Big Island Beaches: A Guide to Every Shore (with Live Conditions)
The Big Island is the youngest island in the chain, so it has less sand than the others and what it has is spread thin. White crescents on the Kohala coast, black sand in Kaʻū and Puna, one green-sand cove at the south end, and reef ponds in Hilo. Ten beaches have lifeguards. This guide runs the coast region by region, and every named beach links to its live conditions page.
Quick facts
Ten Big Island beaches have county lifeguards, on duty Monday to Sunday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Hāpuna is the largest white sand beach on the island; it opens 7:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. with gates closing at 8:00 p.m., and non-residents pay $5 per person plus $10 per vehicle.
Kekaha Kai State Park opens 8:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. with gates closing at 7:00 p.m., has no lifeguard services and no drinking water, and State Parks warns of dangerous rip currents and pounding shore breaks.
Non-resident fees began applying to the Maniniʻōwali (Kua Bay) section of Kekaha Kai as of January 2026.
Papakōlea Green Sand Beach sits about three miles east of Ka Lae and is legally accessible only on foot, over paths made rugged by erosion and illegal vehicle traffic.
The 2018 Kīlauea eruption left Pohoiki's pier, boat launch and old protected bay mostly buried under a new black sand beach that impounds geothermal warm-water pools.
Ka Lae (South Point) is the southernmost point of the United States and has no lifeguard and no easy exit from the water.
Non-residents were 53 percent of Hawaiʻi drowning victims, at about eight times the resident fatal ocean drowning rate; the Big Island's non-resident rate is 51.8 per 100,000.
Kona coast beaches
The Kona side is lava shoreline with pockets of sand. It is the driest coast and the most reliable for snorkeling, and it has only two lifeguarded beaches on the whole stretch.
Kahaluʻu Beach Park — shallow reef-protected cove with a county lifeguard, known for honu that frequent its shores. Easy entry is not the same as safe water; ask the lifeguard before you go in.
Laʻaloa (Magic Sands / White Sands) — county lifeguard. Also called Disappearing Sands, because the sand strips away in high surf and returns later. Shorebreak here lands directly on sand.
Kua Bay (Maniniʻōwali) — white sand in a lava pocket inside Kekaha Kai State Park. State Parks warns of dangerous rip currents and pounding shore breaks during periods of high surf. Non-resident fees of $5 per person plus $10 per vehicle apply to this section as of January 2026.
Mahaiʻula — the other Kekaha Kai section, reached by a rough lava road. Picnic tables, no drinking water, no lifeguard services.
Makalawena — rough road plus a walk on from Mahaiʻula. No facilities, no drinking water, no lifeguard.
Kekaha Kai State Park — daily 8:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., gates close at 7:00 p.m. The 4.5-mile Ala Kahakai trail runs north through the park to Kua Bay.
Hōnaunau Bay (Two Step) — lava-ledge entry, no beach, good reef, described by the island's visitors bureau as a fragile bay for experienced swimmers and snorkelers. No lifeguard.
Kamakahonu (Kailua Pier) — small protected cove beside the pier in town, shallow and sheltered. No lifeguard.
Kohala coast beaches
This is where the island's white sand is concentrated, and where the resorts are. It is also open west-facing shoreline that takes a straight hit from swell.
Hāpuna Beach — the largest white sand beach on the island, with lifeguard services, open 7:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. with gates closing at 8:00 p.m., non-residents $5 per person plus $10 per vehicle. State Parks warns of dangerous rip currents and pounding shore breaks during periods of high surf, and states that waves over three feet are for experts.
Kaunaʻoa Beach (Mauna Kea) — a crescent of sand leading to calm water, fronting the hotel, with a limited number of public parking stalls that fill early. No lifeguard.
Waialea Bay (Beach 69) — sand and reef, snorkeling on calm days, shade from the trees. No lifeguard.
Mauʻumae Beach — small and reached on foot along the shoreline trail. No facilities, no lifeguard.
Kīholo Bay — spring-fed lagoon, turtles and tidepools between Kona and Kohala. Rough access, brackish and cold water, no lifeguard.
Pololū Valley Beach — at the bottom of a steep switchback trail from the lookout at the end of the road. Black sand, strong current, no lifeguard. This is a walking beach, not a swimming one.
Hilo and Puna beaches
The east side works differently. Instead of open sand you get reef ponds, lava benches and river mouths, and five of the island's ten lifeguarded beaches are here. It also rains hard, and heavy rain pushes runoff into the nearshore water.
