Our favorite beach was Hanalei, because we had the most fun there. We took surfing lessons, which we loved. The beach is nice and long, great for walks, and the slope of the beach is very slight, making it a great place to learn to surf. You could walk out to where the waves were breaking and still have good ways to go back in to catch the wave. The sand at this beach is amazingly soft--the softest that we experienced. But it's also very hard to get out of your swimsuit! We didn't see any coral around, just nice, soft sand for the waves to roll in on. Our kids, 2 and 4 years old, had a great time in the waves.

Another beautiful one is Ke'e Beach. It's at the end of the road, on the north side. My husband and I went early and did the hike along the Napali coast, 2 miles in to this rocky beach. It was well worth the effort for the gorgeous scenery and much-needed exercise! We then met the kids and grandparents for lunch on the beach. The beach here is much different. There's lots of coral, so it's great for snorkeling. There's a nice protected little area to swim around in without having waves come crashing in. And we saw a few fish.

My husband loved Kalihiwai Beach because of the waves for boogy-boarding. We found this beach looking for Anini and loved it. It's at the end of Kalihiwai road, where the bridge was wiped out by a recent tsunami. We went on a weekday, and there were only about six other people there. It's not a very big beach. Kids had fun building sand castles but were kind of afraid of the waves. They came in kind of fast.

Anini Beach was nice but my least favorite. There were a lot more people there when we went. The water is pretty calm and shallow, but there were lots of rocks in it. We saw a couple of parks with restrooms and several tents set up for camping.

During the week in Kauai, some are my favorites were:
1)The beaches known as Po’ipu Beach: This one beach is split into several sections, each different from one another. We spent many mornings walking along the ridge overlooking Shipwreck Beach. The highlight of the walks was seeing whales and sea turtles. As you might expect, you can't swim there since the waves crash among the rocks. Further along the area, the Po’ipu Beach County Park has picnic tables, grills, playgrounds, a food vendor hut, and a sheltered area for swimming. Many families congregate at this part of the Po’ipu Beach. In addition, there is the long sandy beach with moderate waves so you could swim as well as walk along the beach. The highlight of one of our walks along this section was coming upon a roped off area protecting the sleeping sea monks. What a sight!
2)Lumaha’i Beach: A completely different type of beach is Lumaha’i Beach. This is the beach made famous by South Pacific. It was beautiful to look at from the highway above, but we did not venture down the trail to walk along the beach. In January, the waters are too dangerous for swimming. However, the sight was breathtaking.
3)Ke’e Beach: This beach (and there are many similar ones on the North coast) was not crowded with tourists. Even though there were many signs forbidding swimming, some of the locals did venture in. The adjoining Ha’ena State Park had many people resting either before or after their hiking. This beach area leads to the Kalalau Trail along the NaPali Coast. While we were there, my wife was fascinated with the several peacocks that came right up to people.
4)Kalapaki Beach: While staying at the Kauai Marriott, we had this beach right on our property. My wife loved being able to walk from the room to the beach. The beach is about ¼ mile long and is similar to the beaches depicted in postcards: lots of white sand and beautiful blue ocean. The waves were moderate so we were able to swim.

There are many beaches; you just need a map and a desire to seek them out.

Lawaii Beach is a great snorkeling beach but not a great beach to just hang out at.

We wanted to find a beach that was a little bit off the beaten path and found Salt Pond Beach on the west shore. This was a good beach to lay out, swim, and take a nap under the coconut trees. There isn't good snorkeling. I felt like we were the only tourists, as it was mostly locals at the beach.

Queen's Bath is actually a swimming hole at the rocky shore of the ocean. It's a fun walk in and is a unique experience. Be sure to go at low tide.

Ke'e Beach is the farthest you can go on the north side of the island and is a spectacular setting. This also seemed like a good snorkeling beach, but we had forgotten our gear.

Shipwreck Beach (at the Hyatt and near the Embassy) is NOT a good beach to swim or snorkel. It is a nice place to lay out and is one of the spots to boogie board. The four of us tried out boogie boarding at this beach and it was pretty thrilling. I got pummeled into the sand more than once and we all left with cuts, bruises, and sand burns (as weird as this sounds, we also had fun). I definitely wouldn't send my kids out there!