Ocean View

About Ocean View

The town of Ocean View in the southern part of the Big Island is quiet and not talked about much in travelers' circles. It's made up of several large housing subdivisions on the slopes of Mauna Loa volcano that have many intersecting roads, but are sparsely developed. These homes are up the mountain (mauka) and toward the sea (makai) from the Hawaii Belt Road (Highway 11) which passes through town. The services are just enough to support the 4000 residents, some of which commute to the Kailua-Kona area about an hour's drive to the north. The beaches near Ocean View are all difficult to access because the roads leading to them are made up of dirt and sharp lava rocks. With a 4x4 vehicle and backroad driving experience you can get to any of them, as long as you set aside enough time for the slow drive. Hiking down the roads is another option and might not take much longer than the drives. Road to the Sea ends at a point with a couple of beaches made up of black and green sand. Similarly Manuka Bay has a rugged road that traverses lava flows and leads to the ocean shore. Pohoe Beach is the nicest of the bunch and it requires a hike of about a mile after its 4x4 access road ends. These beaches near Ocean View sound challenging, and they are. If you decide to visit any of them, stop at Malama Market in town to get enough food and fluids for your trip.