Southern Island

Green sand beach is officially known as Papakōlea. The beach itself is carved in a 49,000 years old Puu o Mahana cinder cone spilling into the sea belonging to the Mauna Loa volcano that contains the green crystals (olivine’s) that give the beach its name. The main attraction of this beach is, of course, the crystal green sand. Note that the green crystals that give the beach its name are mixed with black (lava) and white (coral/shells) sand, and that thus some patches of sand are greener than others. It’s difficult to reach; the open bay is often rough; there are no facilities, fresh water, or shade; and howling winds scour the point. Nevertheless, each year the unusual olive-brown sands—made of crushed olivine, a semiprecious green mineral found in eruptive rocks and meteorites—attract thousands of oglers.

Punalu’u beach is the most famous black sand beach of Hawaii and is also known as just ‘Black Sand Beach’. Besides the obvious black sands, another reason for the popularity of this beach is that you can often see endangered Hawksbill turtles and green turtles basking in the sun on the beach!
The sand at the beach is made of small pitch-black fragments of lava, and the beach is lined by rows of coconut palms. The shade below the palms is a good place to hang out because the black sand can get very hot in the sunlight.