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Hawaii's best beaches

A guide to 14 family-friendly stretches of sand to help you plan your next vacation to the Islands

Being on the beach in Hawaii - feeling the warm sand between your toes and the soft caress of a fragrant breeze as you watch the irresistible curl of a perfect wave - tends to push thoughts of serious scientific research to the far right side of the brain.

That's why I'm not really sure how much quantitative measurement helps one determine the "best beach" in Hawaii. I once talked to a geologist about the structure of a beach, but I learned more about the varieties and qualities of sand the year my wife, Jill, was pregnant with our first child and I had to scoop out a hollow on every beach we visited so she could lie on her stomach. My eye for water conditions developed over years of swimming with children who were too young to appreciate the potential dangers of big surf and offshore currents. And my keen appreciation for the talents of local lifeguards was underscored the year my son was painfully stung by a Portuguese man-of-war.

My criteria for picking the top four spots as the best family beaches in Hawaii are straightforward: good public access, safe swimming, scenery, ample shade, good picnic and rest-room facilities, nearby beach equipment rental shops, and a lifeguard.

THE TOP FOUR

The only valuables I take to the beach are a driver's license, a credit card, a few dollars in cash, and a disposable camera. Theft is a problem at all beach parking lots; don't leave valuables in your car.

Lifeguards are posted at the following four beaches daily from 9 to 4 at least. Area code is 808.

1. Kailua Beach Park, Oahu. It's amazing how often I bump into Honolulu acquaintances picnicking on the other side of the island at Kailua Beach Park. Fringed with trees and backed by steep green hills, this 1/4-mile beach-front park is part of a 2 1/4-mile crescent of fine white sand that defines the edge of Kailua Bay. With plenty of shady grass and picnic facilities, the beach is popular with locals. By midafternoon on weekends, the irresistible fragrance of barbecue is wafting over the crowded parking lot.

With sheltered waters and steady trade winds blowing onshore, this beach is also the best place in the state to learn how to windsurf, which adds to its weekend popularity. When it's practical we plan our beach days for midweek, stopping for sandwiches on our way through Kailua and staying through late afternoon to watch outrigger canoe club teams work out.

* Where: The Pali Highway from Honolulu becomes Kailua Road in Kailua; follow it to its end at the park.

* Food: For thick sandwiches and fresh salads to go, stop in at Brent's Restaurant & Delicatessen in Kailua, 629A Kailua Rd.; 262-8588.

* Beach gear: For windsurfing lessons and rentals, call Naish Windsurfing Hawaii at 262-6068 or Kailua Sailboard Company at 262-2555.

2. Poipu Beach Park, Kauai. On an island with a surplus of worthy beaches, Poipu Beach Park gets top billing because it offers a greater variety of conditions and activities in one small area than any other lifeguard-staffed beach on the island. Swimming is safe most of the year, and by this month the county should finally be finished rebuilding pavilions and rest rooms damaged by Hurricane Iniki in 1992.

Expansive lawns (newly planted trees don't offer much shade yet) surround a cove so calm and shallow that even toddlers can sit and splash in the water. Snorkelers can walk out onto the sandy point to the west of the children's cove for good snorkeling along the rocky reef. Farther to the west along this cove is a good boogie boarding spot the locals call Left-Lefts because of the way the waves curl. My kids both learned to surf along this shore.

Poipu Beach Park has recently been expanded to include the once-famous Brennecke's Beach, a bodysurf break to the east of the children's cove. The jury is still out as to whether a local effort to truck in new sand to replace that scoured away by the hurricane will restore Brennecke's Beach to its former glory.

* Where: Off Poipu Road in the Poipu resort area. Turn toward the ocean on Hoowili Road.

* Food: You'll find a dell and ocean-view restaurant at Brennecke's Beach Broiler, across Poipu Road from the park; 742-7588.

* Beach gear: Rent snorkeling equipment and boogie boards at Nukumoi Surf Co.; 742-8019. For surfing lessons, call Margo Oberg's Surfing School; 742-8019.

3. Hapuna Beach State Park, Hawaii. Geologically the youngest of the state's islands, the Big Island of Hawaii has yet to naturally develop the range of sandy beaches that its neighbors have. However, this public park meets my criteria and can offer good beginner boogie boarding. (Use extra caution when big surf is breaking.)

During the summer months, the water off Hapuna Beach State Park on the Kohala Coast is typically as calm as a lake's, but storm surf that rolls in here periodically from October through April can create problems. Unfortunately, after having safe fun in the smaller, close-in shorebreak, many poorly equipped beginners court disaster in the outside break. Check with lifeguards if you're unsure about conditions.

Hapuna's popularity is due in part to shaded grass and picnic tables that attract visitors and locals alike. No matter how packed the parking lot is, the big beach seldom seems crowded, but you can find even more seclusion by walking north around the rocks to the gorgeous arc of sand fronting the Prince Hotel; look for good snorkeling around the rocks at the north end of that beach when the water is calm.

* Where: Just off State Highway 19, about 31 miles north of Kailua-Kona.

* Food: Bring a picnic; basic snack bar at park.

* Beach gear: There is a boogie board concession stand at the park, but serious boarders should bring their own gear, including fins.

4. Kamaole Beach Parks, Maui. While the Kamaole Beach Parks - numbered I, II, and III - have long stretches of fine sand washed by gently lapping wavelets and a view that includes the sere slopes of Lanai emerging from a sapphire sea, what draws residents to these south Maul beaches is the variety of activities they offer.

Volleyball players spike and dive on the sand court at Kamaole I, where beginning surfers often find good swells near the canoe launch. Among the rocky reefs between Kamaole I and Kamaole II, snorkelers search for sea turtles and parrot fish. Off the broad sandy swath at Kamaole III, swimmers stroke through the calm shallows, while on the sloping lawn picnickers fire up the grills as they savor a sunset or watch the colorful kites overhead. In winter, beachgoers at all three parks keep an eye out for humpback whales that migrate to these waters from Alaska.

Frankly, I never thought about whales during my customary early-morning swims at Kamaole I until one day three years ago. That particular March dawn was calm, and as I churned along watching fish cruise the sandy bottom through my mask, I suddenly heard the faint strains of what sounded like a wildly wavering French horn. Somewhere out in the great blue, a lone humpback whale was pouring his song into the deep.

What are the odds of being serenaded by a whale? Stretching out on smooth, almost silky sand, warmed by the sun rising behind the palms, I closed my eyes and filed that calculation on the far right side of my brain.

* Where: Off State 31 on S. Kihei Road in Kihei.

* Food: Plenty of grocery stores and fast-food franchises across the road from beaches have picnic supplies.

* Beach gear: Rent snorkel gear and boogie boards at the Maul Dive Shop across from Kamaole II; 879-1533.

10 more favorites

HAWAII

Kaunaoa Beach at Mauna Kea Beach Hotel near Kawaihae.

White Sands (Magic Sands) Beach Park (best in summer); about 3 miles south of Kailua-Kona.

KAUAI

Hanalei Pavilion Park near the pier in the north-shore town of Hanalei.

Salt Pond Beach Park near Hanapepe on the south shore.

MAUI

Hana Bay Beach Park at Hana Harbor.

Kapalua Beach at Kapalua resort.

Ulua Beach Park in Wailea.

OAHU

Waikiki Beach and Ala Moana Beach Park in Honolulu.

Waimea Bay Beach Park (best for families in summer); 5 miles northeast of Haleiwa off State 83.

COPYRIGHT 1997 Sunset Publishing Corp.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group