Hamoa Beach

Located a couple of miles away from the town of Hana, Hamoa Beach - also known as Hamoa Beach Park and earlier called Mokae Beach - is a popular and beautiful crescent-shaped east-facing beach with salt-and-pepper sand and rocky portions on the island of Maui. Parts of this 1,000 feet long beach and 100 feet wide beach are situated at the base of forested oceanfront bluffs and hills. A hill is also present near the beach - this hill is an eroding cinder cone named Ka Iwi o Pele (meaning "the bones of Pele" - Pele is the Native Hawaiian deity of volcanoes). The sand in Hamoa Beach is composed of weathered coral skeletons (usually white in color) and black-colored lava rocks. This unique phenomenon is the main reason behind the beach’s sand having both black and white-colored grains. A wide variety of flora is present around Hamoa Beach including Hala trees and palm trees. During ancient times, this beach was also used by Ancient Hawaiians as a spot for launching and landing canoes due to the water near the beach being calmer as compared to the surrounding shoreline. Renowned authors James Michener and Mark Twain have praised this beach for its scenic beauty. This beach has been featured in theMaui Magazine (also known as the Maui Nō Ka ʻOi Magazine) article "Maui’s Best Beaches" - this beach was listed as having the "Most Romantic Beach Setting in Maui." Hamoa Beach is also a favorite of Randall Kaplan, the world’s foremost beach expert who is known as Mr. Beach. 

Hamoa Beach does not have lifeguards or any other public amenities except restrooms, a shower, and a nearby concession stand, so plan accordingly. However, a nearby resort named the Hana-Maui Resort offers a few additional amenities on the beach for its guests including beach chairs, beach umbrellas, and shuttle service. 

Hamoa Beach offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, wildlife watching, fishing, hiking, swimming, surfing, bodyboarding, skimboarding, snorkeling, paddle boarding, boating, jet-skiing, surf-skiing, water-skiing, kayaking, and canoeing. The water near Hamoa Beach is protected from strong waves, particularly during summers and early autumn, making the beach seasonally ideal for beginner swimmers, kayakers, and canoers. Snorkelers also enter the water near the beach in order to explore its vibrant biodiversity - depending on the time of the year, you can view many kinds of aquatic animals in the water near the beach including many kinds of fish and migrating whales. The northern portion of the beach is particularly a great spot for snorkeling. The water near Hamoa also occasionally offers thrilling but powerful and inconsistent surfing waves, this makes the water near the beach popular with bodyboarders and surfers. The water near the beach was also used as a surfing spot by Ancient Hawaiian nobles. However, if you are planning to enter the water near Hamoa Beach, we recommend being careful as the water here is known to occasionally have extremely strong and unpredictable rip currents and rogue waves, especially during winters. If you are a beginner swimmer, we recommend foregoing water activities on this beach if you are unsure about the water conditions here. In addition, the water near Hamoa Beach is known to have sharks and jellyfish. Hamoa Beach offers amazing Instagram-worthy views of the Pacific Ocean, the ʻAlenuihāhā Channel, and a dormant volcano called Mauna Kea. If you are planning to fish in the water near Hamoa Beach, we recommend ensuring compliance with the local fishing regulations.

Getting to Hamoa Beach is difficult - in order to reach Hamoa Beach, visitors have to drive on a highway named Hana Highway – which is also locally known as the Road to Hana. This highway has winding roads on steep cliffs with many sharp turns that can make many drivers nauseous. In addition, certain portions of this highway are also very narrow and this highway also passes through dense jungles and century-old bridges. It takes more than two hours to drive to Hana from the town of Kahului on the Hana Highway. If you are planning to drive on Hana Highway, we recommend possessing a considerable amount of driving experience in order to drive safely here. From Hana Highway, you need to turn towards a narrow road named Haneo Road. The steep access stairs to the beach are located along Haneo Road, and street parking spaces are also present across the road from the access stairs. If you are planning to visit Hamoa Beach, we recommend doing so early as the street parking spaces near the beach can get filled up pretty quickly and the beach is also known to quickly get crowded during summers.

