Punalu'u
With its shiny jet black sand and tall coconut trees, Punalu'u Beach Park is the most famous black sand beach on the Big Island of Hawaii and one of the most picturesque beach ever seen.
The word "Punalu'u" actually means "diving spring". There are many freshwater springs in the ocean off the beach where the Hawaiians would secure fresh drinking water years ago.They would swim out with their gourds to fill them and swim back.
Yet, you may know Punalu'u to be most famous for its beloved turtles, as it is a favored nesting area for the Hawaiian sea turtles. There, they can be seen in great numbers, calmly basking in the sun on the beach or munching on green algae off the rocks.
There is a plaque on the beach which reads:
"The mystical turtle, Kauila, makes her home in the Kau District at Punalu'u Bay. According to Hawaiian mythology, Kauila was empowered with the ability to turn herself from a turtle into human form and would play with the children along the shoreline and keep watch over them. The people of Kau loved Kauila as the guardian of their children and also for her spring, that gave them pure drinking water.
The presence of Kauila can still be felt today by the sea turtles that inhabit this special place. The Hawaiian "honu", green sea turtle, can be regularly seen in the bay, feeding on limu growing in the shallows. In addition, the "honu'ea", or hawksbill turtle, sometimes enters the bay at night to crawl ashore and deposit eggs in the black sand. Both species of sea turtles are fully protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and wildlife laws of the state of Hawaii."
