Punalu'u, Hawaii, United States

Punaluʻu (pronounced [punəluʔu]) is a census-designated place and rural community in the Koʻolauloa District on the island of Oʻahu, City & County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. In Hawaiian, punaluʻu means "coral dived for", or in the case of the fishpond once located here, possibly "spring dived for". There is a very small commercial center located beside Punaluʻu Stream, and several condominium projects, including a high-rise building, located at Haleaha Beach and Kaluanui Beach. At the 2010 Census, the CDP had a population of 1,164. A fringing reef extends off the shoreline. There are several beaches and a beach park in Punaluʻu, including Punaluʻu Beach Park, Punaluʻu Beach, Haleaha Beach, and Kaluanui Beach. Sugar cane was once grown on the narrow coastal plain inland from the highway.

Punalu'u, Hawaii, United States

Dang if these trips are never long enough! Hawaii is such a fascinating geological wonderland, but lest you think I ignored the beaches, I can say that in the tradition of the true tourist, I did in fact visit some beaches. I, uh, didn't snorkel, or surf, or boogie-board, and I tended to be picky about the particulars. Not the sand and sun, mind you, but what backed up the beach. The nice ones have cliffs.

The Big Island of Hawai'i is not actually noted for having lots of cliffs, being that many of the volcanoes are still active, and being shields, they tend not to have overly steep slopes. But on the northeast coast there was a massive landslide hundreds of thousands of years ago that formed some of the most scenic coastal cliffs on the islands: Waipo and Pololu.

Waipo Valley, seen above, is a thousand foot deep valley that ends at a black sand beach. It was once as much as a thousand feet deeper, but the island has been subsiding, and the valley has filled with alluvium. There used to be a village on the flats, but most of the buildings were destroyed by tsunamis in 1946 and 1960. A few people live very simply in the valley today. The drive down the road is for 4WD vehicles only.

The other beautiful beach is north of Waipo, and is accessed by a road out from Hawi on the northernmost point of the Big Island. A wonderful trail crossed the cliffs, but was severely damaged by the 2006 earthquake

Towards the south end of the island, there is a black sand beach at Punalu'u that is a favorite resting area for sea turtles. Most of the rock on the island is basalt or basaltic glass, hence the occasional black sand. If there are coral reefs and coral-munching parrotfish, the beach sands will be white or tan colored, being composed of small fragments of the coral. The one kind of beach that doesn't occur is a quartz sand beach, as there is no quartz to be found anywhere on the islands, except as an occasional agate filling vugs in basalt flows. In a few instances, olivine is the dominant mineral on the beach, leading to a green sand beach!

Back on Oahu, there are some beaches that are just almost stereotypically beautiful, especially on the north and east shores, away from Waikiki. The beach in this picture is Lai'e, which is on the close to the northern tip of the island, near the Polynesian Cultural Center. Your impression is correct: no crowds, easy access, and nice shade trees.

The beach is also called Pounders Beach, probably for what happens if you surf too far to the right side of the beach. Some of the beach sand has been lithified (hardened), and is being undercut by the waves into the striking overhanging cliff (one heck of a wave-cut notch).

Hanalei Bay, Hawaii, United States

Hanalei is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kauaʻi County, Hawaiʻi, United States. The population was 450 at the 2010 census. Hanalei means "lei making" in Hawaiian. Alternatively, the name Hanalei also means "crescent bay" and may be indicative of the shape of Hanalei Bay

Hanalei Bay is the largest bay on the north shore of Kauaʻi island in Hawaii. The town of Hanalei is at the midpoint of the bay.

Hanalei Bay consists of nearly two miles of beach, surrounded by mountains. In the summer, the bay offers excellent mooring for sailboats, stand up paddle boarding and swimming. The Princeville community overlooks from the northeast entrance to the bay of Hanalei River, 22°12′52″N 159°29′52″W. During the winter the surf becomes large and is a favorite surf location.

The wetlands of Hanalei Bay were used to grow taro by ancient Hawaiians. By the 1860s, the new crop was rice, which was shipped to Honolulu to become the second largest export crop of the islands. The Hanalei Pier was built to help Hanalei farmers move their crops to market. The covered pier's location near the mouth of the Hanalei River and Black Pot beach has long been a favorite family gathering place for fishing, picnicking, swimming, and playing.

On April 5, 1824, King Kamehameha II’s royal yacht, Pride of Hawaii, sank near the mouth of the Waiʻoli River, 22°12′14″N 159°30′37″W, on the southwest corner of the bay after its crew struck a 5-foot-deep (1.5 m) reef a hundred yards offshore. It is believed the captain and crew were drunk at the time. A large section of the ship’s hull washed ashore in 1844 in a winter storm surge, but most of this historic wreck remains buried in silt in the bay. In 1995–2000, archaeologists from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History excavated the wreck and recovered more than 1,200 artifacts. During this excavation, a 40-foot (12 m) section of the stern was discovered, documented, and then re-buried where it was discovered.

The Waiʻoli mission at the southwest included a school and church since the 1830s.

Japanese author Haruki Murakami wrote a short story entitled "Hanalei Bay" set in the area. The story is included in the collection Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman. Hanalei Bay also served as a filming location for the 1958 film South Pacific.