Pohaku Mauliuli Beach (Make Horse Beach)
Maunaloa, HI
Most people who've been here know it as Make Horse Beach, a nickname with a grim backstory that's stuck harder than the official name. It sits between Kepuhi and Papohaku on Molokai's west shore, a shaded pocket of sand reached by cutting across an old golf course fairway that hasn't seen a golfer in years.
The shade and the quiet are real draws for locals who know it, but the walk across an overgrown fairway and the total lack of signage keep it from being anyone's easy first stop.
How we score beachesPark near the old Paniolo Hale condos on Lio Place and follow the dirt track past the fairway. The keawe trees at the back of the beach are the only real shade on this stretch of coast, worth timing a midday visit around.
A short dirt road off Lio Place, past the Paniolo Hale condos, leads to informal parking, free and rarely crowded.
From the lot, a dirt path crosses roughly a hundred yards of old fairway before reaching the sand, uneven ground rather than a maintained trail.
Maui County's leash law covers this beach along with every other one in the county.
Summer is the season locals actually swim here, when the water lays down enough to make the walk in worth it. Winter surf turns the same stretch rough and better left alone.
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.