We woke up early this morning…whether it was from jet lag or excitement, we may never know! We plan on starting our day with an early morning snorkel. We made coffee at camp and quickly got on the road to drive back towards Pu’uhonua o Honauunau National Historical Park where we’ll snorkel a pretty famous rock ledge called Two Step in the famed Honaunau Bay.
Note: the Two Step snorkel spot is not actually inside the National Historical Park, which has a fee ($10/person or $20/car). When you drive towards the Historical Park, you’ll begin to see cars parked just outside of the Park entrance, with a private one-lane road to right, where you might see people walking down towards the water’s edge with snorkel gear in hand. If you plan on visiting the Historical Park at any point throughout the day, it’s worth parking there for Two Step as well.
Two Step was a great snorkel spot where we spotted abundant marine life! It’s a pretty rocky entrance, but the eroded lava beds are smooth enough for easy access into the crystal clear Pacific…just be mindful of the sea urchins living in the tidal holes on the rock surface!
After we putted around the bay for a few hours, we washed up with an outdoor shower connected to our car. After the snorkel, we decided to explore the nearby Historical Park. Honaunau Bay was once a city of refuge and still remains a culturally significant site to Hawaiians today. The site was incredible, we were able to learn about many of the ancient practices and rituals of native Hawaiians.
After a morning of exploring the Honaunau Bay area, both on land and under water, we worked up a serious appetite. It was almost noon at this point, but we decided to have a late breakfast at The Coffee Shack, where we shared an order of macadamia nut French toast, a slice of lilikoi (passionfruit) cheesecake, and an iced Kona coffee…all were delicious, and just look at these views from the restaurant!
After some much needed sustenance, we loaded back into our Jeep and headed further south towards the Captain Cook monument for another snorkel adventure. On our way to Captain Cook, we saw a sign for the Painted Church. Since we were already in the area, we made a quick stop to check out the painted church, which is a historical church with murals painted on the walls inside.
By the time we got to the Captain Cook area, it was already noon and the “parking lot” (which is just a dozen or so spaces on the side of the road) was full. We waited a few minutes, but ultimately decided that we’d come back to Captain Cook at the end of our Big Island loop.
For those that may not know, the Big Island is home to the Southernmost point of the United States, Ka Lea. There is a small buoy that marks the southernmost point, and an infamous ~50ft cliff that people like to jump off of.
Just beyond the southernmost point is the famed Papakōlea Beach. Though Papakōlea translates to “plover flats,” it’s not the Pacific golden plover that brings the majority of visitors to this beach. Papakōlea (also known as Green Sand Beach) is 1 of only 4 green sand beaches in the entire world (the other three are located in Guam, the Galapagos Islands, and Norway). This rarity is directly caused by volcanic activity that deposited the green mineral olivine on the shores.
There are a few options to access Papakōlea. You can opt for a 6-mile out-and-back hike along the coastline, a $20/person ride in the local’s truckbed, or take your own car (just make sure it has 4×4 capabilities and good ground clearance). We opted to take our own vehicle and put our off-roading skills to the test!
Note: If you decide to take your own vehicle on this adventure, we recommend embarking around the time as a local guide in a truck. There are many different routes to take, with varying levels of difficult terrain, so it was helpful staying close to a local and following their chosen path.
The drive itself was a wild adventure, but once we got to the green sand beach the adventure only began. It was remote and felt like we were on a different planet. Puʻu Mahana (an eroded tuff ring from a ~50,000 year old Mauna Loa eruption) seemingly surrounds you, as you must hike down the steep cliffside to access the beach. The traverse was moderately difficult and pretty tight in some areas, but the beach was spectacular! However, if you do choose to stay at the top of the and not hike down, the views are still breathtaking.
After spending some quality R&R at the beach, it was time for the wild return ride. We timed our departure so that we would leave at the same time a local guide was leaving, so we could somewhat follow its path.
When we got back to paved road, we stopped to switch the Jeep out of 4×4 mode and headed north towards camp. We made a quick pitstop at Punalu’u Bake Shop to pick up a loaf of their famous freshly baked sweet bread. Our original plan was to buy a loaf of their famous sweet bread for our mornings here in the Big Island, but once we got there we couldn’t resist all of their different malasadas!
Note: If you arrive to Punalu’u Bake Shop later in the day, all of their fresh (made daily) malasadas are 50% off!
We had a malasada (or two…) and put the rest in our fridge. We weren’t quite ready to go back to camp yet, so we decided to drive a bit past our campground to Punalu’u Black Sand Beach. It was a bit crowded at that point in the day, but amazing to think that this beach was created entirely by lava flow! We dug our feet deep in the sand and just sat there for awhile.
Once we got back to our campsite at Whittington Beach State Park, we made dinner and set up for the night. Who could complain with beach views like this?
Can you spot the evidence of our Papakōlea Green Sand Beach adventure on the Jeep? Tomorrow we will continue our journey around the Big Island. We plan on heading north up the east coast to explore the active volcanic eruptions at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park…so stay posted!