Kauai Beaches and Haena Beach Park
Heana Beach Park is another great reason to visit the North Shore of Kauai. Located near the end of the road, the park sits at the edge of the Na Pali coast, and the presence of Mount Makana looming directly behind the beach is the major factor contributing to the magnificent look of the beach. Haena Beach Park is a favorite camping spot for both visitors and locals. It is a small park (about 5.5 acres) which offers a grassy picnic area with tables and benches, restrooms, cold showers, shady trees and camping spots.
The wide bay offshore is bordered by two large reefs, Makua Reef to the east and Hauwa Reef to the west, but the beach itself is completely exposed to the open ocean. During periods of high surf, waves funnel unchecked directly into the beach, creating dangerous water conditions – particularly a pounding shore break, and powerful rip currents. The sudden drop off and undertow make swimming in the winter months pretty much out of the question, but there are lifeguards on duty to advise you. Better swimming and snorkeling is just a short walk to Tunnels Beach and can be enjoyed year round.
Waikanaloa Wet Cave, with a large and still water pool, and its counterpart the Maniniholo Dry Cave is also near the beach. Limahuli National Tropical Garden is also nearby. The garden is a great treasure of rare native Hawaiian plants built in terraces. The trailhead to the Kalalau Trail is also just north of the park.
Good for picnics
Camping with permit
Beachcombing
Showers
Restrooms
Swimming
Surfing
Bodyboarding
Directions: Haena Beach Park is located only about a mile from Ke’e Beach (the end point of highway 56).
Please remember: When in doubt, don’t go out.
Check our Kauai Surf Report.
Waipa Kalo Festival 2011
The Waipa Kalo Festival will be December 9, 10 and 11 on the North Shore of Kauai.
Friday
6:00 pm – Kalo Movie Night
Movies, talk story and potluck at Waipa. Bring your favorite kalo or lu`au dish.
Saturday
10:00 am to 4:00 pm – Ho`olaule`a
In the big field at Waipa. Food and craft booths, entertainment, contests and competitions, keiki activities, tours, educational displays, biggest kalo competition, a cooking contest, lo`i tours, keiki kalo art contest, and workshops…all about kalo. Fabulous entertainment will include live music and presentations throughout the day.
Sunday
9:00 am to 12:30 pm – Workshop
Kalo varieties workshop and tasting followed by lunchtime pa`ina at Limahuli Garden.
The Waipa Foundation is a community-based nonprofit, whose mission is to restore the health and abundance of the 1,600 acre Waipa watershed, through the creation of a Hawaiian community center and learning center. To accomplish it’s mission and goals, the foundation has created programs, curriculum, and activities which utilize and maintain those learning sites.
In ancient times, ahupua’a were sustainable communities that originated in the interdependence between the land and the people. Such was a mutuality in which use of land, water and economic, social and cultural choices flourished in balance. Today, Waipa is a place where Hawaiians and community can renew ties to the ‘aina (land and resources), the culture and a more traditional lifestyle; a place to create assets and opportunities for more culturally relevant teaching, sharing, learning and living; and a place to work toward bringing health, vibrance, and pono to our land, resources, and community.
Kauai Beaches and Rock Quarry
Rock Quarry Beach is located on the North Shore of Kauai where the Kilauea Stream empties into the Pacific Ocean. This small beach is bordered by a densely vegetated hill and an abandoned rock quarry, which overlook the bay. The stream hits a sand bar as it reaches the sea and forms a large pool good for swimming and fishing (when the water is calm and clear).
This beach is off the main road and down a dirt road, and therefore more secluded and less frequented. Rock Quarry Beach doesn’t have a reef barrier to protect it from high ocean waves, and becomes a popular surf spot especially during the summer when the rest of the North Shore is quiet. Many people also enjoy kayaking in the river, fishing, or snorkeling.
Dirt-roadside parking
No facilities
Secluded beach
Swimming
Snorkeling
Fishing
Surfing
Bodysurfing
Directions: Driving North on Highway 56. After mile marker 21, take a right on Wailapa Road. Continue for half a mile, then take a left. Drive until you reach a dead end. Park on the road and walk to the beach.
Please remember: When in doubt, don’t go out.
