Every island in Hawaii is blessed with beautiful beaches which are found on all the shorelines. Every beach, much like a fingerprint, is entirely different. Although they differ in many ways one of the most obvious differences is color of the sand. White sand beaches will vary in color from absolute white to golden yellow and are the most plentiful color of beach in Hawaii. Green Sand Beach on the Big Island is unique in Hawaii regarding its color and the same could be said about the Red Sand Beach found on Maui. Of all the colors perhaps the black sand beaches found in Hawaii are the most regal of all. The stark black color is striking and provides a beautiful subtle contrast to the surrounding ocean.
Black sand beaches are only found in Hawaii in the islands that have been most recently formed as the sands are derived from the breakdown of the black lava that has been erupted from the volcanoes. Without a question the Big Island, which is still in the process of being formed, has the highest number of black sand beaches of any island but they can also be found on the island of Maui and the island of Molokai. The older islands of Oahu and Kauai will primarily only have the beautiful white and yellow sand beaches.
The Big Island has a number of gorgeous black sand beaches, which are found on the various shorelines. Perhaps the most beautiful and most well known ones are Punalu’u Beach, Kaimu Beach and Kahena Beach which all lie on the east facing coastline where the newest eruptions have taken place. These beaches are listed as the best beaches by last minute. They can also be found however on the northern coast at Pololu Beach and the City of Refuge on the western shoreline.