Before you take the long, but well worth it, drive on the North Coast, you should know that in January, the waters are too rough for swimming. With that said, these beaches have special charm and beauty above the beaches on the south side.
Yes, we decided to stop at most beaches from Hanalei Bay to Ke’e Beach! We also took lots of pictures since I loved the views. I am including a few of my pictures. However, click here for professional pictures of north shore beaches.
It would be hard to pick the nicest beach since each was unique. We were the only tourists at the Black Beach Park (part of Hanalei Bay). I was surprised since I expected lots of tourists to be present. The long pier is a perfect setting for sitting on the dock and relaxing and clearing your mind of all worries! There were a few painters near the parking lot capturing the scenery.
We missed Lumahai Beach on the way out, but persisted and found it on the way back. Picture postcard perfect would sum up my thoughts about that beach. I am glad that our mini guide provided by RCI warned us against hiking down to the beach itself. I was content to look at the beauty from the top of the cliff! It is unfortunate that there was not a drive-off area so you could really enjoy the view as long as your heart desired! This area definitely is not as developed as other areas of Kauai!
At Haena Beach Park , there were lots of campers. This is a staging area for the hikers into Na Pali Coast. We did not stay too long but proceeded to the last beach Ke’e Beach . It is hard to find a parking spot since this is where you park your car before hiking into the breath-taking NaPali Coast. My husband began the hike but stopped way short of the 10 miles! At Ke’e Beach, there were several peacocks walking around and they are used to people and I could get pictures of them close to me. Another interesting point about this beach is that even though there were lots of signs warning about no swimming, some people were ignoring the signs and swimming anyhow.