Wawaloli Beach
Kailua-Kona, HI
Wawaloli Beach sits just south of the Natural Energy Laboratory near Kona's airport, a small park with a protected tide pool that locals sometimes call OTEC Beach after the ocean energy research facility next door. The pool stays shallow and calm enough for young kids, while the open ocean just beyond draws snorkelers and the occasional surfer.
A dependable, low key family stop with genuinely safe swimming in the tide pool, though it's easy to overlook next to the bigger beaches nearby.
How we score beachesUse the tide pool, not the open shoreline, if kids are along. It's the safest swimming water for miles in either direction.
A free gravel lot sits at the park entrance off Highway 19 and rarely fills.
A short, flat walk from the lot leads to the tide pool and picnic area, an easy trip for most visitors.
Calm most of the year, with the tide pool sheltered enough to stay swimmable even when the open coast gets rougher in winter.
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.