Maha’ulepu Trail

Beautiful views. One heck of a walk.
My husband and I hiked this from the Hyatt. We read somewhere that the whole trail, to and from the sinkhole, would take 2 hours. Um, try two hours JUST to the sinkhole. We did not leave early enough and had to walk back in the noon day sun. We also became extremely confused by all of the multiple trails that had no markings and wandered for a while trying to make our way back. There is almost no shade. I may have gotten a little bit of sun poisoning from it.
The sinkhole is so worth it, and the views were absolutely breathtaking. But for your sake, leave early, bring plenty of water, and bring a suit or a towel so you can jump into the ocean once you’re done!

Did this on one of our days off from the bigger hikes in Waimea. Nice views of the ocean, mountains, and beaches — even saw some whales breaching.
Make sure to bring gear for the beach at the end. Not too crowded and very refreshing after the 2mi mostly exposed walk.
The part thru the golf course isn’t too long and isn’t terrible but definitely keep your eyes peeled for stray balls. I had one bounce just in front of me then off the cliff.
Would definitely do this again.

Great hike but don’t take the Giilin’s Beach road. We had a 4 wheel drive and had to turn around. Park across from the stables for easier access or park at The Hyatt for a longer walk. Visit the caves, take a picnic lunch and your swimsuit and enjoy a quiet and non populated stretch of lovely beach.

Spectacular hike that is easy to access. The trail is sandy so I recommend close-​toe shoes. Based on another Unilocaler, we parked at the Shipwreck Beach parking lot and just followed the trail on the left towards the cliff. There is very little shade so go early!

Great family hike. I wore Keens and my his wore tennis shoes. I wished I wore tennis shoes. Breath taking views and oven breeze along the way. Lots of sun and little shade here and there. We turned around a little after a mile at the golf course.

Absolutely loved this hike. The views were beautiful and it wasn’t too long or strenuous.
HOWEVER, it was really confusing to figure out where to go because there were so many paths to take.
Also, there didn’t seem to be an end to the trail. It seemed to have just led into another trail which led to caves. I may have missed it though.
Side note: I attempted to run this hike and learned halfway through that the paths were too rocky to run on. I badly twisted my ankle so it’s definitely only a hiking trail.

Loved the walk/​hike. Though we did not go all the way, we enjoyed the walk and views along the way. So many little converging paths to take — it doesn’t matter which one you choose

True island hike. Few tourists. A bit difficult to get there. Nice vistas. Untouched beaches with no other footprints except yours. Bring hiking boots, hike for a few miles, then enjoy your dip in the blue hawaiin waters. No very young kids allowed. Waves break real close to the shore.

This is quite an easy trail and offers spectacular views of the cliffs, beaches and ocean from many points along the way.
Definitely a good, short, easy hike…

Beautiful place to go. Pack a lunch, extra snacks, lots of water and sunscreen. Of course, swimsuits and water gear. Lived on Kauai for a few months, we hit the trail every other week with our 4×4. Totally recommend 4×4 especially after rain. It will take half the time getting in and out versus non 4×4. The gate does close at 6pm so plan accordingly to get back in your car to head down the road of big dips and potholes.

We explored not just the trail but the great beaches. This is a beautiful area — beaches and cliffs. It is a great place to hike and explore the coast. We saw spinner dolphins and whales.
If you are going to hike starting at the beach be warned that the dirt road past the Hyatt is very rough and potholed road (we did it in a rental sedan but we went real slow and carefully — it would be easy to rip off the heat shields) — four wheel drive would be better. And the gate really closes at 6pm — people have been trapped and had to pay big $$$ to get out. Most guide books give good directions for finding this gorgeous beach area. But if you are hiking from the Hyatt you don’t have to worry about roads and gates just beautiful views…

maha‘ulepu trail is a relatively easy path that takes you along the beautiful souther coast. to get here, you drive past the grand hyatt kauai on poipu road to where the pavement ends and the dirt begins! this road is okay at first, but, it can get a lot worse. the access roads once you get past the main gate has large pot holes and some boulders sticking out in areas. after a good rain, the pot holes become filled with water and it’s hard to judge how deep the holes are. i would recommend taking a four-​wheel drive vehicle.
once you get to the beach area, find a place to park. the path begins and you’ll have magnificient views! in some areas, the path becomes narrow, so make sure you watch your footing. this hike opens up to a beautiful meadow and then down to another beautiful beach. you can continue on, or turn around and go back at this point.
bring a lunch for a nice picnic and enjoy your time out there!

