Something completely different, but this is also part of the Big Island – beaches. The island is not only rock and volcanoes, although it mostly is.

THE THING ABOUT BEACHES ON THE BIG ISLAND

Don’t be surprised, if you find that most of the “beach parks” on the Big Island are not exactly sandy dunes. It’s more rocky bays that might have a lawn or even some steps and railing to make it easier to get into the water – and more importantly out of it. In fact, I would argue Denmark has more sandy beaches than the island of Hawaii. Which is ironic, given its beach and surfer’s paradise image. But each Hawaiian island is different. This island has so many weird and wonderful places. It’s just, sandy beaches is not its strong suit.

EXTRAORDINARY BEACHES

Having said this, Big Island it has extra special beaches to make up for it. So, for example it has some of those very rare green sand beaches and an unusual amount of black sand beaches, which have a haunting beauty. In fact, huge amounts of black sand is produced as we speak, as black sand is produced where lava pours into the ocean and explodes into fine particles. You can actually see that on some of the Youtube videos that are uploaded by people who have been to the ocean entry of the current lava flow.

WHITE SAND IN HAWAII

White sand on the other hand needs time. On the Hawaiian Islands, white sand means ground down mollusk shells and coral skeletons. So, it’s not surprising that you find white sand more in the north west of Big Island. Just to recapitulate, everything north west on the Hawaiian Islands is older than the south east, because of its unique geological nature.

As to be expected, black sand feels firmer and almost crunchy. The white sand on the other hand feels lighter and smother, due to its rounded particles. The downside is, if it contains a high shell content, like the sand at Waikiki beach, it sticks to your skin and is really hard to get off.

MY FAVOURITE BEACHES

So, here are my favorite white sandy beaches on the big island in order of preference: Makalawena, Mohoili and Kua Bay beach (also know as Manini’owali beach).  These beaches are situated fairly close to each other, but you will need a car to get there and in the case of Makalawena hike a mile across the lava fields.

There are more of course, A-bay, 69 Beach, Hapuna Beach and down in Kailua Kona, Magic Sands. None of these beaches are very expansive from a European point of view. But they are often less crowded and the warm, tropical water and palm trees make more than up for it.