Around 1pm, my guidebook revealed that just past mile 25 there was a side road off the Hana Highway called Nahiku Road. We followed it for about 2 1/2 miles until it stopped right at the ocean! It was a gorgeous area. I am so glad we took the detour! It's one of my favorite spots.
Nahiku Road....a lush, green, beautiful drive :)
The road stopped here
We hiked a little around the area
we asked another hiker to take our picture
and we found another little waterfall and pool :)
We got back on the road to Hana and kept on driving!
cool plants on the side of the road
Just after mile marker 32, we arrived at Wai'anapanapa Park (try saying that one!) We stopped here for a bathroom break and to visit the volcanic black sand beach, Pa'iloa Beach.
Pretty cool, huh!
The beach is really made up of black stones that are about this size further away from the water...
And the rocks got much smaller, really like sand, as you got close to the water.
We found this cool cave
And thought this would be a neat shadow picture.
After visiting this beach, we got back in the car and finally drove into Hana! But there was one more beach we HAD to see while we were in this area. It is called Red Sand Beach. (Kaihalulu in Hawaiian) I will NEVER forget this beach! It was the hardest one to get to by far. Quite a slow hike on the side of a hill with loose red sand. Even before we started on the trail, a local showed us the beginning point and said, "be careful" with a worried look on her face! If I didn't have Justin's hand to hold on to, I wouldn't have made it. But we did and this is where we ended up.....
Isn't it GORGEOUS!?
We are still pretty high up on the hill and far away from it at this point, so we kept hiking toward it.
Getting closer!
Same spot, but with the ocean behind us.
Who wouldn't want to experience this with the love of their life? ;)
I just had to text a picture to my mom!
And we made it to the red sand shore!
I love this dark burgundy against the bold blue :)
This is the view of where the sand meets the hill...very different!
When we were ready to go, I told Justin to go on ahead of me because I wanted to get some pictures to show a bit of where we hiked.
Can you see Justin? We climbed on a narrow side of a steep hill, and this is nothing compared to the rest of the hike :) So much FUN!
One last picture as we are leaving :)
Now it is 3pm, and we are STARVING! Time to find a late lunch in Hana.
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