Black Sand Beaches in Hilo

Does anybody have directions to the black sand beaches. We will be in Hilo for a day in a few weeks and would love to put my toes in the black sand. We will be driving out to the volcano and doing some hiking also.

Deb

I've never searched for black sand on that part of the island, but I can say that Punalu'u has plenty of it and has a wonderful backdrop of a palm fringed pond with numerous friendly ducks. The slope of Mauna Loa rises in the distance. Check a road map - Punalu'u is almost to the southern tip of the island, past Volcano park, heading south from Hilo. The nearest town is Na'alehu, the southern most community in the USA, and the bakery there is awesome (Portugese sweet bread). We easily made it to Punalu'u during our call in Kona, and getting there from Hilo would be less distance.

TikiTodd - thanks for answering this thread. We will go down that way. About how long is the drive from Hilo? I love the sweet bread, living in Massachusetts we have that around us all the time....

Deb

Punalu'u is about 55 miles from Hilo. It's not as bad as you might think; it is on the same road as HVNP, and from there to the Black Sand Beach is very fast - 45 or 55 mph and straight. Just note that even under the best conditions it will take 2 hours+ from HVNP to visit.

sceptic - I am sorry but what is HVNP? Is the Hilo Volcano National Park? We get in at 8:00 so I figure off the ship by 9:00 pick up car and off we go, we have to be back to the ship by 3:00 will that be enough time?

Thanks

Deb

I think it would be pushing it to try and do HVNP, some hiking and the black sand beach...especially when picking up and returning a rental car. To squeeze all of that in, you would literally have to blast through the volcano park...with not much time to explore. Also, while driving here on the Big Island, one has to leave a little wiggle room in the schedule just in case there is an accident on one of the roads. As you can see on a map, there are very few roads here, so if there is a back up on one road, there is really NO way to detour around it. Have fun whatever you do!!

It's Hawaii Volcanoes National Park; commonly referred to simply as Volcanoes National Park or VNP. Just an FYI.

beachchick

Sorry. HVNP = Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

I agree with Kapoho. HVNP (see above... :) ) and the Punalu'u black sand beach all in a single port day is very tough. I'm figuring over 150 miles of driving if you also go down to the end of Chain of Craters road (to see lava entering the ocean).

It's hard to recommend this.

Punalu'u is about 55 miles from Hilo. It's not as bad as you might think; it is on the same road as HVNP, and from there to the Black Sand Beach is very fast - 45 or 55 mph and straight. Just note that even under the best conditions it will take 2 hours+ from HVNP to visit.

When you say 2+ hours to visit this black sand beach, are you including roundtrip driving from the VNP and some time spent at the beach? Also, do you know how long the drive would be from Punalu'u back to the Hilo port?

Are there any private tour guides available with vans at the pier in Hilo? We like to arrange our own tours. Is there a web site for this port?

Wow thanks for all the info everyone;) We did the Volcano last year so we thought we would by pass it this year and we would be able to see the beaches and the lava going into the ocean. My question now would be could we see the beaches and the lava as long as we do not stop at the volcano. Maybe we should just go to the black beach in Punalu'u and spend time there or should we just go were the lava flows into the ocean?

I really appreciate everyone's input....

Deb

We just got back from Pride of Aloha, and I reccomend going to the Black Sand beach 1st after getting the rental car, and heading down Hwy 11. You can go pretty fast down that road. Then head back to the park and take the Chain of Craters road as far as you feel comfortable on time going. You get to see the lava pouring into ocean from several views, plus see some great past lava flows, all while viewing the ocean. We stopped in VNP for some lunch, went to the lava tube, and went down the chain of craters road, and made it back with plenty of time. The black sand beach was great. Not crowded, sea turtles sunning and in the tide pools, plus great scenery. I wish we would have skipped the VNP lunch and Lava Tube, and just headed down the chain of craters road to get closer to the lava. If it were not for the fact that the ship goes past the lava at night, I would have considered just staying on the island, and meeting the ship in Kona. Also, you could do the black sand beach from Kona if you wanted to. Just a little bit of a longer drive, so it would take up most of your day.

Just my .02 ...have fun!

On our cruise, it was mass caos getting the rental car, b/c of the people trying to squeeze in the shuttles. My suggestion, get off the boat as soon as possible to be on one of the 1st shuttles to the airport.

We did the Volcano last year so we thought we would by pass it this year and we would be able to see the beaches and the lava going into the ocean. My question now would be could we see the beaches and the lava as long as we do not stop at the volcano. Maybe we should just go to the black beach in Punalu'u and spend time there or should we just go were the lava flows into the ocean?

Deb

I will assume you're asking the following: Is it feasible to pick up your car at Hilo, immediately drive to Punalu'u (black sand beach) then back to HVNP and not stop at any place near the park entrance but just drive down chain of craters road to see lava entering the ocean?

