Kaimu Black Sand Beach
Kalapana, HI
Kaimu Black Sand Beach is quite literally being rebuilt in real time, a new shoreline forming atop the same 1990 lava flow that buried the original palm lined beach and most of the town of Kalapana beneath it. A short walk across a marked path over the old flow leads to a young coconut grove and a thin, shifting strip of black sand that comes and goes with the surf.
A genuinely remarkable story of a beach rebuilding itself after total destruction, though there's rarely much actual sand to speak of and the surf isn't one for swimming.
How we score beachesDon't expect the sand to look the same twice. It genuinely disappears for weeks at a time and reforms overnight, so treat whatever you find as a snapshot of a beach still becoming itself.
A free lot near the end of Highway 130 serves the trailhead, with a roughly 300 meter walk out to the beach along the marked eco path.
The path crosses bare, uneven lava rock before reaching the young palm grove and sand, not manageable for strollers or wheelchairs.
Puna stays wet and warm in every season, and the ocean here runs rough enough, especially in winter, that this is a beach for walking and reflecting more than swimming.
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