Waianapanapa Black Sand Beach - Beaches On Maui Hana, Hawaii

Wai'anapanapa Black Sand Beach is located at Wai'anapanapa State Park in the Hana area on Maui. This is one place you will not want to miss on your trip around on the Road To Hana. In fact, I'd drive the road to Hana just for this place any day of the week.

Getting here is easy. Assuming you are heading east along the Hana Highway, take a left turn at Honokalani / Waianapanapa Road which will be shortly after (southeast of) the Hana Airport area. Follow that road and the state park signs to the end and you'll run into a large parking area. From there you can follow the signs down to the black sand beach, to the caves, blow hole, or hiking trail at Wai'anapanapa State Park.

The beach itself isn't very large and the word is out about this place so you'll have company, a lot of it. Of course, crowded in Hana isn't like crowded in most other parts of Hawaii so it shouldn't be too bad but the touristy tour buses will stop here and let the herd roam free.

The sand itself isn't like normal sand in size or texture. At the dry end of the beach it's actually large, smooth, black rocks (think river rock). As you get closer to the water the rocks get smaller and smaller until they're super tiny and smaller than fish gravel but still very round and smooth. It's a really neat size gradient thing that happens here.

To avoid the wrath of Pele, resist the urge to pocket souvenirs here. Don't believe us, see Lava Rock & Sand Souvenirs for more on that. The small rocks (sand) will stick to your bits and pieces so be sure to shake the family off before leaving the beach as well.

What's amazing here is how colorful things are. The black is super black and then you have a zillion amazing shades of blue ocean and sky and some of the greenest plant life you can imagine. Bring a camera, these photos will be keepers for sure. The water here might be a bit rough and there is no lifeguard here so we don't recommend swimming for most people. But even if you don't go for a swim it's worth a trip here just to see the views.