A lazy day on the black beach

This morning - it rained hard at night, but temps were still the same! - after breakfast, we drove about half hour to the Pohoiki black sand beach - the newest black sand beach on the Big Island and part of Isaac Hale Beach Park. It is an extremely diverse natural area in the lush Puna district, reachable by Kalapana-Kapoho Rd., Hwy. 137 (right photo). 

During the Leilani Lava Flows (Leilani was the town/development which was completely destroyed during the 4-month eruption of Kilauea volcano in early summer 2018), Pohoiki bay was almost filled with lava but, fortunately, the lava flow stopped a short distance from the harbor. The boat ramp and most of the beach park survived. But, lots of new black sand was gushing into the bay forming an ever growing black sand beach. The sand is still coarse but it will get finer as the waves grind it down. The lava flow created four Natural Ocean Thermal Ponds as well - which appear like hot-water bathtubs. 

 On the beach, waves were too high, undercurrents too strong to go swimming, so we just let us rinse gently by the water, sitting in the hot black sand. The new beach is still pretty tree- and shade-less. Though we didn't like the hot pools that much, we found a nice resting place there, to watch birds and to enjoy laying in the hammock.

Drove into Kalapana - a hippie/drop-out village (left) - that's where the road ends, too, because of older lava flows. In a Hawaiian mom&pop store we bought some stuff for dinner and cold lemonade, then headed back to "our" black sand beach - Kehana Beach (below). And, watched the waves there before calling it a (lazy) day.