Papakolea Green Sand Beach - Big Island, Hawai'i

Hawai’i is home to many special and unique things. While we were on the Big Island, we tried to see and explore as many of these places as possible. One of the things we tried to see were all of the different colored beaches, including Papakōlea and its green sand beach.

​This beach was definitely different for my family, who had never even heard of green sand before this trip!

If you would like to read more about what we did on The Big Island, check out the separate “Kailua-Kona Christmas Vacation” blog post here!

​Before we left the mainland, we read online about this almost one-of-a-kind place. It is debated that Papakōlea is one of only four green sand beaches in the world, but while we were there, we heard about two other green sand beaches.

Looking down onto Papakolea!

​It turns out that there are plenty of others in the world, but supposedly, their size and mineral content don’t qualify them as true “green sand” beaches. Regardless of technicalities, we loved the area!

South Point:

Where the cliff divers were jumping from South Point.

Before we actually made it to the green beach, we stopped at South Point. South Point is the southernmost point of the United States! We watched people jump off cliffs, fish the shores, and party along the edge.

It was a fun scene, but we didn’t stay long. Our destination was a beach not these rocky cliffs.

The southern most U.S. point!

The farm land / beach contrast was very unique.

Papakōlea:

When we arrived at Papakōlea, we chose to hitch a ride instead of walking the rough 2.5 miles of road. We didn’t have enough time for both hiking and swimming, so we chose to spend our time swimming instead of walking.

It took about 20 minutes to ride out to the edge of the crater, and the road was very bumpy!

I would never ever recommend anyone drive the road unless you have a suitable off-road vehicle. It is a very rough road!

See just exactly how bumpy the ride was in my YouTube video down below - my Hohem Gimball make it look pretty smooth but you can still get a feel!

This area was very different from any other beach I've ever been too! Up above the ocean the land is healthy grassland with lots and lots of green rolling hills, but down below, it's a green-sand treasure.

We walked a path along the cliff’s edge before walking down to the sand. We wanted to see the whole area before getting in the water, and we found an incredible 360-degree view of blue water and lush landscape. We stood at the windy tip then finally headed down the crater wall to the sandy bay.

The whole area was carved out by a volcanic eruption that occurred thousands of years ago, and that’s what made the sand green! Mineral deposits of Olivine were exposed by the eruption and are eroded by waves and wind.

​The sand really didn’t look green, but it was definitely a unique color. When I picked up a handful, it was way more obvious that it was green, and places with less foot traffic were definitely more rich in color!

We swam around, laid in the sand, and really enjoyed the afternoon before it was time for us to leave. We rode the bumpy trail back to our car and raved about the time we had just had.

Walking or not, I would recommend this glorious beach to anyone! 

See more from our entire trip to Hawai'i on my Hawaiian Islands Blog Page, where I lay out every where we went!