Richardson Ocean Park — the shallow bay fronting Richardson Ocean Center is the most popular snorkeling site on the east side of the island. County lifeguard.
Onekahakaha Beach Park — shallow sand-bottomed pool behind a breakwater, with tide pools and inlets. County lifeguard.
Honoliʻi Beach Park — the main Hilo surf break, at a river mouth. County lifeguard, strong current, not a casual swimming beach.
Pohoiki (Isaac Hale Beach Park) — the 2018 Kīlauea eruption left the pier, boat launch and old protected bay mostly buried under a new black sand beach across Pohoiki Bay, which now impounds geothermal warm-water pools. No lifeguard, rough water.
Kehena Beach — black sand at the bottom of a steep, unmaintained trail. No lifeguard, strong current, and no easy way back out of the water.
Kaʻū and the south end
Kaʻū is the emptiest coast on the island: black sand, green sand, lava benches and a lot of wind. One lifeguarded beach, and long distances between anything.
Punaluʻu Black Sand Beach — the island's famous black sand beach and a place to see honu basking on the shore. On the state's lifeguarded list. Cold freshwater springs feed the bay and current runs outside it.
Papakōlea Green Sand Beach (Mahana Bay) — olivine sand in a bay half circled by Puʻu Mahana, a tuff ring, about three miles east of Ka Lae. Legally accessible only on foot over rugged eroded paths, with no shade, no drinking water, no facilities and no lifeguard.
Ka Lae (South Point) — the southernmost point of the United States. Cliffs, constant wind, no lifeguard, and no easy exit from the water.
Honuʻapo Bay — estuary and tidepools next to Whittington, with birdlife and shoreline walking. Not a swimming spot.
Kaʻalualu Bay — remote, reached by a rough track, shoreline and tidepools only. No lifeguard.
Lifeguards, and how few there are
Ten beaches on this island have county lifeguards, on duty Monday to Sunday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. On the state's list they are Kahaluʻu, White Sands (Laʻaloa), Hāpuna, Spencer, Punaluʻu, Richardson, Carlsmith, Leleiwi, Onekahakaha and Honoliʻi. That is ten guarded beaches for 4,028 square miles of island.
The consequence is that most of the beaches people drive furthest to see — Kua Bay, Makalawena, Hōnaunau, Kīholo, Pololū, Papakōlea, Kehena, Pohoiki — have nobody watching. Statewide, the Department of Health records non-residents as the majority of drowning victims at 53 percent, with a non-resident fatal ocean drowning rate about eight times the resident rate, and more visitors drowning while snorkeling than during any other activity. The Big Island's non-resident rate is 51.8 per 100,000, third behind Kauaʻi and Maui. Those facts are connected.
How to choose, and what to check
Match the beach to the people and to the day. For small children, Onekahakaha, Kamakahonu, Spencer and Carlsmith are the shallow, protected options. For snorkeling, go in the morning before the wind builds and stick to Kahaluʻu, Hōnaunau, Richardson or Waialea on a calm day. For scenery without swimming, Pololū, Papakōlea, Ka Lae and Kehena are the ones, and they should stay that way.
The state's own guidance is to know your health limits and fitness level, always swim at a lifeguarded beach, swim with a buddy, read and obey posted warning signs, and always be aware of the ocean. Conditions change by the hour and by the shore. Check the live page for the beach you are going to before you drive out, watch the water for a few minutes before you enter, and ask the lifeguard if there is one. If nobody else is in the water, there is usually a reason. Start from today's conditions.
Before you go
We never call any beach safe. Conditions change by the hour, and eighteen of the twenty-eight beaches here have no lifeguard at all. Check the live page before you go, and never swim where nobody else is in the water.
State Parks warns of dangerous rip currents and pounding shore breaks during periods of high surf at Hāpuna and across Kekaha Kai, including Kua Bay, and states that waves over three feet are for experts and all others should stay out of the water and away from the shoreline.
Laʻaloa (White Sands) has a shorebreak that lands directly on sand. The state notes that drowning and spinal cord injury are both preventable; do not dive under it or turn your back on it, and do not bodysurf it because it looks small.
Pololū, Kehena, Papakōlea and Ka Lae have strong current, no lifeguard, and no easy way out of the water. Treat them as places to look at the ocean, not to get into it.
Keep at least 10 feet from honu resting on the sand at Punaluʻu and elsewhere, on land and in the water, and 50 feet from Hawaiian monk seals.