Hawaii: Punalu'u Black Sand Beach Park

Punalu'u Black Sand Beach Park
Ninole Loop Rd.
Naalehu, HI

Now of course I did not road trip to Hawaii from New York. You can't drive to Hawaii from any state. Why does Hawaii have interstate highways then? I don't know.

But back in December of 2009, my Cousin Kelly and I went to Hawaii with a tour group. We had one day all to ourselves on the Big Island of Hawaii. And what did we choose to do? Um, get on a bus that drove around the perimeter of the island to do some site seeing. 

I did try to convince the bus driver to let me drive the bus just a few feet in the parking lot so I could say I drove in all 50 states but it was a no-go. I was a little like that pigeon in the children's book, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems. "Please? I'll be your best friend!" 

One of the stops on the tour was at this remarkable beach. 

The sand really is black. It is composed of basalt which comes from the lava that is flowing into the ocean.

There is a legend associated with this beautiful black sand. Legend has it that anyone who removes stones from any of the black sand beaches will suffer the wrath of the Goddess Pele. Pele, the Goddess of fire and volcanoes, sees the sand and stones as her children and exacts a terrible curse upon those tourists who thoughtlessly pocket these nature-made mementos of their vacation.

There is some truth to this legend as many hotels in Hawaii and Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park receive numerous packages from mainlanders returning rocks and sand with notes claiming that they have suffered sudden, unprecedented bad luck since having taken the fragments of lava. And not just mild bad luck but serious bad luck; death of loved ones and pets, broken relationships, serious health issues, legal problems, financial troubles, etc. And apparently the only way to appease Pele is to return her possessions to her.

Now some believe this curse was made up by park rangers who were fed up with tourists desecrating the park. I personally really don't believe in superstitions myself but if I were you, I wouldn't try it.