Mahukona Beach Park
Hawi, HI
Mahukona Beach Park occupies the ruins of an old sugar shipping port, with rusted machinery still standing above a rocky cove that has no sand at all. A metal ladder bolted into the old pier lets swimmers climb straight down into clear water over a reef thick with fish, which is really the whole draw.
The snorkeling past the old pier is some of the best on this side of the island, but the rocky, no sand entry keeps it a locals only kind of spot.
How we score beachesBring water shoes. The entry and exit are all rock and old concrete, and the ladder gets slick.
A free gravel lot sits right at the park and almost never fills, since there's no sand to draw a crowd.
Flat ground from the lot to the ladder entry point, but getting into the water itself means climbing down a metal ladder, not a casual wade in.
Calmer summer water makes the ladder entry easier and the snorkeling clearer. Winter swells can make the climb down genuinely risky.
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