Kehena Black Sand Beach: Elopements, Portraits & Visitor Guide
Planning a Kehena Black Sand Beach Elopement
Out of all the black sand beaches on the Big Island, Kehena Black Sand Beach stands out for just how far off the beaten path it feels.
Tucked beneath the cliffs along the remote Puna coastline, Kehena is surrounded by lush tropical greenery, coconut palms, dramatic lava rock, and the blue Pacific Ocean. It’s a breathtakingly beautiful and secluded part of the island that feels worlds away from the busier beaches and resort areas of the Big Island.
Reaching Kehena is part of the adventure. A short but steep trail leads down the hillside to a small stretch of jet-black volcanic sand hidden below the road. Once you reach the shoreline, the combination of black sand, tropical palms, rugged coastline, and lush greenery creates an incredible setting for couples who want their Kehena Black Sand Beach elopement to feel intimate, adventurous, and completely immersed in Hawaii’s natural landscape.
As Big Island elopement photographers, we especially love Kehena for couples who want to go somewhere a little wilder and less traveled. Its location on the eastern side of the island also makes it an incredible starting point for a larger elopement adventure, with rainforests, waterfalls, volcanic landscapes, and some of the Big Island’s most remote coastline waiting to be explored.
Whether you’re planning a Kehena Black Sand Beach elopement, considering this hidden beach for portraits, or simply looking for one of the Big Island’s most unique black sand beaches to visit, this guide covers everything you need to know before you go.
Important Note: Kehena Is a Clothing-Optional Beach
Before choosing Kehena for your elopement or portrait session, there’s one important thing to know: Kehena Black Sand Beach is widely known as a clothing-optional beach. You may encounter nude beachgoers while visiting, and because this is a public beach, there’s no way to guarantee who will be there during your ceremony or photos.
For adventurous couples who are comfortable with that, Kehena can be an incredibly beautiful and unique place to exchange vows. This is also one of the reasons we recommend planning your Kehena elopement or portrait session at sunrise, when the beach is typically quieter and you have a better chance of enjoying a more private atmosphere. While there’s never a guarantee that other beachgoers won’t be present, an early morning ceremony can offer a quieter experience, especially if you’re bringing children or family members.
Best Time of Day to Elope at Kehena Black Sand Beach
For a Kehena Black Sand Beach elopement, sunrise is our favorite time of day for a ceremony. Kehena sits along the eastern coastline of the Big Island, making the early morning especially beautiful as the sun rises over the Pacific Ocean and begins to illuminate the black sand, coconut palms, and surrounding coastline.
Because Kehena doesn’t have entrance or parking gates with set opening hours, the beach can be accessed early in the morning for a sunrise ceremony. This makes it especially convenient for couples who want to begin their wedding day with an early adventure.
Sunrise also gives you a better chance of experiencing Kehena while the beach is quieter. Since this is a public, clothing-optional beach, an early ceremony can help create a more peaceful and intimate atmosphere for exchanging your vows before more beachgoers begin arriving for the day.
From a photography perspective, the softer morning light is beautiful against the dark volcanic sand and lush tropical surroundings. And because your ceremony happens so early, you’ll have the entire day ahead of you to continue exploring the eastern side of the Big Island, making Kehena an incredible starting point for a full-day elopement adventure.
How to Get a Permit to Elope at Kehena Black Sand Beach
If you’re planning to elope at Kehena Black Sand Beach, a permit is required to hold a professional wedding ceremony along the shoreline. Kehena Black Sand Beach is an approved location within Hawaii’s Hawaii’s Wiki Permits system, which allows beach weddings and other permitted commercial activities to take place along qualifying state shorelines.
Elopements at Kehena are best kept intimate and simple, allowing the black sand, coconut palms, and rugged Puna coastline to become the backdrop for your ceremony. Wiki Permit guidelines place restrictions on larger setups and structures along the shoreline, so Kehena is especially well suited to couples who envision a simple ceremony centered around their vows and the natural landscape.
It’s also important to remember that a permit does not make Kehena a private beach. The shoreline remains open to the public during your ceremony, and other beachgoers may be nearby. This is another reason we love sunrise ceremonies here, when you have a better chance of experiencing a quieter atmosphere before more visitors arrive.
