Awesome black sand beach! It’s the northern most beach of the Makena Beach park- but it’s separated from the other beaches in the park (Big and Little) by the tall cinder point so this beach was less populated. Unlike its sister beaches, this one has a rocky entry rather than a pure and soft sand entry. It looks daunting at first, but we watched some locals entering to spearfish and followed their lead: there is a mostly smooth and sandy channel if you head straight in from the parking lot. Once the water is above your knees, put on your mask and fins and simply float/swim out.

This was the best snorkeling we had on Maui. The corals start about 10 yards from shore and reach farther out than we went. They are quite shallow in many places so the marine life is easy to see. The highlight of our trip were the six Honu or sea turtles that were about 150 yards out in about 20 feet of water. They were quite distracted by our presence and went about their feeding and would sometimes surface only a few feet from us to grab a few breaths. Had to keep reminding myself that it’s a $10,000 fine for touching or disturbing a turtle since they were so close.

Facilities - there’s not a lot of parking spaces and there is a modest $5 per day cost. There is a Porta-Potty but no running water for showers etc. I’ve seen others complain about the parking fee, but it’s the same as the fee for the rest of Makena park and it does take money to maintain the bumpy road in (imagine how bumpy it would be if not maintained!). I for one was happy to pay to be able to access this gem.