Relatively easy hike with stunning views of the coast. Feel free to take detours to the water, but be careful of the crashing waves! The trail runs alongside the golf course for a short bit, but resumes after a couple of minutes. The trail is easy enough to do in flip flops.
Make sure to bring plenty of water and snacks if you’re planning to hang out at the beach. Bring your swim suits and snorkel gear.
Word of warning: once you reach the beach/​sinkhole, you will either need to walk back via the coast or walk back via the dirt road. The dirt road is about 2 miles and full of crazy potholes. No taxi company will come to pick you up. Your best bet will be to walk or hitch a ride.
Would definitely do the hike again!

This is one of the best hikes along the beach. There are gorgeous views!
Each day this week, I came here for sunrise. Everyday was different. During the week, very few people are on the trail. On the weekend, there are a lot more people.
The cliffs are the best part. Make sure you stop and look in the cracks — there are so many sea creatures to see.
This is my favorite spot for sunrise — it is amazing!

The Perfect Hike. Beautiful cliff ocean vistas, sea turtle viewing and just the Goldilocks hike. Want to do it again again and again.

This was a really beautiful hike. It’s not too strenuous but, as four-​miler, it’s a good one. The path skirts some rugged and pristine coastline, as well a stretch along a golf course (actually not as bad as it sounds). The highlight of this trail was an unexpected stop at the Makauwahi Sinkhole, which is a fascinating and beautiful site. Not to be missed! You can even stop here to eat a picnic lunch, take a dip in the ocean, and pet some turtles.
The hike begins at Shipwreck Beach. You can park in the public lot at the end of Ainako Street. There is not a lot of shade on the trail so wear sunscreen and bring plenty of water.

We did the hike from Shipwreck Beach across the Lithified Cliffs to the Makauwahi Cave, but didn’t make it all the way down to Mahaulepu Beach, which looked beautiful.
Here’s the deal, we loved the cliffs that make up the first part of the hike, but then it takes you into an area overgrown with brush that runs alongside the golf course (you’re alongside the golf course for most of the trail, but this is when you’re basically on the course itself, and you lose the ocean view intermittently). It’s not horrible but I’m not sure it’s worth this blah section to get to the other side when you can basically take Poipu Rd. to the dirt roads that lead right up to the cave/​beaches, as long as they aren’t washed out. How do I know this? Because the mister started to have some leg pain from our previous day’s hike and we decided to take the dirt road back, and saw many cars flying by as we did.
So I’d say definitely do the first mile-​ish from Shipwreck Beach/​Hyatt with the lithified cliffs and view of the beaches, as people have said, totally gorgeous, but as soon as the bushes thicken and the trail narrows toward the golf course, head back. It’s not a short section that gets better, it’s pretty much the rest of the trail.

Enjoyed a beautiful early morning walk here. Nice and easy. Came here a couple times. First time we parked all the way up on the road by the Hyatt sign. Second time, we realized there’s a parking lot down by the beach. Ocean was too rough for swimming while we were there.

A great, gentle ocean-​side walk as we did it — starting out at the Grand Hyatt in Poipu, 2 miles to Maha’ulepu Beach and return. The vistas are stunning, the beach at Maha’ulepu sandy, beautiful and empty on a mid-​week January day — so we felt many more miles away than 2 from the business of Poipu.
Highly recommended!
The useful: as you face the Hyatt, drive down the road to the left of the main hotel/​parking lot to reach the public lot for Shipwreck Beach. Leaving the lot head to the left & climb the big cliff to start your walk.

It’s a nice and easy walking trail.
Another amazing Kauai ocean view!