Maha’ulepu Beach

This is more for the trail. Since we started at shipwreck beach and headed towards this trail. Worth the time and effort. The morning we went it was raining pretty steady. We hesitated to do the trail since the rain kept up. After a while we decided to go for it. Rain stopped as soon as we reached the summits and man the views are AMAZING. Hands down gorgeous. You have to do this one!

If you can stomach a nasty, bumpy, 25′ cane road drive– this is a great natural Hawaiian beach. Great views, hikes water and place to unwind. One of our faves

Yeah the road in, for about 1.5 miles, is super crappy and will undoubtedly void your rental agreement, but once you commit to driving over the crazy ruts and bumps — and sweat the grinding, scraping noises coming from under your Altima, you reach a sweet parking lot. You could drive further or walk like 400 steps to ridiculously insane beaches. You’d be loco to swim in either of them, but you will be high with the rough, unspoiled landscape that you will take a thousand pictures and want to be there for hours. Keep in mind, you are locked in at 6pm & that’s no joke. Go. Just do it and eff the rental.

Known as a secret spot as you have to go down this dirt trail and it had major sink holes and quite an ordeal to get through! Although we had like 3 caravans of minivans. If you had a jeep or something you could probably cruise on by! When we got there, the beach was nice, but not good for little kids we had in tow so we had to go back, but quite the adventure! We saw bunches of bumpers and even a muffler along the way! Make sure to bring snacks!

Absolute must-​see. Amazing hike and secluded beaches. One of our favorite activities of our Kauai trip.

Got to go to the beach next to it, but couldn’t access this one by the dirt road. Was so washed out a pothole scraped the rocker panel on my car pretty good… had to stop by Oreillys to fix… not worth it.
Probably would recommend an SUV, Subaru or truck to go down the access road.

Not drive able in a regular rental car. Seemed fine for awhile then crazy potholes and mud. I consider my hubby an expert driver and he needed to turn around.

This beach is dope! You have to take Poipu road past the Grand Hyatt until you hit a dirt road. Follow the road past the horse stable until you end at the parking area. The dirt road is nasty! My hubby and I had an economy size car, and it took us 30 minutes on the dirt road alone. It’s full of pot holes and definitely white knuckle driving! However, the beach itself is amazing. We got there around 8:30am on a Sunday, and had the beach to ourselves the whole time. There were few passersby, but other than that we were completely alone. We packed a cooler full of drinks and food and vegged out all day. We brought an umbrella that we bought from Costco and two beach chairs that were left from previous renters at our condo. This is our second time at this beach (the first time 3 years ago), and we love it just as much!

This place sucks now. it’s fulla tourists thanks to that stupid lonely planet TV show.
Hey babe, you wanna go to a secluded beach? 30 minutes later after driving down a dilapidated cane haul road, WTF, there are a shiyet ton of tourists.
So much for sessy time 8.(

Maha’ulepu is a long and beautiful stretch of beach. You have to come prepared, however. The road to the beach is long, dusty, and very rough! There are no facilities (no water, not even an outhouse). Bring food, drinks, and plenty of sunscreen.
Take the road past the Hayatt. The pavement will end, just keep going, passing the stables on your right. At the «T» in the road, make a right. Keep going until you find a turnout surrounded by wispy trees. After a short hike up and over a small hill, you’ll find the beach.
If you can survive the journey, you’re rewarded with beautiful views, plenty of shade, and powdery sand. There are decent snorkel spots, but also plenty of soft sandy areas for swimming.
Even though it’s very secluded, the beach does get crowded as the day goes on. As with most Hawaiian beaches, you have to arrive early if you want to have the place all to yourself!
The owner of Pohaku Ts in Koloa told us there are petroglyphs buried under the sand here. I’m not sure how deep, but I would love to see them some day.

Good snorkeling!
My, my, my it’s a beautiful world! And the beauty just keeps going under the surface of the ocean here at Maha’ulepu Beach!
This place has a cool camp ground but wasn’t crowded at all. My party found private space to snorkel (no life guard) and it was protected by a reef. Fish and turtles abounded and beauty reigned supreme!

One of our favorite beaches. An adventure to get back there and a feast for the eyes once you do! Used to be a well kept secret but the secret’s getting out.

Great secret spot
Keep driving past the rails, seems like there’s nothing but keep going!
Picnic benches near parking lot
No camping allowed
Beach closes at 6 pm
Love the random roosters on the beach !

It’s rugged, gorgeous and great place to hang out. You can dip but would be very careful because it is remote. Dirt road, pot holes, washboard — go slow and pick your way around (even if you have to go on wrong side) and you will be fine. Altima made it no problem. Two choices, first dirt lot you park and take a short walk through the trees to the beach. Right = back to Poipu Left = ah yeah, that’s the way to go. We wandered down the beach by ourselves, turned the point and had an AHA moment. Walked to where a few other folks were set up in the shade then sent the hubby back down the dirt road to bring the car up from the lot to this one. Plenty of shade and chill out views. Continue taking the path around the cliffs for some fantastic scenery and another empty beach. Lot closes at 6PM so you need to be out or your car will not.

After driving a long dirt road behind the Grand Hyatt Poipu, there is a cool beach. A lot of skilled wind surfers. Fun to watch, fun to play at the beach. There are some tree shades, but for swimming, it did not look appealing to me. The ocean looked too rough.
Unilocal 365 — ²³⁷⁄₃₆₅

Probably the best beach on the island. Plenty of shade and lots to look at. Drive to it wasn’t bad either. The only drawback is the gate closes at 6pm. No real swimming though, but you can wade into the water…
We liked this beach so much we came back a second time on our trip.

The prettiest, most secluded beach we came across in Kauai and Maui. It felt like a secret. I guess I’ll share it with you.

Wowwwww!!! Most beautiful beach I have ever seen! It was def a bumpy ride down!!! But worth it. You clump thru some bushes and heaven on earth is on the other side. It was like we had a private beach… Almost :)

Don’t miss this spot, it’s the prettiest on the South Shore.
Maha’ulepu and Brennecke run into each other. I recommend doing the walk to the sandstone arches, and the dry blowhole. Just start walking north/​east on the beach, and you’ll find the trail.
The color of the water was unbelievable. We saw whales, dolphins, turtles, and plenty of snorklers.

I had so much fun here. This beach is perfect for wave jumping, sunbathing, and just taking it all in. The road to get there is definitely full of potholes — so I echo the advice to ensure bringing a SUV/​4WD. Otherwise, had a great, memorable time here!