Pawai Beach(Papawai Beach)

Located in the town of Kailua Kona, Pawai Beach is a small and narrow beach situated in front of Kailua Bay west of the historic Hulihe’e Palace.  Also known as Papawai Beach, Pawai Beach features many marine creatures making it a perfect spot for swimming, snorkeling, canoeing, fishing, and wildlife watching.  Pawai Beach is a family-friendly spot featuring gentle waves and shallow water where children can swim easily. 

 Although Pawai Beach does not have lifeguards, the beach offers many amenities including restrooms, showers, picnic tables, barbecues, and a fishing pier named Kailua Pier.

There are many fun activities at Pawai Beach including swimming, snorkeling, boating, canoeing, fishing, and wildlife watching. 

Getting to Pawai Beach is very easy – the beach’s free parking lot is on the south side of 75 Kuakini Highway and is directly in front of the beach.

If you are looking for nearby attractions, there are many options within a 35-minute drive of Pawai Beach. Spread across 62 acres, Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area is 30 miles away – it has many beautiful white sand beaches and is a great place for many water sport activities including swimming, snorkeling, bodyboarding, and whale watching.  Dolphin Quest Hawai’i - Swim with Dolphins is located inside Hilton Waikoloa Village – it features dolphin shows, swimming with dolphins, and touch tanks. If you like photography, Pololū Valley Lookout is a beautiful Instagram-worthy scenic destination that provides access to a black sand beach named Pololū Beach that is one of the 10 black sand beaches in Hawaii and is a great spot to click pictures. Another great attraction near Pawai Beach is The Shops at Mauna Lani, an open-air mall with shops, restaurants, twice-weekly hula shows, and a ride-simulating movie theater.

If you get hungry, you can drive 15 minutes to many restaurants near Pawai Beach. The vegetarian restaurant Roots Alchemy serves many vegan and organic food dishes including beet salad, Tempeh Reuben, beet kombucha, empanadas, crafted Jun, and vegan buffalo sandwiches.  Kings View Cafe is an American restaurant that offers Portuguese Paella, tavern sandwiches, mac and cheese, ribs, steaks, salmon, desserts, and drinks. Another good restaurant near Pawai Beach is Kohala Burger & Taco, a hamburger restaurant with a nice menu that includes hamburgers, French fries, burritos, craft beers, and wine.

If you are looking for a hotel near Pawai Beach, you can drive 25 minutes to the upscale 5-Star hotel Mauna Lani, Auberge Resorts Collection featuring a pool, bar, spa, restaurant, fitness center with a lap pool, two championship golf courses, as well as biking, canoeing, kayaking, and surfing tours. The 4-Star Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa features a pool, poolside bar, lounge, spa, sauna, restaurant, fitness center with gym, and canoeing, boating, hiking, snorkeling, and diving tours. If you are looking for affordable hotels near Pawai Beach, the 3-Star Hilton Grand Vacations Club Kings’ Land Waikoloa has a lounge, gym, arcade games room, and five pools featuring waterfalls or water slides – and Waimea Country Lodge is a historic 2-Star hotel with rustic 21 rooms and a nice restaurant.