There are many attractions near Hamoa Beach. Waioka Pond (also known as Venus Pool) is a popular natural pool that is surrounded by scenic and jagged cliff sides. This pool is a popular swimming spot and intrepid visitors and locals often jump into this pool from the cliff sides above - the pool also offers amazing views of the Maui shoreline. However, it is important to note that the trail to this pool is extremely rugged and steep, and we recommend being careful while visiting this pool. The Wailua Falls is a gorgeous 80-feet tall waterfall that offers amazing Instagram-worthy photos. A natural pool is also present at the base of this waterfall and this pool is popular among swimmers - however, we recommend being careful while hiking down to this pool as the trail leading to this pool from the clifftop area above can be rocky. Hana Community Center and District Complex and Ball Park - this recreational facility has many amenities including baseball/softball fields, a playground, restrooms, and tennis courts. This facility and the area around it also host many fun events including the East Maui Taro Festival (which is dedicated to the cultural significance of the local taro crop) and the Canoe Regatta. If you're looking for another attraction near Hamoa Beach, Waiʻānapanapa State Park has a beautiful coastal landscape - you can explore the park’s vibrant landscape and biodiversity via the hiking trails present here - one of the state park’s trails is a part of a former historic pathway (which spanned across Maui’s shoreline) that was used by Hawaiian royalty. The state park’s interesting natural features also include multiple black sand beaches, unique caves with anchialine pools (these pools and caves have immense local cultural significance and are currently closed to visitors), and a unique blowhole (which is a coastal geological formation that routinely shoots up water). The state park also has many historic sites - one of the most prominent historic sites in the state park is the Ohala Heiau, which is thought to be a shrine for a Native Hawaiian fishing god.

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants near Hamoa Beach. The Preserve Kitchen + Bar offers amazing views of the Maui landscape and it also serves amazing dishes for brunch and dinner prepared from locally sourced ingredients including breakfast dishes, sandwiches, salads, steaks, seafood, poultry dishes, pork chops, pu pu platters, pastas, and burgers. The restaurant also offers live music performances on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. The Hāna Ranch Restaurant offers amazing dishes infused with local Hawaiian culinary influences for breakfast, lunch, and dinner including burgers, sandwiches, pastas, steaks, seafood, salads, and pork chops. Hāna Farms Roadside Stand & Bamboo Hale Restaurant is set in a unique bamboo structure and it serves amazing dishes displaying local culinary influences including pizzas, barbecued dishes, and salads. Tony’s Place Hana offers amazing steak, seafood, poultry dishes, sandwiches, salads, and burgers. If you are looking for another good and affordable restaurant near Hamoa Beach, Huli Huli Chicken (also known as Koko’s Huli Huli Chicken) is immensely popular for its barbecued huli huli chicken - in addition, the restaurant also serves other amazing Hawaiian-style platters. As an interesting fact, the restaurant was featured on the National Geographic Channel television show Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted - the famous chef Gordon Ramsay also tasted this restaurant’s huli huli chicken.

If you are looking for a hotel near Hamoa Beach, there are many great nearby options. The 4-Star Hana-Maui Resort offers many amenities including a pool, a Hawaiian restaurant, two tennis courts, and a spa (that offers treatments for a fee) with steam rooms and a lava rock hot tub. The hotel also offers many fun activities including fishing, outdoor yoga, ukulele, and cookery/cocktail classes. A more affordable hotel is Heavenly Hotel Paradise which is surrounded by tropical flora and fruit trees and offers many amenities including a covered terrace, a barbecue area, and a garden.  As another moderately priced option, Hana Kai Maui offers many amenities including sun loungers, and a gas barbecue grill.  If you are looking for another good and affordable hotel near Hamoa Beach,Hana Inn offers many amenities including a common food storage area, a common microwave, and a barbecue grill - the area around the hotel also offers many fun activities including snorkeling and hiking. In addition, this hotel is situated conveniently close to some of Hana’s most popular attractions and food trucks. As another modestly priced option, Waiʻānapanapa State Park offers cabins for accommodation - the cabins and the area around them offer many amenities including restrooms, showers for nearby beaches, picnic tables, and hiking trails.