There are seemingly endless beaches on the Big Island of Hawaii, each one boasting unique features and beautiful scenery. Today we’re highlighting our favorites!
Visiting the Beach on Your Hawaii Vacation
It’s pretty much a given that you’ll be hitting the beach on your Hawaii vacation, even if it’s just to have your picture taken. Some of our visitors are not fond of sun and sand, but wouldn’t dream of going back home without some semblance of a natural tan.
Beaches rim all our islands, and all of them are accessible to you. Even at the posh resorts and private estates, where the beaches appear to be private, the beaches are public. Keep in mind that few of them are patrolled, and you swim at your own risk. Never swim alone, and heed any warnings that may be posted. Not all beaches are suitable for swimming, but there’s plenty of other stuff that makes them appealing.
Big Island Beaches
Among the islands, the Big Island usually gets a bad rap when it comes to “great beaches.” You’ll hear that the best beaches are on Maui and Oahu, but that’s like saying the best sunsets are seen from Kauai.
The Big Island actually has more than 80 beaches, and more than a few of those are spectacular and unique. Most are on the Kona (west) side, which is sunnier and where the weather is more consistently mild. (That’s where most of the impressive new resorts have been developed.)
The 25 Best Beaches on the Big Island
The beaches listed here can be found around the island counterclockwise on the map, starting at the northernmost point. Remember, this is a BIG island! You won’t find it easy to hop from beach to beach on a given day.
1. Keokea Beach Park
Off Highway. 270, near Pololu overlook on the north end of the island.
This black-boulder beach is suited for fishing in the calm summer months, but heavy surf makes it a hazardous swimming beach. There isn’t much of a sandy beach area, but it’s an excellent spot to picnic and watch surfers when conditions are right. It has picnic tables, restrooms, showers, and drinking water.
2. Mahukona Beach Park
Off Hwy. 270 past mile marker 14, Mahukona
Here in the Kohala District, where sugar was once shipped by rail to be loaded on boats, Mahukona Beach’s old docks and buildings are a happy find for photographers.
Divers and snorkelers can view both marine life and remnants of shipping machinery in the clear water.
Surf is heavy, often prohibiting swimming. The picnic area has restrooms, showers, and a place for camping, but no sandy beach.
3. Spencer Beach Park
Off Hwy. 270, uphill from Kawaihae Harbor
Spencer Beach Park is one of the most popular and fun beaches on the Big Island.
This spot is a favorite among local families because of its reef-protected, gently sloping white-sand beach. It’s generally safe for swimming year-round.
You can snorkel with the sea turtles here (No touching!), and large shade trees hover over cooking and camping facilities. It has showers, empty tennis courts, and a large covered pavilion with electrical outlets.
4. Kaunaoa Beach at Westin Mauna Kea Beach Hotel
Enter through the gate to Mauna Ke’a Beach Resort, off Hwy. 19
It’s a toss-up whether this or neighboring Hapuna is the most beautiful beach on the Big Island. Kaunaoa unfolds like a white crescent, and it slopes very gradually. It’s a great place for snorkeling, but in winter the powerful waves can be dangerous. The beach amenities are hotel-owned, and public parking places are limited.
5. Hapuna Beach State Park
Between Mauna Ke’a Beach and Mauna Lani hotel, off Hwy. 19
This beach is part of a 61-acre park, and it forms a 1⁄2-mile crescent of white sand guarded by rocky points at either end. The surf can be hazardous in winter, but in summer the gradual slope of the beach can stretch as wide as 200 feet to the ocean.
This is a terrific beach for swimming, snorkeling, and body surfing.
6. Holoholokai Beach Park on the Big Island
Off Hwy. 19 at Mauna Lani Hotel
A rocky beach of black lava formations and white coral clinkers is fine for surfers and snorkelers, and a small grassy area is available to sunbathers.
Bathrooms, picnic tables, and barbecue grills are nicely maintained. Just before the beach park, you can explore historic Puako Petroglyph Park, where Malama Trail meanders 0.7 miles through brush and kiawe trees to an area of lava covered with ancient etchings of Hawaiian figures and animals.
7. Anaehoomalu Beach at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa
Follow Waikoloa Beach Drive to the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, then follow signs to the beach
This expansive beach is perfectly suited for swimming, windsurfing, snorkeling, and ping. Some equipment is for rent at the north end.
