Need Kauai Help, Please!

[KKCruisers]

Aloha,

 

I am in the process of making plans for our day trips.

I have read that the North shore of Kauai is best for snorkeling in the summer, so we want to explore the North shore.

 

We are looking for a beach that is good for snorkeling and also a nice sandy beach to just relax and enjoy the beautiful Hawaiian waters.

I have been looking at pictures of the North shore beaches and they all look nice, and I can't decide on one!!!

Please post if you have been to the beaches here and let us know what you liked or disliked about them. I'm sure this will probably help others also who are trying to decide on where to go.

Indicate also whether there are lifeguards and restrooms.

Mahalo,

Kat

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

I enjoyed Lydgate Park - not really north shore but more eastern. It does have lifeguards and a sandy beaches with restrooms and shower to rinse off. There are 2 lava rock enclosures with sandy bottoms that are always calm and smooth for snorkeling. One for the kids and one for adults. Fish can come in & out and you get mild waves splash over the rock wall. The kids lagoon was about shoulder deep and I could see the bottom pretty clearly. I didn't snorkel at any of the beaches but I stopped at Ke-e beach as far North as you can go and saw people snorkeling there but there are no lifeguards. There was a restroom up by the parking lot. Hope that helps.

[rjscott]

We hit most all of the North Shore beaches on our visit to Kauai last Nov. My favorite was Hanalei Bay; a very nice, sandy beach, good facilities and stunning views. However, we didn't snorkel there, so I'm not sure of the quality of the snorkeling. We did snorkel at Ke'e and it does have a good, sandy beach and snorkeling was decent. If you head to the North Shore, you can stop first at Ke'e, and, depending on how long you stay there, hit a few other beaches on your way back. Here's a couple of good websites for the Kauai beaches:

http://www.kauaiexplorer.com/guides/beach/kauai_snorkeling.php

 

http://www.kauai-hawaii.com/areas.php?areas_id=1

[gloryb2god]

Hanalei looks like a lovely swimming beach. We find that the snorkeling beaches tend to be rocky and not pleasant for bobbing around the ocean. Just our experience. Best snorkeling we found was in Kona - Kaanapali Beach. Unfortunately - everyone else found it too.

[Luanne]

The travel channel picked Poipu beach as the #6 top best beach on all Hawaiian Islands. They said the snorkeling is very good and it is a safe beach for families. I haven't been there but they showed it on tv.

 

Luanne

[KKCruisers]

We hit most all of the North Shore beaches on our visit to Kauai last Nov. My favorite was Hanalei Bay; a very nice, sandy beach, good facilities and stunning views. However, we didn't snorkel there, so I'm not sure of the quality of the snorkeling. We did snorkel at Ke'e and it does have a good, sandy beach and snorkeling was decent. If you head to the North Shore, you can stop first at Ke'e, and, depending on how long you stay there, hit a few other beaches on your way back. Here's a couple of good websites for the Kauai beaches:

http://www.kauaiexplorer.com/guides/beach/kauai_snorkeling.php

 

http://www.kauai-hawaii.com/areas.php?areas_id=1

 

Thanks so much for the links. I'm liking Anini the more I look at it. One person said it wasn't good for snorkeling, but another said it was fantastic for seeing all kinds of fish and coral reef. I think the idea of yours to stop at a few sounds great and that way we can spend less time at each but be able to say we snorkeled at 3 or 4 beaches in Maui. Nothing wrong with that.

 

It won't be long now!!

Mahalo,

Kat

[andydee]

On the North Shore, (our favorite area in beautiful Kauai)), Hanalei was the most beautiful and best swimming beach but the best snorkeling we found was where the road ends and the Napali hiking trail begins. From memory, I think it is called Kee beach.

Cheers

Andy

[simonv]

Anini is a totally enclosed lagoon. Snorkeling isn't much close to the shore, but if you swim out to the reef, maybe 200 yards?, not too far, snorkeling is very good. There's a complete park facilities - showers, rest rooms, picnic tables, BBQ pits, lawn and kid's play area, life guard and long sandy beach. Water is always quiet therefore safe even in winter months when most of the north shore beaches are too dangerous.

My favorite is Hideaways (Pali Ke Kua) Beach below the Princeville Hotel. You go into the Princeville, follow the sign to the Princeville Hotel. Just before the entrance to the Hotel, you see a small parking lot on your right. Park there. Next to it you'll see an alley with a 'right of the way' sign. Follow it down to the beach. You need to climb down the steep cliff on a well-maintained path, but once there, snorkeling is far superior to the Kee Beach that many people seems to like. There never are many people and it feels like your own private beach. It is a sandy beach. It is a gem. There's no beach facilities here.

[rjscott]

GloryB, Kaanapali Beach is on Maui. Might you be thinking of Kahalu'u on Kona?

 

Kat, Anini Beach is lovely, but the day we stopped there, we were told by locals (before getting in the water) that the snorkeling wasn't too good that day, so we moved on to Ke'e. If you, for some reason, decide to head for the south shore, Poipu is very nice, and Lawai, just down the road, also has very good snorkeling.

[simonv]

I've spent a few months in Kauai, and I can tell you that Tunnels Beach is just about the best for snorkeling in Kauai. Long sandy beach, but no facilities. Parking is limitted. www.hawaiiweb.com/kauai/beaches/tunnelsbeach.htm

All kinds of fish, eel, manta rays, etc.

[swifs]

We were there the first week in July and went to many beaches. We liked Anini Beach. Anini is apparently a good beach for children. There was a mother with two young children sitting near us. Also there was a group of children with what seemed to be camp counselors who all marched up the beach together to go in somewhere out of our sight line. Tunnels Beach had what seemed to be rather rocky entrances and exits for us. The beach near the Princeville Hotel was very nice and I imagine Hanelei Bay (which is nearby) would also be nice- Anini is more white sand; the Princeville/Hanelei is what I would call honey colored and has an oatmeal consistency. In Poipu I would strongly recommend Poipu Beach State Park. It is a lovely park, with good swimming. And Brennecke's right across the way had the best sushi and fish that we had in our two week stay.