So let me get this straight. The Robinson family owns Niʻihau. Larry Ellison owns about 98% of Lānaʻi. And a private company owns Punaluʻu Black Sand Beach Park?
Aren’t all beaches in Hawaiʻi public? Well, yes. Sort of.
Hawaiʻi has strong laws protecting public access to its shorelines. But the land behind the beach can be privately owned, including the parking lot, bathrooms, picnic areas, and other infrastructure that makes a beach accessible.
For more than 70 years, Hawaiʻi County leased 6.8 acres next to the famous black sand beach and operated it as a public park. The county maintained the bathrooms, parking, picnic pavilions, and other facilities.
So who owns it? The current owner is Black Sand Beach LLC, led by Bay Area real estate developer Eva Liu. Liu and her partners acquired much of the former Sea Mountain property surrounding Punaluʻu beginning around 2019. Their holdings total roughly 433 acres and at one point were slated for a much larger redevelopment that included 225 residential and short-term rental units, retail, dining, and other amenities. Those development plans have since been put on hold.
The lease expired August 29 without an agreement, so now the bathrooms are locked. The lifeguard stand is closed. County signs have been removed, and the county is no longer maintaining the property.
The black sand is still there. The honu are still there. And the public still has shoreline access. But access isn’t necessarily the same thing as accessibility.
Parking, bathrooms, trash collection, maintenance, and lifeguards are all part of the experience of visiting a place like Punaluʻu, and somebody has to own, operate, and pay for them. Seems to us that certain lands should not be in private hands.
