Kehana Beach Photos
(adjunct to Oscar's Hot Springs Photos page 2)

These photos are from black-sand Kehana Beach on the Big Island's southeastern Puna coast, a clothing-optional beach which seems to be popular with many of the folks who visit the Puna district's hot springs and steam caves.

NOTE: In case you want more detail, you can click any photo below to view an enlarged, higher-quality (less .jpg compression) version. Those alternate versions have larger file sizes, so please be patient while they download.



 
Overview of Kehana Beach, from the trail down from the road, facing northeast. The black sand is of relatively recent origin, from a 1955 lava flow that exploded into tiny crystals as it entered cool ocean waters. Erosion hasn't had much time to smooth the rough edges of the sand crystals, so the sand can cut you if a rogue waves sneaks up from behind and knocks you flat on your belly.
 

 
Waves crash into the tide pools at the bottom of the trail to Kehana Beach. Yes, some people have built some nice clifftop homes near the beach (even though the whole area is downhill from the Kilauea volcano, and the beach itself was created by lava flows less than half a century ago).
 
A flock of parrots often visits Kehana Beach. Dolphins also frolic offshore (but are a little harder to catch on film).
 

 
This tree at Kehana Beach hangs on, even though undercut by the waves and with salt water invading its roots. It didn't start off this close to the water, but the ocean moved closer to the tree when the entire beach (along with much of the Puna coast) fell several feet during a 1975 earthquake.
 

Return to photos page 2 (hot springs and steam caves on Hawaii's Big Island)


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© 1999-2001, 2004, 2007 Oscar Voss