Check our Kauai Surf Report.
Kilauea Point Lighthouse Lens
In 1909, thirty-one acres were purchased for the construction of the Kilauea Point Lighthouse, and construction began three years later in 1912. The centerpiece of the lighthouse was the lens designed by Augustin Fresnel and fabricated in Paris. A Fresnel lens contains hundreds of glass prisms concentrating and focusing the light passing through. The lens is two-sided (shaped like a clam’s shell) with two bull’s-eyes on each side.
The entire lens assembly weighs about 4.5 tons and was designed to “float” on mercury and pressurized air. A system of cables, weights, and pulleys rotated the lens, similar to descending weights turning the hands of a cuckoo clock. The weights would gravitate down a shaft in the center of the lighthouse. The lighthouse had to be wound every 3-1/2 hours by pulling the weights back to the top, then an electronic motor was installed in 1939, eliminating this lighthouse keeper’s task.
The fresnel lens and clockworks were manufactured in France at a cost of $12,000. But, when the lens arrived, it was discovered that the assembly instructions were in French, so a message was sent to Honolulu, requesting help with translation. Fred Edgecomb was dispatched on an interisland ship from Honolulu to Nawiliwili Harbor and then rode twenty miles on horseback to the site. After he had helped translate the instructions, the four-and-a-half-ton lens was assembled in the tower and floated in a trough six feet in diameter and nine inches deep filled with mercury. The revolving lens, which was first illuminated on May 1, 1913, produced a double flash every ten seconds that was visible up to a distance of twenty-one nautical miles.
Kauai Beaches and Tunnels
Tunnels Beach is a long sandy beach and an excellent snorkeling spot on the North Shore of Kauai. The beach has 2-miles of golden sand, fringed with ironwood trees, tropical palms, and mountains creating a spectacular backdrop. Tunnels also offers excellent snorkeling during the summer months when the ocean is calm.
Tunnels Beach, also known as Makua Beach, is unique for having an inner and an outer reef. About an eighth of a mile offshore is a half-moon shaped reef. This inner reef is usually where families with kids and novice snorkelers spend their time, while advanced divers and snorkelers explore the outer reef, which has more lava tubes, arches, and coral formations.
The outer reef is the most interesting. In some places it has a steep drop-off of about 50-70 feet with an abundance of sea life, including parrot fish, cornet fish, rockmover wrasses, pearl wrasses, and sometimes even reef sharks. But, the outer reef often experiences strong currents, even when the ocean appears to be calm, and only experienced divers should swim here.
Snorkeling and diving
No lifeguards
No facilities
Swimming
Surfing
Kitesurfing
Directions: Traveling north on Highway 560 go 1 mile past the Hanalei Colony Resort. A little past Mile Marker 8, take a right on one of two small dirt roads. Park along the road where it is marked. You can also park at Haena Beach Park where there are facilities.
Please remember: When in doubt, don’t go out.
Check our Kauai Surf Report.
Kauai Beaches and Kalihiwai
Kalihiwai Beach is a wide, golden sand beach located near the town of Kilauea on the North Shore of Kauai. During the summer months, the ocean is usually calm and good for swimming. During the winter the waves become big, and make this spot popular with surfers. Even if the surf is too rough, Kalihiwai is a lovely beach for walking or running, with firm sand and magnificent views of the cliffs.
You’ll catch your first glimpse of Kalihiwai Bay as you drive down the narrow road carved into the side of the sheer cliff which encloses it on one side. The bay is a perfect semi-circle of blue, rimmed with golden sand enclosed by lava cliffs on each side. Shady Ironwoods trees make this beach comfortable for picnicing and relaxing.
A freshwater stream flows into the bay near the far end where shallow water allows children to splash around safely. If the water is brown after a heavy rainfall it should be avoided. You can explore upriver by kayak to waterfalls.
Good family beach
Swimming
Bodyboarding
Surfing
Kayaking
Fishing
Shade
No facilities
No lifeguards
Directions: Driving north on Highway 56, about .5 mile past Kilauea, take a right on Kalihiwai Road. Kalihiwai Beach is approximately 1 mile away.
Please remember: When in doubt, don’t go out.
Check our Kauai Surf Report.
