Haena Beach Park

Located on the northern part of Kauai, Haena Beach Park – also called Haena Beach, Ha’ena Beach Park, Ha’ena Beach, and Maniniholo Beach – is a popular, beautiful, curve-shaped, and long beach with coarse golden coral sand, a sloping incline, and a few large black rocks.  HAWAII Magazine praised this beach in its article “How Kauai’s North Shore Has Changed for Visitors.”  The beach has a family-friendly atmosphere and it also has a wonderful backdrop of an oceanfront mountain named Mount Makana.  This beach should not be confused with a nearby state park that has a similar name called Haena State Park. 

Haena Beach Park has lifeguards daily usually between 9 am to 5 pm.  In addition to lifeguards, the beach and the area around it have many other amenities including restrooms, picnic areas, pavilions, nearby grassy recreational areas, and concession stands.

Haena Beach Park Kauai offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, picnicking, swimming, fishing, surfing, kitesurfing, windsurfing, boating, jet-skiing, surf-skiing, water-skiing, paddleboarding, boogie boarding, body surfing, snorkeling, scuba diving, kayaking, canoeing, surf-skiing, and wildlife watching. 

This beach is popular with expert surfers because it offers thrilling and powerful surfing waves, especially during winters.  It is also popular with snorkelers and scuba divers, who visit here to explore its vibrant nearby marine biodiversity during calmer water conditions.  Haena Beach Park & Tunnels Beach – which is another nearby beach – are popular snorkeling and scuba diving sites. 

If you are planning to swim, surf, or snorkel here, we recommend being careful because the water here is known to have unpredictable rip currents and dangerous waves, especially in winters from December to May and in spring.  The water here is also considerably deep and drowning-related deaths have been reported here.  

If you like taking Haena Beach Park photos with excellent views, this beach offers amazing views of the Northern Kauai shoreline and the Pacific Ocean, particularly during sunsets.  If you like beachcombing, you can comb this beach for many beautiful shells – an interesting type of shell that you can find here is the “puka shell” that is extremely popular for making jewelleries.  If you like camping, there is a tent campground nearby that offers an amazing Haena Beach Park camping experience.  However, please note that camping here is currently prohibited because of damage due to a storm. 

Haena Beach Park does not offer wheelchair access to visitors with disabilities.

Getting to Haena Beach Park is easy – this beach is located near mile marker 9 of Hawaii State Route 560 – which is also called Kuhio Highway – and there is a free dirt Haena Beach Park parking lot nearby with approximately 40 parking spaces.  Once you park here, you can walk to Haena Beach through a walking path.  We recommend visiting this beach early because the parking lot here can get filled up quickly. 

In addition, a shuttle service operates for this beach.  This shuttle service starts at 5-5631 Kuhio Highway and eventually drops you off at Haena Beach Park.  There is a free parking lot near the shuttle pickup site.  If you are planning to use this shuttle, you can visit gohaena.com for more information regarding the shuttle service and its fees.   

The name of this beach – Haena – means “red hot” in the Hawaiian language.  In addition – the alternate name of this beach – Maniniholo Beach – is partially derived from the Hawaiian word manini – manini refers to the convict tang fish, which is frequently found near this beach.

There are many attractions near Haena Beach Park.  Maniniholo Dry Cave is a popular cave that is around 200 meters away from the beach.  This cave is about 300 yards deep and it is named after Maniniholo, the chief fisherman of the legendary Menehune people – exploring this cave is a popular activity with visitors.  The other attractions are within a 25-minute drive from the beach.  Haʻena State Park  is a state park with a beach named Keʻe Beach, and it offers many fun activities including hiking, beachcombing, snorkeling, swimming, kayaking, canoeing, and wildlife watching.  This state park offers many fun things to explore including forests, historic sites, and two wet caves filled with water – one of the wet caves here was featured in the 2011 movie Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  Limahuli Garden & Preserve is a nature preserve and botanical garden that has a wide variety of Polynesian-introduced and Native Hawaiian plant species – in addition, you can also see endangered birds in this garden and preserve.  In addition, the preserve also has restored taro terraces that date back to pre-European contact-era Hawaii, a historic Hawaiian house, and it also has a trail named the Whale Trail.  Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge is a 917-acre refuge that was established to protect endangered local bird species, including the Hawaiian duck, the Hawaiian coot, and the Hawaiian goose.  You can explore the park’s vibrant coastal biodiversity through a hiking trail named the Okolehao Trail – this wildlife refuge also has a historic rice mill that offers an insight into the local history.  If you are looking for another attraction near the beach, Hanalei Valley Lookout is an observation area that offers amazing Instagram-worthy photos of the picturesque Hanalei Valley. 

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants near Haena Beach Park within a 25-minute-drive.  Opakapaka Grill and Bar offers amazing seafood, burgers, sandwiches, different kinds of pastas, steaks, flatbread, soups, and salads.   Bar Acuda is an upscale restaurant which serves delicious Hawaiian-inspired tapas-style dishes – the restaurant has been praised by many publications including Honolulu magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper.  Tahiti Nui serves amazing pizzas, steaks, seafood, different types of pastas, barbecued ribs, Hawaiian-style dishes, and salads – this restaurant has also been featured in the George Clooney movie The Descendants.  Kalypso Island Bar & Grill offers a variety of delicious dishes including pupu platters, salads, wraps, chicken sandwich, Mexican dishes, pasta, and seafood.  If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby restaurant, Cafe Turmeric offers excellent Indian dishes including curries and naan.  In addition to restaurants, you can find many concessions stands near the beach that sell many amazing snacks including barbecued pork and coconuts.     

If you are looking for a hotel near Haena Beach Park, there are many great nearby options within a 25-minute-drive.  The 5-Star 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay offers many amenities including a spa, multiple restaurants and bars, multiple pools (including an infinity pool), a hot tub, a fitness center, a salon, and a retail shop.  The 4-Star The Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas offers many amenities including a bar, a grocery store, a restaurant, four pools, three hot tubs, exercise classes, and a spa.  A more affordable hotel is the 3.5-Star Hanalei Colony Resort that offers many amenities including a restaurant, a coffee shop, a spa with yoga classes, a pool, and a hot tub.  The 3-Star Hanalei Bay Resort is another moderately-priced hotel that offers many amenities including two pools, multiple tennis courts, a hot tub, water sports equipment rentals, laundry facilities, and a bar.  If you are looking for another good and affordable hotel, the 3-Star Makai Club Resort offers many amenities including a hot tub, a pool, a fire pit, a nearby golf course, barbecue areas, and a picnic area.