Located on the north-western shoreline of the Hawaiian island of Lanai (also known as Lānaʻi), Polihua Beach is a one-and-a-half mile long and wide beach with pale cream sand. This beach is one of the largest beaches in the island of Lanai. A rocky cliff is present near the northern end of this beach - this cliff is made up of igneous rocks. In addition, many kinds of tropical plants are also present near Polihua Beach. As an interesting fact, the beach’s name in Hawaiian means "eggs in a bosom" or "egg nest" - the beach most likely got its name due to the fact that it used to be a popular nesting site for the Hawaiian green turtle. In addition, the beach was also popular among native Hawaiians as a great sea turtle hunting spot. Polihua Beach was also featured in Hawai’i Magazine’s 2017 article "A Local’s Guide to Hawaii’s Must-See Beaches." In addition, Polihua Beach has been named the 36th Best Beach in the Top 50 Beaches in the United States list in 2022 by Randall Kaplan, the world’s foremost beach expert who is known as "Mr. Beach." Polihua Beach does not have lifeguards or any other amenities except some huts and shelters, so plan your trip accordingly. Getting to Polihua beach can be difficult - the beach is located near the northern end of an extremely long and extremely rugged jeep trail named the Polihua Trail. Driving to the beach takes around an hour from Lanai City and around 30 minutes from an incredibly beautiful rock garden named Keahiakawelo that looks like you could be on the planet Mars. Once you arrive you’ll find a dirt parking lot next to the beach. We recommend carrying water while visiting Polihua Beach because there are no stores or places to stop along the way. We also recommend being careful while visiting Polihua Beach as it is occasionally known to have thirsty wild bees - the best way to avoid these bees is to simply leave some water at a distance in order to divert their attention.
Polihua Beach offers many fun activities including wildlife watching, sunbathing, picnicking, beachcombing, tidepooling, and hiking. Water activities are unsafe in the water near Polihua Beach as it is known to have extremely strong rip currents, considerable and steep depth, and dangerous rogue waves. In addition, drowning-related deaths have also been reported in the water near Polihua Beach. The beach can occasionally also get windy, which often results in visitors having an unpleasant beach visit. Nevertheless, this beach is a great sunbathing spot, especially when the local winds are calm. Depending on the time of the year, you can view many kinds of animals in the water near Polihua Beach including migrating humpback whales (usually between December and April) and sea turtles - while this beach was earlier a popular nesting spot for local sea turtles, it is important to note that sea turtle nesting activity has considerably declined now.
In addition, please also note that while some tourists have been known to drive their vehicles on Polihua Beach, we recommend strictly refraining from doing so as this activity may damage the sea turtle nests on the beach. In addition, vehicles may also get stuck in the sand on Polihua Beach. Polihua Beach is ideal for visitors looking for a quieter beach experience as the beach sees many fewer visitors than most other Hawaiian beaches. If you are planning to fish in the water near Polihua Beach, we recommend following the local fishing regulations. If you like tidepooling, you can explore the interesting tidepools present near the northern end of Polihua Beach. Polihua Beach offers amazing Instagram-worthy views of the Kalohi Channel, the nearby island of Molokai, and distant views of a volcanic tuff cone in the island of Oahu named Diamond Head.