When you book a Kehena Black Sand Beach elopement with us, we’ll walk you through the process and help coordinate the appropriate permits for your ceremony and professional photography as part of your personalized elopement planning.
Kehena Black Sand Beach Elopement Photos
There’s something incredibly special about exchanging your vows somewhere that feels this wild and untouched. From the dramatic black sand and towering coconut palms to the lush Puna coastline and morning light over the Pacific, Kehena creates an incredible backdrop for an intimate Big Island elopement.
Explore the gallery below to see what a Kehena Black Sand Beach elopement can look like, from exchanging vows on the black sand to newlywed portraits along the shoreline and beneath the palms.
How to Get to Kehena Black Sand Beach
Kehena Black Sand Beach is located along the Puna coastline on the eastern side of the Big Island, just off Highway 137, also known as the Red Road. It’s much farther off the beaten path than many of the island’s popular beaches, and the drive itself takes you through one of the lushest and most beautiful parts of the Big Island.
Once you arrive, reaching the beach requires a short but steep hike down the hillside to the black sand below. There isn’t a paved pathway to the shoreline, and the trail can be rocky, uneven, and slippery, especially after rain.
We recommend wearing sturdy shoes with good traction for the hike and carrying any sandals or wedding shoes you want to wear once you reach the beach. You’ll also need to make the same climb back up when you leave.
Because of the steep access, Kehena may not be the best choice for anyone with limited mobility or couples planning to bring guests who would have difficulty navigating uneven terrain. But for adventurous couples who don’t mind a little hike, the journey down is part of what makes Kehena feel so secluded and special once you reach the shoreline.
Where to Park at Kehena Black Sand Beach
There is a small parking area near the main access trail, but parking is limited and spaces can fill up, especially later in the day.
If the main parking area is full, there is another beach access trail a short distance down the road, where visitors can park along the side of the road where permitted and safely pull completely out of traffic.
Because parking is limited, this is another advantage of visiting Kehena early in the morning. For sunrise elopements and portrait sessions, arriving early can make both parking and accessing the beach easier before more visitors arrive.
Approximate Drive Times to Kehena Black Sand Beach
Because Kehena is tucked away along the remote Puna coastline, drive times can vary depending on where you’re staying and the route you take. As a general guide:
- Hilo → Kehena: approximately 45–50 minutes
- Hawaii Volcanoes National Park → Kehena: approximately 1 hour
- Punaluʻu Black Sand Beach → Kehena: approximately 1 hour 30 minutes
- Kona → Kehena: approximately 2 hours 15 minutes
- Waikoloa → Kehena: approximately 2 hours 30–45 minutes
Photography and Vendor Travel Fees for Kehena Black Sand Beach
Because Kehena is located more than two hours from Kona, additional travel fees apply to portrait sessions and shorter elopement packages at Kehena Black Sand Beach. These fees account for the additional driving time and distance required to photograph sessions along the remote Puna coastline.
Travel fees are also something to consider when planning your ceremony. Officiants, florists, hair and makeup artists, and other wedding vendors traveling from Kona, Waikoloa, or the Kohala Coast may charge their own travel fees for services in the Puna area.
For couples who want to make the journey worthwhile, we especially love incorporating Kehena into a longer elopement experience, where the drive becomes part of an incredible day exploring the Big Island rather than simply transportation to and from your ceremony.
Turn Your Kehena Elopement Into a Full-Day Elopement Safari
Because Kehena is tucked away on the remote eastern side of the island, we especially love incorporating a Kehena Black Sand Beach elopement into our Full-Day Elopement Safari. For couples who want to experience more than a ceremony at the beach, Kehena can become the beginning of an entire day exploring some of the Big Island’s most incredible landscapes together.
Imagine starting your morning with a sunrise ceremony on the black sand beneath the palms, then setting off to explore the lush eastern side of the island.
From there, your adventure can take you through tropical rainforests and waterfalls before continuing toward Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, where completely different volcanic landscapes are waiting to be explored.
Our Full-Day Elopement Safari is designed around this kind of experience. We provide transportation throughout the day, help plan your locations and timeline, and photograph the entire adventure as it unfolds, allowing you to experience multiple sides of the Big Island without worrying about coordinating all of the logistics yourself.
