Black sand beach?

[cmp137]

Where is the best place to visit a black sand beach on POA?

[zerooveride]

We did the Road to Hana with Valley Isle Excursions. Plenty of chances to see black sand beaches and had some time to go swimming at one. Great tour. 

[Middleager]

When the ship docks in Maui, rent a car to drive the Road to Hana, can turn around after the Ohio Gulch (and Seven Sacred Pool) or go round circle.   Before Hana, there is Wainapanapa Beach, a short hike from the parking lot.   Black sand beach.

 

Can also go from Hilo.  Again rent a car and there're several black sand beaches going south to Kalapana.

[son3cruisers]

As previously stated...Maui! Road to Hana.

We downloaded a driving app called "Shaka Guide" and found all the hidden gems in each port.

Highly recommend! https://www.shakaguide.com/home

[ggTexasGal]

9 hours ago, cmp137 said:

Where is the best place to visit a black sand beach on POA?

Hello!  I noticed that you are "new" to Cruise Critic.  You can find lots of information about different ports here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/2-ports-of-call/

 

This one is for Hawaii exclusively:   https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/37-hawaii/

 

Hopefully you (and others) find these links helpful!

[BermudaBound2014]

9 hours ago, Middleager said:

When the ship docks in Maui, rent a car to drive the Road to Hana, can turn around after the Ohio Gulch (and Seven Sacred Pool) or go round circle.   Before Hana, there is Wainapanapa Beach, a short hike from the parking lot.   Black sand beach.

 

This advice is outdated. I spent 4 months in Maui over the winter. Maui (and much of Hawaii) is under heavy pressure to regulate tourism.  There are simply too many people on the island for sustainability. The Mayor of Maui is asking for a pause in tourism to help limit the amount of tourists who visit (not sure how that will effect the cruises resuming sailing, but I suspect it will at some level).

Maui mayor Mike Victorino wants tourism pause (yahoo.com)

 

Due to over-crowding; you can no longer just show up at Wainapanapa Beach (Black sand beach on road to Hana). You must make reservations months in advance and you are given a 3 hour window of time at the beach.

 

Renting a car is another obstacle as I've seen economy cars going for upwards of $750 a day due to the pandemic induced car shortage. While the Shaka app is great, the new regulations for parking along the Road to Hana make that app less useful. Unfortunately, I think your best bet on Maui is going to be a tour of Hana and let the tour company work out the logistics of stopping along the road and at the beaches. Even the state park beaches have introduced new fees post pandemic. $10 per car plus $5 per person in the car. Things are changing on Maui.

[Middleager]

51 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

This advice is outdated. I spent 4 months in Maui over the winter. Maui (and much of Hawaii) is under heavy pressure to regulate tourism.  There are simply too many people on the island for sustainability. The Mayor of Maui is asking for a pause in tourism to help limit the amount of tourists who visit (not sure how that will effect the cruises resuming sailing, but I suspect it will at some level).

Maui mayor Mike Victorino wants tourism pause (yahoo.com)

 

Due to over-crowding; you can no longer just show up at Wainapanapa Beach (Black sand beach on road to Hana). You must make reservations months in advance and you are given a 3 hour window of time at the beach.

 

Renting a car is another obstacle as I've seen economy cars going for upwards of $750 a day due to the pandemic induced car shortage. While the Shaka app is great, the new regulations for parking along the Road to Hana make that app less useful. Unfortunately, I think your best bet on Maui is going to be a tour of Hana and let the tour company work out the logistics of stopping along the road and at the beaches. Even the state park beaches have introduced new fees post pandemic. $10 per car plus $5 per person in the car. Things are changing on Maui.

Thanks for the updated info.  Yap car rental costs have shut up a lot, but hope it'll come back down to something more reasonable.

 

So if access to Wainapanapa is restricted, sounds like the black sand beaches on the Big Island driving from Hilo, would be easier to get to. 

[BermudaBound2014]

42 minutes ago, Middleager said:

Thanks for the updated info.  Yap car rental costs have shut up a lot, but hope it'll come back down to something more reasonable.

 

So if access to Wainapanapa is restricted, sounds like the black sand beaches on the Big Island driving from Hilo, would be easier to get to. 

 

I agree, unless you are taking a tour for Road to Hana, I think it would be too difficult for a cruise passenger to pre-purchase tickets for Wainapanapa (they are hard to get), especially since the tickets are also time restricted (if you miss your arrival time you aren't allowed in during another time block). It seems the Big Island isn't  trying to limit tourism as much as Maui.

 

Regarding car rentals in Maui, there is a push to limit the amount of cars allowed back on the island (rental companies sold off cars or shipped them to mainland during pandemic). The good news is that the limited rental cars is increasing public transportation options. 

[Silver Sweethearts]

9 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

"It seems the Big Island isn't  trying to limit tourism as much as Maui".

 

"The good news is that the limited rental cars is increasing public transportation options". 

 

The Big Island doesn't have to limit tourism.  With all due respect, they aren't the tourist draw Maui is.

 

As to limited car rentals increasing public transportation options, please elaborate.  We haven't heard of anything outside of a pilot program for a (what we feel is overpriced at $50. per adult one-way) shuttle between Kahului Airport /West Maui and Kahului Airport/South Maui.

 

[BermudaBound2014]

10 hours ago, Silver Sweethearts said:

 

The Big Island doesn't have to limit tourism.  With all due respect, they aren't the tourist draw Maui is.

 

As to limited car rentals increasing public transportation options, please elaborate.  We haven't heard of anything outside of a pilot program for a (what we feel is overpriced at $50. per adult one-way) shuttle between Kahului Airport /West Maui and Kahului Airport/South Maui.

 

Do you use the Uber or Lyft app? Download either and you might be surprised how far they have come in a short time. There are easily triple the amount of drivers today then last January. In fact, my neighbor in Kapalua Bay village became a driver last March :). I suppose that technically isn’t public transportation, but it is a transportation option that is increasing as a result of the car shortage.

 

I think the pilot program will stick. $50 to get from Kahului to Kaanapali is cheaper than speedy shuttle and much cheaper than ride share. It’s needed because the bus won’t accept luggage and most hotels do not offer airport transportation. Maui bus is underutilized IMO. The problem isn’t limited routes, it’s the amount of time between pick ups making it undesirable for tourists trying to make the best use of their time.  We will be back next January to spend another winter and the cost for car rental has increased by 80%. It’s brutal.

 

PS- I do support sustainable tourism measures. What I saw last April was shocking. I will be very surprised if there isn’t substantial push back to cruises restarting in Maui.