I made it to the Green Sand Beach!

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Now, this is what I called a real "adventure".

Standing on the Green Sand beach, two miles from Ka Lae (South Point) admiring its rare beauty, I can't believe we made it here. Twenty four hours ago, I didn't even know the existence of such thing (green sand beach). See, I am one of those people who just don't have time (and quite lazy) to have a planned itinerary. I devoured the entire book of "Big Island Revealed" during my 8 hour flight to the paradise. "Green Sand Beach is a real gem, literally". "It is a difficult hike to get there, but rewarding"(Trip adviser review) That just provoked my curiosity even more and posted a challenge. I WANT TO SEE IT!

Here we go..... without a four-wheel drive, we equipped ourselves with a good pair of hiking boots, water, sunglasses, hats and headed out to search the treasure. There are many "trails" or "dirt roads" in the area. I think they all somehow lead to the treasure. We chose a path with the coast line in sight, just in case, although it would be pretty hard to get lost there. The zigzag path was rocky, up and down. The wind blew so hard to my face, trying its best to deter me from reaching the destination. The sun exerts its powerful beam on my skin. It seemed to be telling me "burn, burn, you fools". Thirst kick in pretty quickly, we stopped for some water and resumed our trek. Step by step, determined, unstoppable, an hour and 15 min later, the cliff was in sight. We saw the Mahana bay and its green sand from the upper rim for the first time in my life.

The wind stopped blowing. The sun became softer at this point. We found a really easy path to descend down to the beach. Don't be fool by its height. The descend to the beach was 1000 times easier than the 2.5 mile trek. The green sand was absolutely stunning. Holding it in my hands, I could see the olivine crystal mixed with black sand, all from the erosion of the near by cider cone. The water seemed too rough to swim. We found a place to sit down, took out our lunch mixed-plate and enjoyed a quiet, surreal, picnic. This is a wonderful life.

Fun Fact: There are only 2 green sand beach in the world, and I've been to one of them!!

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Photos

Dirt Road
Starting our hike to the Green Sand Beach

Mahana Bay
It's illegal to take the sand away.