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We spent 8 wonderful nights on the Big Island of Hawaii in the summer of 2014. There is so much to do on the Big Island, and the beaches were one of our favorite activities. We did a lot of research beforehand to choose which beaches we wanted to visit during our short time on the island. There are many to choose from, and of course, our ‘best’ list is subjective, but these beaches are wonderful (and I’d love to hear about others’ favorites too).
We selected beaches that were relatively easy to access because we had the kids and lots of stuff with us (boogie boards, chairs, toys, umbrella, etc). We also had a rental car, and there are some roads that are prohibited by rental car companies, so we did not visit beaches off of such roads. Most of the beaches are on the West side (Kohala and Kona coasts), with one of our favorites being closer to the Volcano area. We stayed in both the Kohala area and in Volcano, so were able to explore both spots (and most of the rest of the island as well).
The Best Big Island Beaches with Kids
1. Hapuna Beach
Hapuna Beach is consistently rated as one of the best beaches in Hawaii. Dr. Beach named Hapuna Beach as a #1 beach in the United States one year. And for good reason. This is a beautiful beach, and a great place to bring the kids. The white sand beach is wide and expansive. The water is turquoise and clean. There is a large parking lot, bathrooms, lifeguards, and a picnic area. Even on a ‘crowded’ summer weekend day, we had plenty of room. Having spent a ton of time throughout our lives on the East Coast beaches in New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, where it is common to find the beaches covered towel to towel with visitors, this was a very welcome difference. We paid $5 for parking.
Walkway from the parking lot to Hapuna Beach
Hapuna Beach picnic area
2. Mauna Kea Beach
Mauna Kea Beach, properly known as Kauna’oa Beach, was also rated by Dr. Beach as the best beach in the United States one year. It is similar to Hapuna Beach, but we liked it even better. You have to get their early (if you are not staying at the Mauna Kea hotel) because the hotel limits the amount of ‘public access’ parking spaces per day. The first time we tried to go, the spots were already full. On our next try, we made sure to get there before 9am, and we were able to get one of the spots. The parking area is a bit farther at Mauna Kea beach, so we had to carry our stuff a bit longer than we would have liked. It was worth it though, for the beautiful, white sand and turquoise waters.
We had brought our own snorkeling gear, and we were able to do some snorkeling from the beach along the rocks to the left (as you are looking out at the ocean). There were lots of fish to see, but the water got a bit choppy at some points. Farther away from the rocky edge, the water was calmer and great for boogie boarding. The beach was uncrowded, which was also nice.
3. Punaluu Black Sand Beach
We visited Punaluu Black Sand Beach when we were staying in Volcano, since it is on the South Eastern part of the island. We had been to another black sand beach in Maui two years prior, and it was an amazing sight to see. This beach was equally as amazing. There is something about walking along a black sand beach and watching the waves breaking against the shoreline…it’s unusual and feels very special. We did not swim at this beach, but we did spend some time sitting there and walking along the beach.
There were some other highly rated beaches that we read about as we were doing our research, but we didn’t have time to go to all of them. Hopefully we will return someday so we can explore more of Big Island’s wonderful beaches. This site has information about all of the Big Island beaches.
You can also read more about our Big Island trip in these other posts:
- Exploring the Big Island
- Staying in a Treehouse in Volcano
- Hilton Waikoloa Village Hotel Review
- Hawaii Volcanoes National Park with Kids (coming soon)
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