Kamaole Beach Park III
Kihei, HI
Kamaole Beach Park III is the biggest and busiest of the three, a wide beach with a playground, picnic pavilions, and enough grass to host a full extended family gathering without anyone stepping on anyone else's towel. It's the Kamaole most visitors end up at, and locals still come for the reliable lifeguards and the whale watching from shore in winter.
The playground, the lifeguards, and the whale watching in winter make this the Kamaole locals actually recommend to visiting family, even though it's also the most crowded of the three.
How we score beachesThe rocky outcrop at the south end is a solid winter whale watching perch. Bring binoculars and give it fifteen minutes before writing off a sighting.
A free county lot off South Kihei Road serves the park, the largest of the three Kamaole lots, though it still fills by late morning in summer.
A large, flat grassy park with a playground leads onto wide sand, among the easier beach walks in Kihei for strollers and wheelchairs.
Winter, roughly December through April, brings humpback whales visible from the shoreline, while summer offers the calmest swimming conditions.
More Hawaii beaches
Waikiki Beach
Honolulu, HI · Hawaii
4 access points
The beach that put Hawaii surfing on the map, with gentle, forgiving waves for beginners, Diamond Head crater as a backdrop, and a reef that keeps the water calm most of the year.
Lanikai Beach
Kailua, HI · Hawaii
A quiet, residential-neighborhood beach on Oahu's windward side, with powder-soft sand, turquoise water, and two small offshore islets (the Mokulua) as a paddling destination.
Poipu Beach
Koloa, HI · Hawaii
A sheltered, sunny south-shore beach on Kauai split into a calm swimming lagoon and a livelier surf side, with a good chance of spotting Hawaiian monk seals resting on the sand.