Last Tuesday, while we were in Hawaii, we made a journey to the Green Sand Beach (
Papakolea Beach).
It is located near the southern tip of the Big Island, and it was a bit difficult to find because there is no address and you can only get to the beach either on foot or by 4-wheel drive -- we chose foot.
We had difficulty finding where the hiking trail began, where to park the car, and which path to take, but after some confusion and uncertainty, we eventually found both, the entrance to the trail, and the green sand beach.
From Kona side, the drive took about 2 hours. Take Highway 11 all the way south, then turn onto South Point road, until the very end of the road. We parked the car on the side somewhere, walked down toward the shore, and that was where we saw a gate on the left, which led to some visible trails in the dirt. Each trail in the dirt are made by 4x4 vehicles driving through. We weren't entirely sure which way to walk (surely following any one trail would eventually get us there, right? right??) , so we walked along the entire shore, over dried grass and volcano rocks. This allowed me to take lovely photos!
2.5 miles later, we saw the green sand beach in the distance! We were not sure how to get down to the beach, since we were on top of a cliff, but luckily, there was a guy there that pointed to some steps we could take down.
We enjoyed our sack lunch, splashed around the water, and watched the giant sand crabs run around.
On our hike back, we decided to follow a wider sandy trail that looked more direct than the trail-along-the-shore that we took on our hike in. After about 30 minutes of walking, Jeff and I got mad at each other because Jeff decided to take a shortcut over the rocky-sharp volcanic rocks, while I intended on staying on the sandy trail (which looked a bit more roundabout). I decided to follow Jeff, but when I had trouble walking over the rocks, he offered to turn back. I said "since we started on here, lets just get it over with". What I did not know was, "getting it over with" was longer than I anticipated. After wading through the never ending sea of volcanic rocks, all patience was gone and I was mad. But Jeff was mad that I had the chance to turn around but I declined, so I should not be mad. But I was mad he wanted to leave the dirt path to begin with!
Needless to say... the most awkward hike back EVAR. Plus, we were also hot, sandy and filthy.
(The Hawaii you see in TV and movies, where it's cool breezes, palm trees, and mild temperatures... that was no where to be seen).
I think it took longer crawling over the volcanic rocks, than it would have taken if we just took the roundabout dirt path.
On our way back to the condo, we pumped gas and I picked up some snacks -- Jeff snickered that my ice cream sandwich was $3 while my soda was $1.
---
Using the TrailGuru app on the iPhone, see our hike!
(click "replay track" to see our trail in motion!)
---
Starting the hike. Looks more like a desert, than a tropical island
The orange dirt path, with blue waves crashing on the black volcanic-rock shore
We found a lonely tree stump. Falling on those black rocks would be painful.
Jeff tore his sneakers up during the hike
Me climbing down the side of the cliff to get to the green sand beach
Jeff comfy on the "green" sand. Looks more yellow to me.
Look at that sand. Very fine.
There were many large sand crabs. The biggest we've ever seen! They were so cute.
The lovely green sand beach.
the unraveled cake
the slice we "enjoyed"
