02/15/2025
(šPapakolea // Hawaii's Big Island) š There are only a handful of green sand beaches in the world (Guam, Norway, Galapagos Islands, and HAWAII) so this really is one unique beach.
And itās an adventure to get to it! Located down at South Point (the southernmost point on the Big Island AND the US), youāll either need to do a long, dusty, hot hike along the coast or pay for the ālocal shuttleā at the trailhead.
If you do the hike, be prepared for about 6 miles round trip in extremely windy and hot conditions. There is NO shade (even at the beach) and while itās not much of an incline, I would take a gallon of water per person and big shade hats.
Hereās the deal about the shuttleā¦itās controversial. Itās technically illegal, but itās allowed to operate. The land is owned by the Department of Hawaiian Homelands so the guys who run the shuttles (all native Hawaiian) feel like they have the right to do what theyāre doing. Itās controversial because all the offroading has torn up the land and many feel that it has ādesecratedā an important Hawaiian cultural site.
Whatever you decideā¦itās $20/person and the driver takes you out and waits for about an hour and brings you back. It takes about 30 minutes each way to drive. And of course, itās completely uninsured ; )
However you do it, once you get there, itās pretty spectacular. The beach is down in a caldera and you have to climb a little bit to get down to the sand.
I go back and forth between whether the sand looks green or not. It definitely depends on how the light hits it. And while itās not bright LIME green, it for sure has green undertones and kind of sparkles.
And unlike the black sand beach at Punaluāu or the black and red sand beaches on Maui which all have a thick, coarse sand (almost like really tiny pebbles), the sand at Papakolea is so smooth and soft under your feet.