Getting to Hawaii’s Papakolea Beach isn’t easy—travelers must endure a hot, rugged nearly three-mile hike along sea cliffs to reach it.
Yet people make the trek every day.
Why? Papakolea’s sand isn’t golden or white—or even black. It’s a deep olive green.
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Most of us would relish a day at any old beach. But there’s a certain thrill in sinking your toes into sand at a different kind of shore—one, like Papakolea, that looks so fantastical it could be straight out of a movie.
To say that Americans love beaches is an understatement. Approximately 85 percent of us visit a beach on vacation, according to Stephen P. Leatherman, Ph.D., a.k.a Dr. Beach, director of Florida International University’s Laboratory for Coastal Research. “There’s nothing like them,” says Leatherman. “You’ve got sand, water and waves, plus cool, fresh air. Plus there’s the nostalgia factor: everyone loved sand as a kid.”
Quirky beaches just add another layer to the enjoyment. And the fact that only Mother Nature created these strange beaches is perhaps what’s most astounding. No human hands were involved—just the perfect geologic storms of air, water, temperature, and pressure.
Our 50th state is rife with such occurrences. “We have black, black and green, black and red, green, and gray sand beaches in Hawaii,” says Ken Hon, Ph.D., assistant professor of geology at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. “The colored beaches are almost all related to recent volcanic activity, except the white beaches, which are tied to coral reef erosion.”
Halfway around the world, years of erosion unearthed immense rounded stones along Cape Town’s coast. Today, Boulders Beach is a beloved spot to swim, sunbathe, and spot African penguins in the shadows of the giant rocks.
Even postcard-perfect white-sand beaches have their quirks. In his ratings of 650 United States beaches, Dr. Leatherman ranked Siesta Beach, in Sarasota, FL, as number one. It’s not visibly that different from other pristine shores, but its sand is made up of 99.9 percent quartz crystals. It never heats up and is so pure that it squeaks like powdered sugar when you walk on it.
Intrigued yet? Read on for even more strange beaches you’ve got to see to believe.
More from Travel + Leisure:
Pink Sands Beach, Harbor Island, Bahamas
Harbour Island is just 3.5 miles long and 1.5 miles wide, but this tiny slice of the Bahamas has one of the Caribbean’s prettiest beaches: three miles of pink sand that stretches along the island’s east coast.
The red shells of foraminifera—single-celled marine animals—mix with the island’s white sand, thus creating the soft rosy hue.
Papakolea Beach, Hawaii
It takes effort to reach Papakolea. The beach is located near Ka Lae, the southernmost point in Hawaii—and the entire United States.
To reach it, visitors endure a hot and rugged hike for nearly three miles along sea cliffs. The reward: ending up on a green-sand beach. The grains are almost pure olivine, a green mineral, and come from Puu Mahana, a volcanic cone that sits above the beach.
Genipabu Beach, Natal, Brazil
Standing amid giant sand dunes could make travelers believe they’re in the middle of a desert—until they realize the Atlantic Ocean is just minutes away.
Thrill seekers can explore the dunes several ways: hop aboard a buggy for a roller coaster–esque ride, climb onto a camel for a Lawrence of Arabia–meets South America lope, or go sandboarding (like snowboarding, only over the dunes).
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