When we started this adventure, we agreed that while we were working on the property, we would spend at least two hours every day at the beach. Any beach. Not too far away from our property is the “world famous” Punalu’u Black Sand Beach. I guess I’ve lived a sheltered life, because before I came to Hawai’i I had never heard of it. I knew that there were beaches with black sand, but I never really knew the names of any specific beaches.
There are two turn offs from highway 11 that lead to Punalu’u Beach. The road makes a loop with the park in the middle of the loop. One road that is closest to Na’alehu leads past a development called Sea Mountain. There is a golf course with condominiums. There were many more planned to be built, but local opposition and the economic collapse in Japan (the developers and owners were based in Japan) caused the developers to scale back.
The parking lot is along the road past the condos, and near the welcoming sign before the actual bay with the beach. At the parking lot there is a building with restrooms and showers. At Hookena Beach, the shower on the outside of the restoooms has hot water. The supply line is above ground along the side of the road and the sun warms the pipe. The road to Hookena Beach is about 2 miles long, so the water has two miles to warm up. I’m not sure where the water comes from for the restrooms or the shower at Punalu’u Beach. One of these days, I will have to stop in and try out the shower facilities.
From the parking lot, there is a short walk out to the bay and the beach, past a rocky ledge of old lava. The sand is extremely granular, and course, not powdered fine like many white sand beaches. A huge draw to this beach is the turtles.
Loggerhead turtles three, four and maybe even five feet across sunning themselves on the beach, or lounging in the water at the shore line. The turtles nest on the beach here and the locals will stake out any nests and keep watch over them to make sure that they are not disturbed. It is against the law in Hawaii to get too close to the turtles. I think it is something like ten feet, but I’m not sure.
There is a building there across the sand, and about twenty yards into the trees, facing the bay. It looks like a large “A” frame type structure – either a private residence or possible a vacation rental. On the sand is a lifeguard station – but I did not see any lifeguards in it or on the beach anywhere.
The road continues past the paved parking lot, through the golf course, and curves behind the “A” frame. Before it turns back towards the highway, there is a turn off back towards the beach. The “A” frame is on the right, there is a large ruin of buildings in the trees and vegetation on the left that have been abandoned.
Looks like they have been abandonded for twenty years or more. Between these ruins and the beach is a large freshwater lagoon/pond. The lagoon and the ocean is separated by about twenty feet of black sand with very tall coconut palms growing at the edge of the lagoon.
There is also a plywood building that provides concessions and souveniers. On both sides of this access, there are areas for parking.
Turtles aren’t the only wildlife here. We also saw a couple of white turkeys strutting around in this parking area.
There is also a few of the rodents that are most prolific on the islands – the mongoose.
A little ways past this turn off is another unpaved road that leads towards the ocean on the east side of the abandoned building and the lagoon.
This leads out to another parking area.
Beyond this parking area is a short, steep boat ramp and what appears to be the concrete floor and foundation of a large building that is long since gone.
After doing some research on Punalu’u Beach, I find that this entire area is privately owned. The park is leased by the county from the company that owns the condo development. The condos were originally developed in the early 1970’s along with a restaurant and cultural center behind the lagoon. A tsunami in 1975 wiped out the restaurant and cultural center.
I have found that the water here is quite cold, and the entry into the water is very rocky. I would recommend wearing beach shoes when entering this bay.
I think that the water in the freshwater lagoon comes from springs high up on the mountain side of Mauna Loa. This water then percolates through the sand and into the bay. I can feel the cold water coming up from the floor of the bay between the rocks and through the sand. Needless to say, I did not spend a great deal of time in the water here. A beautiful setting, but the water is just too cold for me.
TTFN
I found an interesting paper written by someone as a school project. It is located here: https://hilo.hawaii.edu/campuscenter/hohonu/volumes/documents/Vol07x01TheFutureofPunaluu.pdf
An environmental study was conducted by the owners of Sea Mountain in 2006. It is located here: http://oeqc2.doh.hawaii.gov/EA_EIS_Library/2006-10-08-HA-DEIS-Sea-Mountain-Punaluu.PDF
In 2007 an application was submitted to the National Register for Historical Preservation for the area of Punalu’u. A press release can be found here with a copy of the application: https://www.hawaiicountycdp.info/kau-cdp/pre-adoption/other-information/about-ka-u/ka-u-history/Punaluu_Historic_District_Nomination.pdf
TropicalCastaway 