8. Kiholo Bay
Hwy. 19, Mile Marker 81
Be aware that your access via an unmarked road across a vast lava field requires a 20-minute hike, so take plenty of water. Private homes are built along the oceanfront. The huge, spring-fed Luahinewai Pond anchors the south end of the bay, and the three black-pebble beaches are fine for swimming in calm weather.
At the northern end, Wainanalii Pond (a 5-acre lagoon) is a feeding site for green sea turtles, off-limits to swimmers. You’ll find good swimming here, but no facilities.
9. Kekaha Kai (Kona Coast) State Park
You’ll see the sign about a mile north of Keahole-Kona International Airport, off Hwy. 19, then there’s a rough 1.5-mile road to the beach
This sandy white Big Island beach nestles in a bay with gentle surf. It has a few picnic tables shaded by coconut trees, but no drinking water. Portable toilets are the only additional facilities.
10. Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park
The park is off Highway 19, at Honokohau Harbor; or use the park access between Mile Markers 96 and 97
Just down the road from Honokohau Harbor, this is Part of a new 1,160-acre park. You’ll find two beaches, rich in archeology and good for swimming.
Honokohau Beach, a 0.75-mile stretch with ruins of ancient fishponds, is north of the harbor. The park is developed as a cultural and historical site.
For information about the park, visit its headquarters, a 5- to 10-minute drive away at 73-4786 Kanalani St., #14 in Kailua-Kona
11. Old Kona Airport Beach Park
The north end of Kuakini Hwy
The unused runway — great for jogging or running — is still visible above this beach. It’s all part of Kailua Park, which has picnic tables, BBQ grills, showers, bathroom facilities, tennis courts, a swimming pool, a playground, and palm trees strung out along the shore.
The beach has a sheltered, sandy inlet with tidal pools for children, but adults will likely prefer snorkeling here instead of swimming. An offshore surfing break known as Old Airport is popular with Kona surfers.
12. Kamakahonu Beach on the Big Island
On Ali’i Drive in Kona, by the Kailua Pier.
The “King Kam” beach is a popular spot for Big Island visitors and locals alike. The surf is calm, so this is a great beach for children and swimming. The sand is white, the trees are shady, and the snorkeling is good – especially outside on the cove. This is also a popular spot for SNUBA.
13. Kona Magic Sands Beach
4-1⁄2 miles south of Kailua-Kona on Ali’i Dr.
Kona Magic Sands Beach is a popular Big Island spot. This beach is also known as La’aloa Beach, White Sands, or Disappearing Sands Beach Park. Now you see it, now you don’t.
Overnight, winter waves wash away this small white-sand beach on Ali’i Drive just south of Kailua-Kona.
In summer, you’ll know you’ve found it when you see the bodyboarders and surfers. A volleyball net, restrooms, showers, a lifeguard tower, and a coconut grove create a favorite and convenient summer hangout. This beach is officially called La’aloa Bay Beach Park.
14. Kahaluu Beach Park
5-1⁄2 miles south of Kailua-Kona on Ali’i Dr.
This is one of the best snorkeling beaches on the Big Island, with a huge variety of fish in clear shallow waters. The north end of the beach is where the waves break and is best for body boarding and surfing.
Check the water conditions; with ocean swells, the water can be murky. Facilities include a pavilion, restrooms, showers, a lifeguard tower, and limited parking.
15. Napoopoo Beach Park
At the edge of Kealakekua Bay
The best way to enjoy this marine preserve is to take a snorkel, scuba, or glass-bottom boat tour from Keauhou Bay. A 27-ft white obelisk indicates where Captain James Cook was killed in 1779.
While this six-acre beach park has a picnic pavilion, the beach consists of rocks, making access into the water difficult.
16. Ho‘okena Beach Park
The access road is narrow and a bumpy two-mile drive by the remains of a stone wall off Hwy. 11, 23 miles south of Kailua-Kona
When Mark Twain visited Hawaii, 2,500 people populated the busy seaport village at the northern end of Kauhako Bay. Now, at Ho’okena Beach Park, you can still find gas lamp posts dating from the early 1900s.