Hmm. I don't think it's possible. I'm trying to figure a timeline. Let's say you pick up your vehicle at starting time 0 hours. It will take - rough estimate - 1.6 hours to get to the black sand beach at Punaluu, assuming you drive the speed limit. Then you spend an hour (maybe less, YRMV) at the beach. Then an hour back to the TOP of the chain of craters road (maybe longer, if there's a line of cars entering HVNP. So that's about 3.5 hours. Then down chain of craters road, about 40 minutes.

Let's examine this. Let's say you get your rental car and are ready to start driving at 9 AM. You will be at the bottom of chain of craters road between 12:30 and 1:00 PM (w/o stop for lunch.)

That is NOT enough time to walk out to see the lava, which is probably over an hour in each direction. Then drive back up the chain of craters road, back to Hilo. I just can't see how this can work. You'd have to content yourself with only a brief stop at the black sand beach, then a brief look at steam in the distance at the coast. and a LOT of time driving.

Personally, I think the choice between these two is clear. If you have the physical ability to walk to the point where lava is entering the ocean, by all means do so. Punaluu is nice. But it's a beach. With coarse black sand. If you can actually see lava emerging from the ground and either entering the ocean or simply forming new land you see something truly special and wonderful.

I would always recommend calling the National Park or check the current Kilauea activity website to ensure that there is at least some activity at the coast before heading out. One thing I'll grant you about Punaluu - when you go to the black sand beach it will at least have the courtesy of being there. You can't always say that about lava activity at the ocean. But if it's pumping, do the lava.

And another point, is if your schedule is empty on Kona, you can always head to the black sand beach from there, although probably a longer drive. We did not walk to the lava, becuase of the length of walk, but we did drive as far as we could get, and still had time to make it back.

I am so glad I happened upon this thread. We are a party of 4 couples cruising on the Wind in March. We will be in Hilo on Thursday, Mar. 2, 9:30 to 5:00 and Kona on Friday, Mar. 10, 8:00 to 5:00. Our origianl plan was to snorkle in Kona and visit VPN in Hilo, renting cars in both locations. I would really like to see a black sand beach and had thought about doing this from Hilo. After reading through this thread, however, it sounds like we should change our plans. So, I have two questions:

If we spend the day at VPN and go through Thurston's lava tube, could we fit in a visit to the winery?

On the Kona side, would it be feasible to drop off the snorklers at Kahuluu beach, drive to Punalu'u black sand beach and then drive back to pick up the snorklers again?

Thanks!

Can you see the winery on your VNP day? Absolutely. It's just west of the park entrance, right off the main road. 20-30 minutes, tops. The wines are (charitably) interesting.

From Kahaluu to Punaluu is about 60 miles, but it's somewhat curvy at times (although a fine road). I'd say 1.8 hours each way, without stops. Realistically the trip will be 5 hours or so, giving you an hour at the black sand beach. But there's a lot of interesting stuff along the way, like City of Refuge, coffee plantations, south point, etc. I'd say 8 hours with stops. YRMV. Ask the snorkelers if they want to be at the beach that long.

Thanks, Sceptic. We'll probably need to plan for a second car so the snorkelers can do whatever they want to do too.

There is a black sand beach close to the pier in Hilo called Richardson's Ocean Park, I'd say not even ten minutes drive away from the pier. We went here and snorkeled and it was really neat, lots of lava rock and of course some black sand. It's not a very big spot, but it's enough to get a good swim and lay around for a bit. there was a lifeguard on duty when we were there. Check out www.hawaiiweb.com and look for beaches on all the islands. good website on locations and good pics.

That's cool! We'll have to check it out.

One of the people joining us would like to know about the water temp these days. Will it be warm enough to snorkel in March?

Thanks in advance!

I am will be posting the pictures of the black beach that we went to in November. I am so glad we did! It was truly awesome, even have pictures of the turtles on the beach. Well worth the drive, we made it back in plenty of time. You have to get off the ship rather quickly and get to the rental cars. We are Hertz Gold members so there was no waiting. The drive was about 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 of an hour to the beach. We even went to the bakery and sampled all of the breads at the next town south. When I get the photos up tomorrow I will let you know.

:cool: We are thinking of doing the black sand beach and VNP both also. POAm says it is in port 8:00 to 7:00. What time should we try to return car? I am thinking around 5:00 to 5:30. With that much time it appears we should have time for both. What do you think?:confused:

Also, what are the MUST DO things to see in VNP?

southern guy, the answer to your questions are in this thread. Personally, I'd eschew the black sand beach and spend the whole day at HVNP. That's just me. The big thing to do IMO is to see the lava entering the ocean, assuming it's still going on when you're in Hilo and it's in a locale that is amenable to your hiking capabilities. Right now it's a pretty long hike but definitely doable for those in reasonable shape. Search the Hawaii section for lots of info about this hike.

