Puu Poa Beach offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, fishing, wildlife watching, picnicking, hiking, swimming, surfing, bodyboarding, tidepooling, bodysurfing, skimboarding, paddleboarding, kayaking, canoeing, surf skiing, jet-skiing, water-skiing, boating, snorkeling, and wakeboarding. The water near Puu Poa Beach offers manageable waves, which makes it ideal for beginner swimmers - the summer season is a particularly great time for swimming here. In addition, surfers also visit Puu Poa Beach. There is a great surfing site near Puu Poa Beach that is located near the outer edge of the nearby reef and the winter season is a particularly great time for swimming here. In addition to surfing, snorkelers also visit Puu Poa Beach to explore its vibrant marine biodiversity - depending on the time of the year, you can see many kinds of animals near Puu Poa Beach including sea turtles, migrating whales between December and May, rare Hawaiian monk seals, and wide varieties of fish including reef triggerfish (which is also called humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa and this fish is also the state fish of Hawaii), barracuda, eel, and parrotfish.
If you are planning to swim or surf near Puu Poa Beach, we recommend being careful because the water here can have extremely dangerous currents and waves, especially during winter (usually between November and March) - the offshore water here is particularly known to have dangerous currents. It is also important to note that the nearshore water here can also be extremely shallow during summer, making water activities difficult here. In addition, the water near the southern part of the beach near the mouth of the Hanalei River can also get occasionally murky and it can also have high levels of microbial contaminants. We also recommend being careful while swimming around the coral reef near Puu Poa Beach, because accidentally stepping on it can irreversibly damage it. If you like taking pictures and beautiful views, Puu Poa Beach offers amazing views of Hanalei Bay and the Kauai shoreline, along with views of the Makana mountain (this mountain is also called the Bali Hai), particularly during evenings and early morning. If you like tidepooling, you can explore the interesting tidepools along the beach during low tide. There is a path near the trees behind the beach - this path leads to the ruins of a hotel named the “Club Med Resort,” which used to exist near Puu Poa Beach in the 1970s.