This dark-gray coral-and-lava-sand beach offers good swimming, snorkeling, and bodysurfing.
Restrooms, showers, and picnic tables are available at this beautiful beach on the Big Island.
17. South Point
The end of South Point Road, 12 miles south of Hawaii Route 11, AKA Hawaii Belt Road
Here’s a beach area where jumping into the surf isn’t the first priority. South Point on the Big Island of Hawaii is the southernmost point in the United States – reason enough for a visit.
The drive through rural – and volcanic – Hawaii is unusual in itself, but the South Point area, where the first Polynesians are thought to have landed, is amazing.
The cliff near South Point Park drops forty feet to the ocean surface. The concept looks inviting, but don’t jump, even though there are ladders to return, and you may see daring young people doing it. A swift current runs along the shore that could carry you straight out to sea.
18. Papakōlea Green Sand Beach (Mahana Beach)
Drive to the harbor at the end of South Point and then walk toward the left alongside the ocean for 2.5 miles. Then carefully climb down to the beach.
You need good hiking shoes to get to this truly green crescent, one of the most unusual and prettiest beaches on the island.
The beach lies at the base of Pu’u o Mahana, a cinder cone formed during an early eruption of Mauna Loa. The greenish tint is caused by an accumulation of olivine that forms in volcanic eruptions.
Swimming is dangerous in this windy, remote area, and there are no facilities, but in calm water close to the shore, the aquamarine surf feels great, and you find yourself in a surreal grass-plain landscape.
19. Punalu’u Beach Park
Hwy. 11, 27 miles south of Volcanoes National Park
Endangered Hawaiian green sea turtles nest in the black sand of this beautiful and easily accessible beach on the Big Island. Fishponds are just inland. At the northern end of the beach near the boat ramp lie the ruins of a heiau and a flat sacrificial stone.
This Big Island Beach used to be a sugar and army port until the tidal wave of 1946 destroyed the buildings. Offshore rip currents are extremely dangerous, though you’ll see a few local surfers riding the waves. There are restrooms across the road.
20. Ahalanui Park
On the Kapoho coast, southeast of Pahoa, 2-1⁄2 miles south of the junction of Highways 132 and 137.
This is one of the many unique beaches on the Big Island! This three-acre park has a half-acre pond heated by volcanic steam. Ahalanui (aka Pualaa County Park) opened in 1993 to replace earlier beach parks that were lost to lava flows.
The pond here is good for swimming, but the nearby ocean is rough. Drinking water and a few tables are available for picnicking, and there are portable restrooms.
21. MacKenzie State Recreation Area
Highway 137, 2 miles south of the junction with Highway 132
This 13-acre park is shaded by ironwood trees and is good for picnicking. You can’t swim here, but there are restrooms.
22. Isaac Hale Beach Park on the Big Island
Off Highway 137, north of the junction with Highway 132
The oceanfront park facilities here include restrooms and picnic areas. It’s a good place for an afternoon nap, but it’s dangerous for swimming.
23. Leleiwi Beach Park and Richardson Ocean Park
Follow Kalaniana’ole Avenue east along the water about 4 miles south of Hilo; 2349 Kalaniana’ole Ave.
Near Hilo, along the Keaukaha shoreline laced with bays, inlets, lagoons, and pretty parks, these two beaches are adjacent to each other. The grassy area is ideal for picnics.
These beaches on the Big Island are rocky and dangerous for swimming, though you can dip your feet in the shallow areas.
24. Onekahakaha Beach Park
3 miles south of Hilo on Kalaniana’ole Ave.
A protected, white-sand beach makes this a favorite for Hilo families with small children. Lifeguards are on duty year-round. The park has picnic pavilions, restrooms, and showers.
25. Reeds Bay Beach Park
On Banyan Dr. in Hilo
With restrooms, showers, drinking water, calm and safe swimming, and proximity to downtown Hilo, this cove is a great attraction and beach on the Big Island’s east coast.
Cold freshwater springs seep from the bottom of a nearby pond and rise in the saltwater.
Beaches on the Big Island & More Big Island Travel Planning
Of course, a trip to the Big Island of Hawaii is more than choosing the right beaches. You also need to select the right hotels, activities, and flights. Hawaii Aloha Travel is here to help! Contact our team of local Hawaii travel agents for more information.
