Anini Beach

Anini Beach is a stunning beach located in Kalihiwai, United States. The beach is approximately 2 miles long and features soft, white sand and crystal-clear water.

Although Anini Beach does not have lifeguards, this beach has many other amenities including showers, nearby watersports equipment rental facilities, a boat launch ramp, a concession stand, restrooms, drinking water fountains, picnic areas, and grassy recreational areas. 

Dogs are allowed at Anini Beach.

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

Anini Beach is ideal for less-experienced swimmers because the mostly shallow nearshore water here is mostly known to have gentle lapping waves, particularly during summers.  The western part of this beach is particularly known to have calm water.  In addition, this beach also offers fun surfing waves in summers.  The beach is also windy, making it popular with windsurfers and its western end is a great windsurfing site.  Snorkelers and scuba divers also frequently visit here to explore its vibrant marine biodiversity – the best time for a fun Anini Beach snorkeling experience is in the morning because the water here is clear during this time.  The beach’s northwestern part is popular with scuba divers.

If you are planning to swim, kayak, canoe, snorkel, or surf here, we recommend being careful because the water here can have unpredictable rip currents and dangerous waves.  If you are planning to swim here, please note that swimming is allowed within a designated marine area nearby – this swimming area is marked by buoys.  The water here is also known to have jellyfish and they can inflict painful stings. 

If you like camping, there is a tent campground near the beach named Anini Beach Campground that offers an amazing oceanfront camping experience.  If you are planning to camp here, you can visit County of Kauai’s website for more information on acquiring a camping permit for this campsite.  If you like taking pictures with amazing views, Anini Beach offers amazing views of the northern Kauai shoreline, particularly during summer sunsets.  This beach is ideal for visitors looking for a quieter beach experience because this beach is known to have fewer visitors as compared to other Kauai beaches.

Anini Beach does not offer wheelchair access to visitors with disabilities.

Getting to Anini Beach is easy – this beach is located near 4371 Anini Road and it is easily accessible from Hawaii Route 56, which is also called Kuhio Highway.  

There are a few nearby free street parking spaces, along with multiple small free dirt parking lots.  We recommend checking a chart of Anini Beach tides and visiting this beach at low tide because at high tide portions of this beach can get submerged.  We recommend visiting this beach early during summers because the parking spaces here can sometimes get filled up quickly.  We also recommend checking an Anini Beach weather chart before visiting here because it can sometimes have stormy weather.

The name of this beach – Anini – means “stunted” or “dwarfish” in the Hawaiian language.  In addition, this beach was earlier named Wanini Beach.  However, the signboard bearing this beach’s former name was damaged and the “W” from “Wanini Beach” signboard was removed – this resulted in the beach eventually getting renamed Anini Beach.  One of the homes near this beach was used as a filming site for the 1992 Nicolas Cage, James Caan, and Sarah Jessica Parker film Honeymoon In Vegas.

There are many attractions near Anini Beach.  Na 'Aina Kai Botanical Gardens is a 240-acre botanical garden that has many smaller sections including a desert garden, a wild forest garden, and a Childrens’ Garden that has treehouses, bridges, tunnels, slides, and wading pools.  In addition, the garden also has interesting interpretive displays on indigenous peoples of the United States – the garden also has one of the largest bronze sculptures of the United States.  Hanalei Bay Lookout – also called the Hanalei Valley Overlook – is an observation area that offers amazing views of the Hanalei Valley, the Hanalei Bay, and the northern Kauai shoreline – the observation area is popular with photographers and it offers the best views particularly during sunset and sunrise.  Kilauea Lighthouse – also known as Kilauea Point Lighthouse and Daniel K. Inouye Kilauea Point Lighthouse – is an immensely popular 52-feet tall lighthouse that was constructed in 1913.  This lighthouse’s premises offer amazing Instagram-worthy views of the northern Kauai shoreline and the Pacific Ocean – the lighthouse was also featured in the Disney film Lilo & Stitch.  Hanalei Pier is a pier that was built in 1912 and it offers amazing views of the northern Kauai shoreline and the Pacific Ocean.  This pier is also an amazing fishing site and you can catch many kinds of fish here – this pier was also featured in the 1957 movie South Pacific.  If you are looking for another nearby attraction, Queen’s Bath is a natural tidal pool that was earlier only used by Hawaiian nobility for bathing purposes.  While the area around this natural rocky pool is infamous for having dangerous rip currents, it offers an interesting insight into local history, geology, and biodiversity. 

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants near Anini Beach within a 20-minute drive. Nanea Restaurant and Bar is an upscale restaurant that offers amazing gourmet dishes exhibiting local Hawaiian culinary influences.  Kilauea Fish Market has a calm ambiance and it serves amazing dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner including seafood, chicken, and pork dishes, wraps, burritos, tacos, poke bowls, and salads – it has also been praised by Lonely Planet magazine.  Tiki Iniki is a restaurant and bar which offers amazing Hawaiian-style dishes including seafood, pork dishes, sweet ribs, huli huli chicken, burgers, salads, and hot wings.  Kilauea Bakery & Pizzeria offers amazing dishes for breakfast and lunch including oatmeal, stromboli, quiche, salads, pizza slices, and panini sandwiches – the restaurant also offers amazing baked desserts.  If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby restaurant, Sandwich Isle serves a variety of amazing sandwiches. 

If you are looking for a hotel near Anini Beach, there are many great nearby options.  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-Star Hanalei Bay Resort that offers many amenities including two pools (including a sea-view lagoon-style pool with a lava rock waterfall), eight tennis courts, a hot tub, a  complimentary 24-hour golf cart beach shuttle, water sports rentals, laundry facilities, and a bar.  A more affordable accommodation option is The Cliffs at Princeville that offers many amenities including barbecue areas, a gym, a pool, a putting green, a playground, shuffleboard courts, a basketball court, a terrace, a wedding machine, and a garden.  If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby hotel, the 3-Star Club Wyndham Ka Eo Kai offers many amenities including a pool, a tennis court, a putting green, barbecue areas, movie rental facilities, and a hot tub.  If you are looking for another affordable and flexible accommodation option, you can stay in a nearby vacation rental property and there are many Anini Beach Kauai rentals and Anini Beach rentals nearby.