Things To Love About Black Sand Beaches

A Black Sand Beach Can Be a New and Exciting Beach Experience

Somewhere in most vacation fantasies you will find a white, golden sand beach complete with palm trees, warm sunshine, clear skies, a hammock, and that handsome waiter or pretty waitress bringing your tall tropical drink with a tiny umbrella sticking out. The little known black sand beach is nowhere in this picture. But it should be.

A crash course in black sand beach formation

Crash course in black sand beach formation:

Hot lava flows into the sea and turns black upon contact with the water. As it cools it breaks up into smaller fragments. The constant pounding of the surf and waves causes these fragments to form smaller and smaller particles, until it forms sand. The size of the sand particles vary from quite coarse to finer grains.

Sand is also formed by the steam explosions which occur when the water and the hot lava meet.

Thus the glorious black sand beach is formed, and there are so many reasons to love it.

Why Black Sand Beaches Absolutely Rock!

1. Black sand beaches are usually more secluded because everyone else is on the white sand beaches. Therefore you are likely to have your own private oasis on a black sand beach.

2. Beach treasures are more easily visible against the black backdrop of the beach.

3. Countries where black sand beaches are found are usually great for hiking and ecotourism, because of their mountainous and volcanic nature.

4. When you choose a black sand beach, you are likely to experience something that most of your friends would not have experienced.

5. The grains of sand are usually bigger. Great exfoliation for your feet!

6. Black sand beaches can be found in more places than you think. These include Polynesia, Indonesia, Hawaii, Iceland, the Caribbean islands of St Lucia, Grenada, St.Kitts, St. Vincent, Dominica and some parts of Puerto Rico.

Some of The Things You Can Expect

DO Expect to have a wonderful and exhilarating adventure.

DON'T Expect a resort. Because black sand beaches are not too popular, most are not connected to a big tourist resort. In fact many of them are island hideaways with modest to little traffic.

Do Expect to have a great beach experience in a place where you can find great solace and some serious "me time".

Don't Expect the same kind of terrain as areas with solely golden, white sand beaches. Places with black sand beaches are usually more rugged.

Do Expect to find other black sand beach enthusiasts once you begin researching and planning your trip to a black sand beach spot.