"Puna District" Pahoa by 4streegrrl

It's too bad that we waited until our last day in Hawaii to visit the Puna District. The town of Pahoa (as well as a lot of the surrounding area) is pretty darn cool, kind of ramshackly, where it looks like everyone is just doing their own thing regardless of the law. I would have liked to have explored more, but I'll guess I'll save it for next time.

Our main purpose in Puna was to drive down to the oceanside. It was gorgeous, passing under massive monkeypod trees forming an archway over the road, and through lava fields of various ages. Too bad I didn't take any pictures of those, so you'll have to make do with the seaside.

Bobbing around in Champagne Pond

...for this is the area considered as having "virgin air", the purest in the world. Countries around the world use the air of Puna as a benchmark to test their air quality. Breath deeply and enjoy before returning to less than satisfactory air back home...

But I digress. Our mission in Puna was to find Champagne Pond, just one of several ocean inlets blessed with sparkling clean freshwater, heated by the volcano and percolating up from the ground. After a 1/2 hour hike up a "4WD road" (stupid Neon), we found this place and it was everything the guide books said. Calm, protected from the ocean and very warm :). Once in awhile we would hit a chilly spot, but generally it's like a comfortable bath. Apparently the snorkeling is okay, but I was happy just floating about. Oh yes, there is no sandy beach, per se, so be sure to bring Tevas or reef shoes to avoid stubbing a toe on a rock.

There are several, more accessible (and therefore more busy) warm water coves all along the Puna coast, if you don't feel like walking over a mile each way at Champagne Pond. But it was well worth the extra effort.

• Pros:Beautiful, the world's cleanest air
• Cons:The walk to Champagne Pond, but well worth it
• In a nutshell:More gorgeous coastline with wonderful swim and snorkle pools