Poipu Beach
Poipu Road

We visited the popular Poipu Beach during our last full day, and popular it was! Everyone in Kauai seemed to have arrived before us. A monk seal even found solace on the sand before we could grab a picnic table under one of the few coconut trees. I don't know what the big deal is about this beach. It's like someone added sand right after the concrete parking lot and decided to call it a beach. It's a great snorkeling beach, but there were too many people in the water for our taste, so we only lasted an hour, enough time to eat our lunch.

This is where Harrison Ford crashed his biplane in the movie "Six Days, Seven Nights" – against the cliff on the south edge of the bay. In fact, a couple of surfer friends of mine were paid $100 just to stay OUT of the area while they were filming this. The beach fronts a private estate owned by Mandalay – a Hollywood film studio.

Before the recent controversy and lawsuits over beach access, this was one of my favorite camping beach – you see, camping anywhere is "technically" not allowed without a state-issued permit, but the limited accessibility of the bay made it impractical to enforce. However, now that the estate’s owner is miffed by the irrational activists trying to force the issue, officers are allowed through his property to enforce this law. Don’t get me wrong – this is still an exceptional beach: quiet, secluded, and great for fishing. We just can’t overnight it here anymore.

WHERE IT IS: Just north of Anahola, the beach fronts a large 100+ acre estate with no access from the north and difficult access along a cliff to the south. However, state law prevents anyone from deliberately blocking access to a beach, so this "private" beach is accessible to the public through a short but steep trail on the south side of the bay, followed by a trek over sometimes slippery lava boulders.

HOW TO GET THERE: Driving north from Kapa’a on Kuhio Highway and pass Anahola town. About 2 miles after Anahola Post Office, take a right on Papa’a Road, drive straight toward the ocean (the road tries to steer you to the right, but keep going onto the dirt road). Stop before the dirt road turns south along the cliff. Papa’a Bay is on your left and the unmarked trail starts on the bluff.

WHEN TO GO THERE: The east side of the island is the most unpredictable one as it doesn’t experience the drastic seasonal wave changes that the north and south shores have. However, in general, there are more "flat" days in the summer – not necessarily a good thing, if you’re looking for surf.

WHAT TO DO THERE: Now that we can’t camp here, we’re limited to fishing and diving off the reef during the day. When the waves are up, surfing is pretty good, though you have to paddle outside the bay – quite a bit offshore. There’s actually a popular surf spot (Flags Beach), with much easier access, just south of the bay.

Every morning of our week in Kauai we spent a few hours snorkeling in the cove just on the West side of Poipu Beach.

What this location lacks in coral it certainly makes up for with all kinds of tropical fish. The schools were often huge, totally surrounding us as we offered the fish food we had bought at a local shop.

And while this spot is easily accesible with some of the best weather on the island, don't worry about overcrowding if you get there in the morning, the fish definitely out numbered the people everytime we were there.

Poipu beach
If your staying in sunny Poipu, where it doesn’t rain as much as other parts of the island, Poipu beach is easily accessible by walking from the Grand Hyatt or the Embassy Vacations Point at Poipu. Just follow Pe’e road along the water and it will take youright to the beach. Poipu beach is a nice park with picnic tables, places to grill, and lots of wild chickens running around. It’s a nice beach to just play in the water, lie on the beach. Brenneke’s deli is right there too if you want to get something to eat but the food is mediocre. Brenneke’s activity center is located here as well where you can book your activities and get discounts for going to the Marriot Timeshare presentation. The Marriot is located right next to the beach. If you continue walking west, the Sheraton is right next door.

This was the best one we found for snorkeling right off the beach. Very clear water and pretty fish. Monk seals were roped off on the beach, and were sunning almost every day.