Depending on the experience you envision, we can incorporate waterfalls, volcanic landscapes, remote coastlines, a private picnic, horseback riding, or even finish your wedding day beneath the stars.
Your sunrise vows at Kehena can become the first chapter of an unforgettable full-day Big Island elopement adventure, with each stop revealing a completely different side of the island.
Which Big Island Black Sand Beach Is Best for Your Elopement?
Kehena is an incredible choice for couples who want something remote, tropical, and adventurous, but it’s only one of several beautiful black sand beaches on the Big Island. Each offers a completely different experience, from easily accessible shorelines surrounded by coconut palms to secluded beaches reached by hiking trails and rugged stretches of volcanic coastline.
The best location for your elopement will depend on the experience you want, how adventurous you’d like your day to be, accessibility for any guests joining you, and what other parts of the island you want to explore.
If you’re still deciding where to exchange your vows, explore our guide to the best black sand beaches for a Big Island elopement to compare Kehena, Punaluʻu, Kiholo Bay, and other unique locations around the island and find the one that best fits your adventure.
VIEW OUR GUIDE TO THE BEST BLACK SAND BEACHES ON THE BIG ISLAND
Kehena Black Sand Beach Portrait Photography
Kehena isn’t only beautiful for elopements. The dramatic contrast between its jet-black sand, tropical greenery, coconut palms, lava rock, and blue ocean also makes it an incredible setting for adventurous portrait sessions on the Big Island.
We especially love Kehena for couples, engagements, anniversaries, and anyone who wants their Hawaii portraits to feel a little different from the traditional white sand and resort-style beaches found along the Kona and Kohala coasts.
Because reaching the beach requires navigating a steep trail, we recommend arriving in comfortable shoes and carrying anything you’d like to wear for your photos. Flowing dresses, neutral tones, whites, creams, and earthy or tropical colors can all photograph beautifully against the dark volcanic sand.
Kehena can also work for adventurous family portraits, but it isn’t a location we recommend for every family. The steep trail, rugged terrain, powerful ocean conditions, and clothing-optional nature of the beach are important considerations, particularly for families with young children or anyone with limited mobility.
Visiting Kehena Black Sand Beach for the Day
Even if you aren’t planning an elopement or portrait session, Kehena is an incredible place to experience a very different side of the Big Island.
This is not a developed beach park. There are no resort amenities, paved walkways, lifeguards, or traditional beach facilities waiting at the bottom of the trail. That undeveloped setting is a huge part of Kehena’s appeal, but it also means visitors should arrive prepared.
Bring water, sturdy footwear, sun protection, and anything else you may need during your time at the beach. Keep what you carry down the trail relatively light since everything will need to come back up with you.
Ocean conditions along this coastline can also be powerful and change quickly. Kehena is better approached as a place to enjoy the scenery and shoreline rather than assuming conditions will always be suitable for swimming.
As with anywhere you visit in Hawaii, please respect the land, ocean, wildlife, and other people enjoying the beach. Pack out everything you bring with you and leave the shoreline exactly as you found it.
Frequently Asked Questions About Kehena Black Sand Beach
We’ve answered a few common questions about Kehena Black Sand Beach so you know exactly what to expect. Once you’ve read through the details, we’d love to help you start planning your own Big Island elopement or Hawaii photoshoot.
Can you elope at Kehena Black Sand Beach?
Do you need a permit to get married at Kehena Black Sand Beach?
Is Kehena Black Sand Beach a nude beach?
What is the best time for a Kehena Black Sand Beach elopement?
What time does Kehena Black Sand Beach open and close?
How difficult is the hike to Kehena Black Sand Beach?
Is Kehena Black Sand Beach good for family photos?
Can you swim at Kehena Black Sand Beach?
Are there restrooms or showers at Kehena Black Sand Beach?
Is Kehena Black Sand Beach crowded?
How far is Kehena Black Sand Beach from Kona?
How far is Kehena Black Sand Beach from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park?
Book a Big Island Elopement or Portrait Experience
Aloha, I’m Christian, your Hawaii elopement and portrait photographer. My team and I can’t wait to meet you and help capture your time in Hawaii in a way that feels meaningful.
Whether you’re planning an unforgettable Big Island elopement or capturing your family’s Hawaii adventure, we’re here to document the moments, landscapes, and memories that matter most to you.
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