Ho’okipa Beach Park offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, wildlife watching, tide pooling, fishing, picnicking, swimming, surfing, kitesurfing, windsurfing, bodysurfing, skimboarding, bodyboarding, bodysurfing, kayaking, snorkeling, scuba diving, canoeing, jet-skiing, surf-skiing, water-skiing, and boating. The water near Ho’okipa Beach is a world-renowned windsurfing spot and many visiting and local kitesurfers/windsurfers often windsurf/kitesurf on the waves here - the water near Ho’okipa Beach offers its largest, most thrilling, and most consistent surfing and windsurfing/kitesurfing waves during winters. The water near Ho’okipa Beach Park has been an extremely popular surfing spot since at least the 1930s and Ho’okipa Beach Park is also popularly known as the "home of contemporary surfing" - the water near the eastern portion of the beach has a surf spot called "Pavilions" which offers particularly excellent surfing waves, usually during afternoons. The beach in Ho'okipa Beach Park also hosts many renowned water sporting events throughout the year including Hookipa Surf Classic, the Red Bull King of the Air (which is an international kitesurfing competition), and the Aloha Classic. If you are a less-experienced swimmer you can swim in the water here during summers when the water here has manageable waves - the water near the central portion of Ho’okipa Beach Park is known to be shallower and calmer than other portions of the beach. Snorkelers and scuba divers can explore its vibrant biodiversity - depending on the time of the year, you can view many kinds of animals in the water near Ho’okipa Beach Park including dolphins, sea turtles (which are particularly active during evenings), migrating whales, starfish, coral, rare Hawaiian monk seals, and lots of tropical fish.
If you are planning to swim, surf, snorkel, or windsurf in the water near Ho’okipa Beach, we recommend being careful as the water here is known to have extremely hazardous and dangerous rip currents along with deadly waves, especially during winters. The shoreline around the beach is also rocky - this rocky shoreline can inflict serious injuries to visitors. If you are a beginner swimmer, we recommend avoiding engaging in aquatic recreational activities in the water here. Windsurfers should also note that windsurfing is also prohibited in Hawaii by 11 am. In addition, windsurfers are also legally required to give the right of way to surfers, swimmers, divers, kayakers/canoers, and stand-up paddleboarders while in the water as per Hawaiian state law. If you are planning to fish in the water near Ho’okipa Beach Park, we recommend ensuring compliance with the local fishing regulations - these regulations can be found at the website of the Division of Aquatic Resources (which is a part of the State of Hawai’i’s Department of Land and Natural Resources). The area near the eastern end of Ho’okipa Beach also has an observation area called Ho’okipa Lookout (also called Ho’okipa Beach Lookout) - this cliff-top observation area offers amazing Instagram-worthy views of the Pacific Ocean and the northern Maui shoreline.