Honopu Beach — Attraction in Hawaii

Honopū Beach, Kauai. You don’t just stroll into this place with a water bottle and a dream. No trail, no road, no boat landings. The only way in is by swimming around the cliffs from Kalalau, and the ocean doesn’t care how bad you want that Instagram shot. It’ll try to kill you on the way in, and again on the way out. It’s that kind of beach. The kind that weeds out the influencers and lets in the lunatics.

But if you make it, if you survive the surf and your own dumb courage, you’ll hit sand so quiet it feels like the world forgot about it. There’s a massive stone arch rising out of the beach like some old god’s leftover rib cage. They say the ancient Hawaiians buried their chiefs here and tossed the guys who helped into the ocean so they wouldn’t spill the secret spots. That kind of loyalty, that kind of silence. Now the beach sits there with its haunted bones and its movie credits, letting the wind do the talking. You feel small here,...

First, get yourself a Kalalau Trail permit. Then, hike into Kalalau (11 miles). Then, swim over to Honopu only if you are a great swimmer. The current moves toward Honopu so it's not too bad to swim there (20 minutes or so). Coming back to Kalalau is the hard part. It could take more than twice as long (40 minutes of swimming). It's hard but it's worth it to visit this amazing beach. Don't try it if you don't know exactly what...

Years ago when the kids were in high school, we found a guy in Hanalei to take us on a boat tour of the Napali Coast. The high point of the excursion was swimming from the boat to Honopu Beach. Fortunately, we were all good swimmers as the ocean there is treacherous. The sight of the beaches with the connecting arch was memorable and there was a small stream running from the mountain...