If you're not up to a long hike, the volcano can still captivate you for a day. Kilauea Iki trail (superb!) Thurston lava tube, Halemaumau, Pu'u Huluhulu trail, Vocano House, the visitor center and the Jaggar Museum, plus the funky village of Volcano.

If you really want to see the black sand beach at Punaluu, it's 30 miles (fast miles, like 40-45 minutes each way) west of the park entrance. Reasonable to think it's about a 3-hour excursion from the park entrance, unless you just want to walk on the beach, acknowledge that it is indeed black, then drive back.

Don't laugh, I've seen people do this.

I don't know about the times that your rental car can be picked up and must be returned. Suffice to say you really can't do the active lava hike AND the black sand beach. But you could do some of the other stuff and the black sand beach. But man, if you have the chance to see active lava flows entering the ocean, don't pass it up. It's truly amazing.

Here is a portion of my POAm review. It covers the day in Hilo.

"In Hilo, we went to Punalu'u Black Sand Beach and to the Volcano National Park. This can be done in one day. We were off the boat at 8am, and were due back at 5:30pm. We made it back at 5pm with no problems. You pass the Volcano Park on the way to the black sand beach. The Punalu'u Beach is worth the drive! It was gorgous. It was the first time we had ever seen a black sand beach. If you get there early, there will only be a few people there. Eventually, the tour buses start showing up and it gets crowded. I think we were there before 10am. It is about 30 minutes from the Volcano National Park. So allow for an extra hour of driving if you choose to go there (30 minutes there and 30 minutes back to the park). After the beach, we entered the VNP. We decided to only do some of Crater Rim Drive. We drove up to the Volcano House first. You have to go there and check out the view from behind the Volcano House. It is gorgeous, and very easy to access! Next, we went to the steam vents. They were kicking out steam everywhere. The steam was very warm. It left us amazed. There is a great view from the steam vent pulloff. It is a short walk to get there. Many people missed it because they did not take the time to find the path. After the steam vents, we turned around and went the other way on Crater Rim Drive back passed the Volcano House. We stopped at Kilauea IKI Crater, and took in the view. That is a cool stop. The landscape is incredible. You can see where the lava burst right out of the side of the crater. After Iki, we decided to skip the lava tube and catch it on the way out. Instead, we headed down Chain of Craters Road. If you have time, GO DOWN THIS ROAD! It is incredible. One minute you are driving through lush green rainforest, and the next minute you are driving past volcanic lava fields that make you feel like you just landed on the moon. There is a lookout right before you start the BIG descent down to the coastline. Stop there if you see it. The view is incredible! I forget the name of it. Most of the descent happens after that lookout. Slow down and drive carefully. We made it down to the end of the road, and hiked about a 1/2 mile to the lava field. It was awesome. The lava there is only a few years old. You can hike on it a short ways right up to the coastline. It is a long drop down to the waterline. Be careful. Waves were crashing into the lava wall. If you fell off, it would be your end. But anyway, you can see steam billowing into the sky right off the coast a couple miles away. That is where the lava is entering the ocean. It is a sight to see. Don't worry about hiking across the lava field to see it up close. That would take all day, and it would be hard on your body. The lava field is unforgiving to knees and ankles. After we rested on the rocks for awhile, we headed back up Chain of Craters Road making a quick stop to see the Sea Arch. It is ocated right at the rangers station. It is a very short walk to the coast to see it. Pretty cool. After getting back up to Crater Rim Drive, we walked through the lava tube up until the point where the lights go out. You can walk further, but you would need a flashlight. And at this point we would have needed more time. We quickly exited the park and cruised back to the rental car dropoff (Thrifty). We were back on the boat around 5pm. We were exhausted, but what a day."

It is possible to do all of that with the time available in Hilo. However, keep in mind that we had backpacks full of water and snacks the whole way. We did not stop for lunch. We ate breakfast on the ship before we left, and then ate dinner right when we got back on the ship. It was one of the most incredible days of our lives. If you have never seen a black sand beach, you should let that drive you to complete the beach and the park. If it is not a passion, skip the beach and just do the park. You will probably be able to do the entire Crater Rim Drive & Chain of Craters Road.

Here is the link to the rest of my review (in case anyone wants more info):

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=261293

When we were there a huge piece of the land (2-4 acres) had fallen into the ocean and the lava was really pouring out. I believe that happened 3 or 4 days before we had arrived. Our next door neighbors did a helicopter tour out of Kona and took some excellent pictures of it. Also on our cruise we had to be back on the ship at 3:30 because we were leaving early. Like I said we did have plenty of time and we were even able to do a little shopping.

Deb