A fifteen minute hike over a’a lava brought us to this beach - we had it almost entirely to ourselves. The beach is black sand/pebbly and gorgeous. We snorkeled out over some amazing coral formations, and saw some fish, too. Not as many as we’ve seen in other places, but beautiful nonetheless. At the northern end of the beach, there were some tide pools to explore. The boys found some 3″ long snails in beautiful shells (they called them tiger shells, though I don’t know if that’s an official term or not!). B made the grand discovery of the day - an empty shell that came home with us. Shells are hard to come by on this island, so the find was a good one.

Palm trees laden with coconuts:

A sea urchin tucked in the crevice of a lava rock.  There were tons of  sea urchins - different kinds - underwater, too. We also spotted an eel that was about two feet long, white with brownish spots.

Our pile of beach gear

Happy feet

B stepping out on the King’s Trail. Built between 1836 and 1855, this trail extends for miles and miles. Imagine walking this trail for miles in the hot sun without the aid of modern day footwear! The black lava holds the sun’s heat and the only water available is what we carried. Walking on it feels like a bridge to long ago.