Puko'o Beach
Kaunakakai, HI
Blink on Kamehameha V Highway around mile marker sixteen and Puko'o slips right past, a short stretch of sand tucked behind a narrow dirt turnoff with no sign to announce it. It's barely fifty yards of beach, but the water inside the reef stays calm enough on a good day to make the short walk in worth it.
A nice quiet pocket beach when conditions line up, but the unmarked access and total lack of facilities mean most people, locals included, drive right past without knowing it's there.
How we score beachesLook for an unmarked dirt road on the ocean side of the highway rather than any posted sign. Locals navigate by the mile marker, not by looking for an entrance.
A narrow dirt access road leads to informal parking about a hundred yards from the beach, free and small.
The walk in follows a dirt path past some boulders to reach the sand, uneven underfoot but short.
Summer's calmer water and lack of south swell make this the season to actually get in. Any south swell, more common in winter, can make the short cove rough enough to skip.
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