We reached the northern coast and explored the coastline for a short while. Short because a) it was raining and b) it was ugly. The sand is black due to all the volcanic activity, and far from pristine, due to the villagers living right next to the beach and using it as their backyard. There are a couple of tourist towns like Lovina where backpackers come to get away from the commercialism down south, but in this instance there's good reason why all the hotels are located where they are.