Punaluu Beach

This beach is located on the Island of Oahu, between Ka’a’awa and Hauula, as you drive from Honolulu to Laie on Kamehameha Highway.
There are a couple of reviews on this site that states that this beach has black sand — NEGATIVE! That Black Sand beach has the same name (Punalu’u), but it is situated on the Big Island of Hawai’i. THAT Punalu’u Beach has black sand because of the volcano and lava on that island. Oahu is an «older» island and therefore does not have black sand because the volcanoes on Oahu are no longer active.
Anyway, I was on my way to Laie from Kaneohe, and stopped by this beach for some fresh air. Needed to stretch the legs and break up the «long» one-​hour drive. (LOL!) Punalu’u Beach is known for fishing and camping. It’s a bit «rough», so swimming could be more challenging.
Free parking is alongside the road. There are no marked stalls, so please kokua and be thoughtful of our neighbors. Bring bathroom tissue to the restroom — just in case. This is the country where no sidewalks exist. Just enjoy the raw, untamed, natural environment where tourists rarely visit…

I took a day to drive around this particular side of the island to see what it was all about. We stopped by this beach and LOVED it. I love how it was all locals and no tourists. I noticed there were a lot of people camping and it seemed a lot of fun.

Nice and small beach along the Kamehameha Highway. You can easily park on the side of the road. Worth the visit and it’s probably best if you use shoes instead of sandals when checking out Punalu’u Beach.

Awesome beach! We were hoping to see some me turtles on land but weren’t so lucky. A very easy to access beach and worth the visit.

We were there in mid-​March and loved this black sand beach! It is beautiful and also offers great snorkeling. Beware that the sand is much hotter than white sand (given its color), so remember to bring a pair of flip flops to walk in! Shoes would also be good given the rocks on the beach.