Back to Punalu’u

We went back to see the turtles. Unfortunately it was not our night- one was there when we arrived and we saw at least one more swimming, but none came ashore while we were there. 

We liked this sign. It’s not a message to middle schoolers- it was created by them.




We still enjoyed the view! On that outcropping of land there is a Heiau. Another ancient Hawaiian temple.

The sand is black and fine but not particularly soft. Ground up lava feels more like glass than sand.

After several hours of turtle watching (or not, as the case was for us) they got bored and played in the sand.

Sam's sand art drawing of Indi.

Sea Mountain

A small condo complex with a pool and hot tub. A perfect spot for our last night in Hawaii.

More games of tube chicken in the pool.

Punalu’u Black Sand Beach

A beautiful spot with a beach of fine black sand. It’s ground up lava that’s churned by the surf to make a lovely beach. It’s also known for turtle spotting.

This is the first time we have seen evidence of nesting turtles.

Whittington Beach Park

This is a hidden gem of you like watching the surf pound the rocks on the shore. We definitely do so we enjoyed the stop. 

The shore here is quite rocky from old lavas flows. 

These were some of the best lava tubes we have seen. 

The old pier (bombed by the IS military after Pearl Harbor to reduce enemy landing options) was a particularly great spot for wave watching.

Another food truck lunch

A delicious lunch of shrimp, rice, and salad. We learned that most shrimp is not produced here in Hawaii. They have just perfected the methods of cooking it.

Punalu’u Bake Shop

We asked for food suggestions at our coffee stop and we’re directed here. It is a bread bakery with malasadas. It was worth a stop for the smell alone! Turns out we bought some of their Hawaiian sweet bread in Volcano and it was delicious! This time we got three flavors of malasadas- lilikoi, guava, and chocolate. They were so good that we ate them before we took a photo! (Though the consensus was that the Tex Drive-in was better.)

Kau Coffee Mill

We saw the signs for this coffee plantation and mill and thought we would check it out. I’m so glad we did. They were offering a free tour about 10 minutes after we arrived! (Free tours are hard to find in Hawaii- most cost between $30-$40 per person!) They also had many samples to try. Some were better than others but the coffee here is pretty good!

Sam started with a smoothie.

Then we walked into the fields to learn about how coffee grows.




Red berries are ready to pick. The coffee bean is inside. We learned all about the different ways to extract and dry the beans. It’s amazing how many options there are!

Eventually the dry beans are bagged and ready for roasting. There are also many was to roast the beans. Who knew?

Tree Molds

As we left Volcano there was a small section of the park on the north side of the road. We went to explore thinking we might do the 10 miles on a one lane road to the Maunaloa lookout. That part of the road was closed (Due to fire danger?!?). We were able to explore the tree molds. They are lava molds that form when the flow overtakes a tree but does not incinerate it immediately. The tree eventually gets so hot it bursts into flames but not before the lava has made a mold around it. These are from a much older flow so some have new trees growing in them.