in fines up to $100,000. The turtles are also wild animals; a startled 300-pound reptile in water moves faster than you do.

What you can actually do - and this is the experience worth having - is watch them haul out onto specific black sand beaches where they rest in genuinely close proximity to visitors. This is a real wildlife encounter, not a performance, and Punalu’u on the Big Island’s south coast is one of the better places on Earth to have it.

Punalu’u Black Sand Beach

Punalu’u sits about 55 miles south of Hilo on Route 11, in the Ka’u district. The black sand is ground basaltic lava - smooth, not sharp, naturally maintained by ongoing lava flows and wave action from the active volcanic system nearby. Green sea turtles (honu) haul out here regularly to rest, particularly in the morning. On busy days there can be 15 or 20 on the beach at once; the black sand makes their dark shells conspicuous against the shoreline.

Freshwater springs enter the ocean at Punalu’u, which the turtles use for hydration. Snorkelling over the underwater spring vents - you can feel the cold freshwater layer meeting the warm salt water - with turtles swimming past is the specific experience most people describe as the highlight of a Big Island visit. The beach has a parking area, restrooms, and a small café.

Papakolea Green Sand Beach

Twenty miles further south at the island’s southernmost point, Papakolea is one of four green sand beaches in the world. The colour comes from olivine crystals eroded from the cinder cone that forms the bay; the enclosed crescent of green-tinged sand backed by volcanic cliffs is unlike anything else in Hawaii. The beach sits inside a collapsed volcanic crater accessible by a 2.5-mile walk across rough ranch terrain from the South Point road.

Trucks at the road end will drive you down for around $10-15 per person each way - informal, on private ranch land by longstanding arrangement, entirely functional. The drive saves 50 minutes of walking in exposed sun. Bring water regardless; there’s nothing for sale at the beach. Sea turtles use this enclosed bay regularly - the calm water and steep beach profile suit them.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

You’re already in this part of the island. Kilauea has been erupting intermittently since 1983 and the volcanic landscape around it is extraordinary. The park entrance fee is $30 per vehicle, valid for seven days. Check the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory website before going for current eruption status - whether there’s active lava to see depends entirely on conditions that week.

The Chain of Craters Road descends 3,700 feet from the summit to the coast through lava fields from multiple eruption periods. The diversity of the volcanic landscape - active craters, lava tubes, coastal cliffs - makes this the most geologically varied road in Hawaii.

Where to Stay

Volcano Village, just outside the national park’s main entrance, has guesthouses and B&Bs in rainforest at $100-180 per night. Kilauea Lodge is the established option. For Punalu’u access, Pahala is the nearest town, five miles from the beach, with simple accommodation.

The Big Island is the most underrated of the main Hawaiian islands. Maui and Oahu concentrate the tourists; the Big Island has an active volcanic landscape, several climate zones, 11 of the world’s 13 climate zones in fact, black sand and green sand beaches, and a quality of wildness that the more developed islands have lost.