Kaua’i, HI. ~ A locals tour of the best beaches on Kaua’i

One of our best friends lives on Kaua’i and so we do our best to get there at least once a year. We spend our days bouncing from beach to beach and we will share our favorites with you in detail. Our favorite days are our beach days!

Our typical flight from Southern California arrives about 5pm as do most from the mainland. We always make our first stop at Costco to stock up and then straight to the closest beach we can find.

5 best beaches on Kaua’i

• Polihale State Park Beach: You’ll drive down a dirt road to get here and 4wd is recommended however you can still make it in a car. You’ll need to get a permit to camp here but that is fairly easy.
• Poipu Beach: Awesome snorkeling and swimming beach with many resorts nearby for food and beverage. This beach has been voted #1 beach in America. Parking lots are ample and access is easy.
• Brennecke’s Beach: Located adjacent to Poipu Beach, this is the perfect beach for body surfing and boogie boarding.
• Maha’ulepu beach: You’ll take a 2 mile dirt road with some bumps in order to get here. Great hiking and lots of trees for shade.
• Salt Pond: Great beach for swimming in the coral reef protected cove and awesome beach for a sunset.

Polihale Beach

Camping over-night at Polihale beach on Kaua’i is an epic experience usually reserved for locals. Campsites line the bluff and you can camp out under the stars without a tent. This beach is the longest stretch of beach in the State of Hawaii. The road leading to the beach is an old sugar cane hauling road. Even though we recommend a 4wd you can still easily access it without one. Access to the road is where the Highway 50 ends.

This seventeen mile stretch of beach sits on the edge of the Na Pali coast and the views are spectacular. Swimming is limited to the area called Queens Pond due to strong rip currents. You can fish along the shore line, take the longest beach walk ever, do some epic shelling and enjoy the spectacular sunsets over the Forbidden Island of Ni’ihau. Even if you are not going to spend the night, this is a great beach to spend the day. There is no shade on the shoreline so you’ll want to bring an umbrella. Be sure to stop at Ishihara Market to stock up on water, beverages and some of the best Poke on the Island (Check out our blog on best places to eat on Kaua’i.)

Poipu Beach State Park

They aren’t joking when they say this is one of the best beaches in the world, this beach really has something for everyone. Considering this is the sunniest part of Kaua’i, beach days here are long and therefore, awesome. The series of coves of volcanic rock make it an epic snorkeling spot and a great place for kids to swim. Due to the fact that there are lifeguards here every day, it is considered one of the safest beaches on Kaua’i. In addition, the bonus is that there are several hotels nearby and you can access them for food and drinks or belly up and have a cocktail. Not only are there many rental kiosks which offer snorkel equipment, stand up paddle boards and surf boards there are also restrooms and showers that are plentiful.

Brennecke’s beach

We love this beach! If your looking for a perfect body surfing and boogie boarding beach, this is it. It’s just adjacent to Poipu beach and within walking distance of Brennecke’s beach deli where you can get delicious sandwiches and any supplies you might be missing. The snorkeling is great here and turtles are usually around and close to shore.

Maha’ulepu beach

Just down Poipu road past the Grand Hyatt take the 2 mile dirt road and you arrive at Maha’ulepu beach. The drive is about 15 minutes to the dirt parking lot. A short walk down a dirt trail and you you’re greeted with a visually stunning and secluded beach that is definitely off the beaten path. You can also access this beach via the Maha’ulepu Heritage trail that takes you along cliff and sand dune bluffs and provides great vistas of Shipwreck beach. While this isn’t the best swimming beach, if you want to get away from the crowds, this is the perfect place for a picnic, a book and a beer.

Salt Pond

This beach is named for the natural salt ponds that lay adjacent to it. The beach is flanked by a coral reef and so it is mostly calm and a great place to relax and play in the water. Although this is in fact a mostly a locals spot, it’s a great place for sunset and you can see the Forbidden Island of Ni’ihau. It is also a great beach for shelling!

Secret Glass beach

Shhhhhhh! Just over by Port Allen Harbor behind the Kauai Island Brewing company, is a beach full of sea glass. If you’re on your way to Waimea Canyon, be sure to take the short detour. It’s just about a two minute drive off Highway 50 and you can spend some time checking out the glass. Additionally, if you’re crazy about sea glass like we are, it’s absolutely worth the trip. Although the glass is remnants of an old bottle and auto glass dump here, if you have never seen a glass beach, you won’t want to miss it.

McBryde Sugar Plantation Cemetery – Added Bonus

If you continue along the dirt road past Glass Beach you’ll come to a bluff and just on your right is the McBryde Sugar Plantation Cemetery. The cemetery contains the graves of Chinese and Japanese sugar plantation workers of the late 1800s and early 1900s. However before 2013, the cemetery was totally overgrown and it was difficult to see. Due to a massive clean up effort by a local resident, you are now able to view them. It’ definitely worth the few minutes it takes to get there.

Check out our other blogs for the best eating and site-seeing on Kauai!