Hawaii has at least 3 documented hot springs, all volcanically heated pools in the Puna district near Pahoa on the Big Island. 1 is a free coastal warm pond and 2 are private geothermal retreats. Pohoiki Warm Ponds and Wai Ola Springs are the main sites, one a seaside pool warmed by the ground, the other a rainforest retreat with mineral soaking tubs.
All documented hot springs sit in the lower Puna district of the Big Island, south of Pahoa, where geothermal heat from Kilauea warms groundwater near the coast. Pohoiki Warm Ponds lies beside Isaac Hale Beach Park, a free seaside pool reshaped by recent volcanic activity.
Nearby, private retreats channel the same geothermal warmth into soaking pools set in rainforest. Puna Rainforest Retreat and Wai Ola Springs offer warm mineral tubs on lush grounds a short drive inland from the coast.
This is Hawaii's only hot springs area. The 2018 Kilauea eruption buried earlier coastal pools such as the former Ahalanui hot pond under lava, leaving the surviving sites concentrated in this small stretch of lower Puna.
Hawaii is the only tropical hot springs destination in the country, with pools warmed by active volcanic geology rather than deep mountain aquifers. The water sits in coastal and rainforest settings near sea level, mild and swimmable year-round in the islands' warm climate. The landscape here changes with the volcano, and visitors should check current conditions, since lava flows have closed and reshaped sites across lower Puna in recent years.
Highlights are drawn from the hot springs documented in this directory. Others may exist across the Big Island's changing volcanic landscape.
Free seaside warm pond: Pohoiki Warm Ponds sits beside Isaac Hale Beach Park south of Pahoa, a free geothermally warmed coastal pool reshaped by the 2018 Kilauea eruption.
Rainforest geothermal retreat: Wai Ola Springs offers warm mineral soaking tubs on rainforest grounds in lower Puna, among the few documented geothermal retreats on the Big Island in our records.
Private Puna soak: Puna Rainforest Retreat pairs warm volcanic soaking pools with rainforest lodging near Pahoa, a quiet private alternative to the coastal pond.
