Hawaii's best beaches

Sunset, March, 1997 by Jeff Phillips

A guide to 14 family-friendly stretches of sand to help you plan your next vacation to the Islands

Being on the beach in Hawaii - feeling the warm sand between your toes and the soft caress of a fragrant breeze as you watch the irresistible curl of a perfect wave - tends to push thoughts of serious scientific research to the far right side of the brain.

That's why I'm not really sure how much quantitative measurement helps one determine the "best beach" in Hawaii. I once talked to a geologist about the structure of a beach, but I learned more about the varieties and qualities of sand the year my wife, Jill, was pregnant with our first child and I had to scoop out a hollow on every beach we visited so she could lie on her stomach. My eye for water conditions developed over years of swimming with children who were too young to appreciate the potential dangers of big surf and offshore currents. And my keen appreciation for the talents of local lifeguards was underscored the year my son was painfully stung by a Portuguese man-of-war.

My criteria for picking the top four spots as the best family beaches in Hawaii are straightforward: good public access, safe swimming, scenery, ample shade, good picnic and rest-room facilities, nearby beach equipment rental shops, and a lifeguard.

THE TOP FOUR

The only valuables I take to the beach are a driver's license, a credit card, a few dollars in cash, and a disposable camera. Theft is a problem at all beach parking lots; don't leave valuables in your car.

Lifeguards are posted at the following four beaches daily from 9 to 4 at least. Area code is 808.

1. Kailua Beach Park, Oahu. It's amazing how often I bump into Honolulu acquaintances picnicking on the other side of the island at Kailua Beach Park. Fringed with trees and backed by steep green hills, this 1/4-mile beach-front park is part of a 2 1/4-mile crescent of fine white sand that defines the edge of Kailua Bay. With plenty of shady grass and picnic facilities, the beach is popular with locals. By midafternoon on weekends, the irresistible fragrance of barbecue is wafting over the crowded parking lot.

With sheltered waters and steady trade winds blowing onshore, this beach is also the best place in the state to learn how to windsurf, which adds to its weekend popularity. When it's practical we plan our beach days for midweek, stopping for sandwiches on our way through Kailua and staying through late afternoon to watch outrigger canoe club teams work out.

* Where: The Pali Highway from Honolulu becomes Kailua Road in Kailua; follow it to its end at the park.

* Food: For thick sandwiches and fresh salads to go, stop in at Brent's Restaurant & Delicatessen in Kailua, 629A Kailua Rd.; 262-8588.

* Beach gear: For windsurfing lessons and rentals, call Naish Windsurfing Hawaii at 262-6068 or Kailua Sailboard Company at 262-2555.

2. Poipu Beach Park, Kauai. On an island with a surplus of worthy beaches, Poipu Beach Park gets top billing because it offers a greater variety of conditions and activities in one small area than any other lifeguard-staffed beach on the island. Swimming is safe most of the year, and by this month the county should finally be finished rebuilding pavilions and rest rooms damaged by Hurricane Iniki in 1992.

Expansive lawns (newly planted trees don't offer much shade yet) surround a cove so calm and shallow that even toddlers can sit and splash in the water. Snorkelers can walk out onto the sandy point to the west of the children's cove for good snorkeling along the rocky reef. Farther to the west along this cove is a good boogie boarding spot the locals call Left-Lefts because of the way the waves curl. My kids both learned to surf along this shore.

Poipu Beach Park has recently been expanded to include the once-famous Brennecke's Beach, a bodysurf break to the east of the children's cove. The jury is still out as to whether a local effort to truck in new sand to replace that scoured away by the hurricane will restore Brennecke's Beach to its former glory.

* Where: Off Poipu Road in the Poipu resort area. Turn toward the ocean on Hoowili Road.

* Food: You'll find a dell and ocean-view restaurant at Brennecke's Beach Broiler, across Poipu Road from the park; 742-7588.

* Beach gear: Rent snorkeling equipment and boogie boards at Nukumoi Surf Co.; 742-8019. For surfing lessons, call Margo Oberg's Surfing School; 742-8019.

3. Hapuna Beach State Park, Hawaii. Geologically the youngest of the state's islands, the Big Island of Hawaii has yet to naturally develop the range of sandy beaches that its neighbors have. However, this public park meets my criteria and can offer good beginner boogie boarding. (Use extra caution when big surf is breaking.)

During the summer months, the water off Hapuna Beach State Park on the Kohala Coast is typically as calm as a lake's, but storm surf that rolls in here periodically from October through April can create problems. Unfortunately, after having safe fun in the smaller, close-in shorebreak, many poorly equipped beginners court disaster in the outside break. Check with lifeguards if you're unsure about conditions.