Red, black, green and salt-and-pepper

Go ahead, sink your toes in the sand on Hawaii’s famous beaches. But you might be surprised by the colour of that sand - it’s not always golden. You’ll find black sand, red sand and even green sand across the island chain.

The Big Island, Maui and Molokai offer black sand beaches. Maui is home to a red beach, and the Big Island is home to a green beach, both rare and off the beaten path. While common golden sand is made up of small pieces of coral and seashells broken up by ocean waves over time, the more unusual colours found around Hawaii’s beaches can be traced to volcanoes.

Black sand beaches are formed “when hot molten lava enters the cold ocean and is immediately quenched to solid glass . then shatters from the resulting steam,” according to Darcy Bevens at the Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Maui’s Kaihalulu Bay red sand beach is colored by the crumbling volcanic red cinder cliffs that surround the bay, she said, while the green sand on the Big Island’s Papakolea Beach is from olivine crystals from an eroding volcanic cinder cone.

A black sand beach just 25 years old

A new black sand beach was formed on the eastern shores of the Big Island after lava from the Kilauea volcano engulfed the town of Kalapana in 1990, destroying most of the homes. The molten lava also filled in Kaimu Bay, covered the beach that was there, and extended the shoreline, creating a new beach about a half-mile from the original. Locals began cultivating a grove of coconut trees at the new beach as soon as the lava cooled.

Today a small visitor’s centre at the beginning of the beach trail displays pictures of the area before disaster.

Red sand, nude bathers

Kaihalulu Bay on Maui near the town of Hana is home to a unique red sand beach. Towering red cinder cliffs surround the bay, and the blue ocean swirls along the red sandy shore.

A large lava rock reef juts out in the bay slightly protecting the beach from harsh waves, but swimming is not advised.

There are no lifeguards and ocean conditions are unpredictable.

This is one of Hawaii’s few nude beaches due to the cove’s isolation, so don’t be surprised by the clothing-optional scene.

And getting there isn’t easy. You must cross private property to get to the trail to the beach, so you’ll need permission from landowners. In addition, the narrow trail is slippery and unstable. Many locals and visitors go there daily, but be careful.

Green Sand

Back on the Big Island is the Papakolea green sand beach, surrounded by olive-colored cliffs and crashing surf.

Olivine crystals eroding from an ancient volcanic cinder cone give Papakolea its hue.

Take nothing but pictures

It’s illegal to remove sand from Hawaiian beaches — whether green, red, black or golden.