Tropical Beach
Ahalanui Warm Ponds

The Ahalanui Warm Ponds on the east side of the Big Island, is a different kind of tropical beach. It is a big, man-made tide pool, which is fed from the ocean on one side, and volcanically heated springs from underneath. So it is usually extremely warm, like bath water.

When it was originally built, the fresh water feeding into it was very cold, but after the Kapoho eruptions in 1955 the freshwater became volcanically heated, so the pool is now over 90 degrees in temperature. The warm pond is about the size of a very big swimming pool and doesn't get much deeper than 6 ft. There are lifeguards on duty.

This beach has palm trees and candlenut trees all around, and a gorgeous view of the ocean, and the Puna coastline. The waves are big and crashing, but the pool is almost completely protected from the ocean so it offers great swimming.

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