Mahana Beach — Attraction in Hawaii

This place is something to behold. As one of four green sand beaches in the world, if you come to Big Island you need to take the time to visit here. I will warn you up front, if you are expecting emerald or neon or vibrant green sand, you are going to be disappointed. The sand is an olive green color, with a hint of black and gold mixed in. The green sand comes from the mineral olivine, which, as you might have guessed from the name, is an olive color.

To get to the beach, you park about 2.5 miles from the beach. There are three options to cover the 2.5 miles: walk, drive yourself or pay for a ride. If you choose to walk, be prepared. There are no windbreaks, it can be very hot, it is very dry, dusty and very, very windy. Take water and wear shoes. And this is also the last bathroom before the beach.

If you choose to drive yourself, your vehicle MUST be four wheel drive. Rental car companies will NOT allow you to take their vehicles here. If you do so, you do it at your own risk!

Lastly, you can pay one of the locals at the parking lot to drive you. Options are ATVs, trucks with seats bolted in the bed or standing in the bed while holding onto rails. We paid a nice lady $20 per person, roundtrip. She also waited while we spent about one hour at the beach. If you have small kids, issues walking or are too worn out, I recommend the truck option. We also tipped our driver for waiting on us. Our driver also accepted Venmo so cash is not the only option. Just ask your driver what forms of payment they accept.

Once you are to the volcanic tuff, you have to amble down a set of stairs then through some cool little crevasses in the rock. Not difficult but I recommend shoes and just be careful.

Once at the bottom you are free to swim, body surf, snorkel and more. You can dig through the sand and see the olivine mixed in with the volcanic rock. It is really a site to see. Be mindful of the water. The waves can sneak up on you and the undertow can be strong. There are NO lifeguards. If you get sucked out, it will most likely take a hour before help arrives. I cannot emphasize this enough. Don't be an overconfident tourist who thinks that because you can swim in a pool that you are good to go in the ocean.

A few rules for Mahana Beach:

Do NOT take any sand Pack out whatever you brought to the beach, there are no trash cans here There are no bathrooms Be mindful of those are you. If you get into trouble, these folks are your only assistance

Please be respectful of the aina and treat it like it was...

Are you someone that likes to take your life in your hands and live a little dangerously? Do you enjoy questionable decisions made by strangers working for low wages? Do you enjoy nature?

If you answered yes to all these questions, the beautiful Mahana green sand beach is for you!

First, let’s talk about the beach. It’s an olive gold greenish color. The waves and cove it’s located in are quite beautiful and it is very striking. It is also quite dangerous. We watched the waves stack up and crash on the shore, sometimes being at least 10 feet (3+ meters) high. Like any beach, I’m sure conditions vary so your results may vary. While we were there we saw a turtle swimming around, which was awesome.

Now let’s talk about the hike and the options that exist if you don’t want to walk 5 miles round trip.

The hike has no shade and is not very vertical but it is going to be a little punishing because of the weather. You need water, appropriate (hiking) shoes, and should be somewhat covered from the sun (long sleeves) if you are going to do it right. We saw many people that were not prepared but decided to go for it anyway. This is both dangerous and ill-advised. Please prepare properly for a multi-hour hike in the sun.

The alternative is the “local ride” choice. There is a lovely group of “good ol’ boys/gals” waiting to ferry you and your party to the beach… plus a half dozen or more strangers in the back of a pick up truck for only $20 per person round trip. See photo for what that looks like. PLEASE BE AWARE: This is NOT a mostly-safe ride where everyone is strapped in and the road is rough but rideable. It is an extremely bumpy and hazardous dirt/gravel trail where you feel like the vehicle could tip over on several occasions. I would not, for example, allow my children on this ride. Even though the drivers do this every day, it is very likely that, at some point in the future a truck will tip over and someone will be killed. The closest comparison I can think of are the treacherous bus ride videos we have all seen in China or India where death seems to wait around every corner. You feel like you are in one of those videos.

The ride was terrifying and I wouldn’t do it again (even though we saw a seal on the way) but it was better than walking...

The real truth about Green Sand Beach PLEASE READ!!: You will get hustled by the shuttle company! My boyfriend and I were quoted $40 roundtrip for the both of us and my boyfriend negotiated the price to $30 roundtrip for both. We were informed we could pay through cash and/or venmo for cash back if needed. We were with a group of two other couples (so six of us total) and we all agreed we wanted to stay for 2 hours + and the shuttle personnel informed us she "could not guarantee we would have a ride back" even though all six of us were paying around trip prices. Instead, all six of us decided to pay one way passage and find a ride back. When we were heading to the beach, it was only noon so we all figured the shuttle would have to bring several more parties to the beach anyway. Why is the shuttle important? Because the hike to the beach is 8 miles long round trip through some pretty rocky and uneven terrain.

I want to also say the beach is very much worth it! Not a lot of people travel to it and the scenery is beautiful. Both my boyfriend and I really enjoyed our time there and you will really be glad you made the effort to get there.

That being said, we were able to catch a ride (with our original driver i might add) after 2.5 hours of beach time. Once we returned to the parking lot, we asked the driver if we could Venmo him money since we were $5 short, but he said he did not accept Venmo payments and told us to speak to the original lady. My boyfriend went to ask for the cash back and she said she was unable to do it and that we should call the cops on the driver for giving us a hard time. Instead, the drive accepted the cash we had and apologized for the confusion.

So be prepared with enough cash for your party and know they are not a legitimate...