Black Sand Beach

Black Sand Beach is secluded, beautiful and really easy to get to (if you don’t mind getting wet). There are a few caves to explore along the cliffline. For me, the highlight of this hike was spotting a sea turtle about two feet in length swimming just off the reef. He was thisclose. And just like that, he was gone.

Getting to Black Sand Beach is easy. You just park at Talofofo Bay and walk the reef hugging the cliffline on the right side for about a mile. You will want to do this at low low tide. My advice would be to start an hour or so before the tide is scheduled to reach its lowest point. We started right at the lowest tide and had no problem getting out. However, the tide was about a foot higher coming back in and what a difference a foot of brown muddy water makes! Bruises on my shins from banging into reef and rocks are just starting to appear. As soon as we rounded the last point and could see the bay bridge we made a swim for it, packs on our backs and all.

It was a nice hike, but if we were ever to go back we’ll probably just borrow a couple of kayaks and paddle there.
Oh, and you won’t be able to reach me by cell phone for a day or so until I get a new one. During our stop at the beach I opened the ziploc bag that had my phone and sunscreen in it, and I must not have sealed it properly because when we got back to the car the ziploc was full of water (and so was my phone). Doh!