Oceanfront Condos

At the

Valley Isle Resort in Kahana

Vacation

Rentals
Text Box: Dennis & Karen Garlock 5377 Aster St NW Salem, OR 97304 503-364-1502 Text Box: Beaches South Alii Kahekili Nui Ahumanu or Old Airport Beach Nice long beach, stretches North from Black Rock to the Embassy Suites, seems like a couple of miles. The park where you park has showers and changing rooms. Beginning divers take their underwater classes just about every day at this beach. There is good snorkeling from the park north for a city block or more until the reef runs out. You can see Eagle Rays, turtles, eels, octopus and plenty of reef fish. I have also seen some very large game fish and barracuda here. The list goes on if you’re diving. Kaanapali Beach Basically stretches from Black Rock on the north to the Hyatt on the south. The beach is a long stretch of sand with some pretty fancy resort complexes. The best swimming spot is near Black Rock where it is protected. We usually see lots of people lazing around on the beach. You can rent umbrellas and nice chairs if you plan to stay for a long time. You can arrange for parasailing and other activities toward the middle just out from the Whaler shopping center. There are some nice outdoor restaurants, where Karen and I have lunch after spending the morning on the beach. Especially Hula Grill. Black Rock is a very good snorkeling spot, especially for beginners. I have seen Eagle Rays, octopus, turtles and a wide variety of reef fish here. Best is right out at the tip. Lots of snorkelers though. The parking is difficult. Talk to someone about where to park before going here. And, go early. Another fun thing to do here is walk along the paved beach walk in the evening and watch the night life. Hanakaoo or Canoe Beach This is the beach park just south of the Hyatt. It is called canoe beach because they have Hawaiian canoe races here periodically. They’re fun to watch for awhile. I have never been swimming here, but the good snorkeling is on the far southern end. As you go north you run into Kaanapali Beach at the Hyatt. Good snorkeling straight out from the Hyatt, but sometimes rough. Also nice restaurants and bar on the beach at the Hyatt. Olowalu This is at mile post 14 south of Lahaina. This is a long stretch of sand and kiawe trees close to the highway. It doesn’t appeal to us because it is so close to the highway. The water is quite calm and shallow and the snorkeling is good. Beginning divers also practice here. Be careful of kiawe thorns. They’re hard on your feet. The best snorkeling is way out. It’s like an aquarium out there. It is also fun navigating through the shallows to get out there. Kihei Beaches Sorry, we have a prejudice against Kihei beaches. There’s plenty of em and they’re supposedly nice, but we’ve never been to them, and probably never will. Ulua Beach A neat little beach between the Aston Wailea and the Renaissance Wailea. Snorkeling is great when water is calm, and body surfing is great when the surf is up. Sometimes when it’s rough up north, it is calmer down here, but you never know. Small public parking lot, but if it’s full, you can probably sneak into one of the resorts lots. Don’t tell anybody I told you. Wailea Beach We have never been here, but hear that it is the largest and widest of Wailea’s beaches with good swimming. Kaawakapu Beach North of Ulua, this beach is a nice place to play in the water, snorkel or boogie board when the waves are up. Continue on lower Kihei road when road turns up toward Wailea. Go to end of road where there is a small parking lot which is usually full. We park on the street before the lot. You’ll see. We really like this beach which is normally not too crowded. There is a nice outdoor restaurant for lunch a fair walk south on the beach. Polo Beach & Palauea Beach Two nice, hard to find, beaches just beyond the Fairmont Kea Lani. It’s been a couple of years since we’ve been here and there has been a lot of construction in the area. We used to call Palauea Beach “Chicken Beach” because of the roaming chickens. The new construction took over some of this beach since we last were here. We loved the sand and you could walk out quite a ways in the calm waters. Makena (Big Beach) or Oneloa A huge sweep of glistening sand, great for swimming, surfing and boogie boarding. Last time we were there you couldn’t see any development from the beach. Just like old Hawaii. Gets crowded though. Lots of locals, who sometimes may be aggressive. Don’t leave any valuables in your car. Makena (Little Beach) or Puu Olai Hidden by a rocky outcrop that juts out from Puu Olai, the cinder cone that marks the north end of Big Beach. A trail over the rock links them. This beach fronts a sandy cove that usually has a gentle shore break which is ideal for body surfing and boogie boarding. Snorkeling is good along the rocky point. You might see some people in the buff here. It’s a popular nudist spot. Secret Beach Is in this area somewhere. Maybe you can find it. La Perouse Bay The paved road ends just before La Perouse Bay. At least it did the last time we were there. You can continue on the lava gravel road until you can’t drive any more. There are places to park here and there. There is no beach. You can walk along the high water line behind some houses and find a spot to go in and snorkel. This is a good starting point for a hike along the coast. Karen and I have done this, and we found several places to snorkel along the way. We found nothing spectacular though. The walk is interesting with lots of old Hawaiian lava rock foundations. You can spend a whole day on this walk, so take water and food. I wonder what it looked like a couple of hundred years ago. Awesome…. The authorities have recently closed some of this area off. Check it out. We’ve gone about as far south as we can go!