Punalu`u Beach is famous for three things: the black sand beach formed by the up-current lava flow and lined with palm trees, the green sea turtles (honu) that continuously bask on the lava rocks here, and the little know and never published tiger shark population (due to the abundance of turtles).

Here we see a turtle laying in the protected shallows of a tide pool to take a nap in the warm water.