Beach sights in USA
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Dog Beach
The real action in Ocean Beach, of course, lies on the sands. Just north of the half-mile-long Ocean Beach Pier is the headquarters for the beach scene, with volleyball courts and sunset barbecues. Further up you'll reach Dog Beach, where pooches can run unleashed around the marshy area. A few blocks south of the pier, you'll find Sunset Cliffs Park, a great spot to watch the sun dipping below the horizon.
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10,000 Islands
One of the best ways to experience the serenity of the Everglades - somehow desolate yet lush, tropical and foreboding - is by paddling the network of waterways that skirt the northwest portion of the park. The 10,000 Islands consist of many (but not really 10,000) tiny islands and a mangrove swamp that hugs the southwestern-most border of Florida.
The Wilderness Waterway, a 99-mile path between Everglades City and Flamingo, is the longest canoe trail in the area, but there are shorter trails near Flamingo.Most islands are fringed by narrow beaches with sugar-white sand, but note that the water is brackish, and very shallow most of the time. It's not Tahiti, but it's fasc…
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Channel Islands National Park
The Channel Islands is an eight-island chain lying off the coast from Newport Beach to Santa Barbara. The four northern islands - San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz and Anacapa - along with tiny Santa Barbara island 38mi (61km) west of San Pedro comprise the Channel Islands National Park. The islands have unique flora and fauna and extensive tidepools and kelp forests.
Here you'll find almost around 150 plant and a few animal species that are not found anywhere else in the world.
On Anacapa, Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa are several snorkeling, diving, swimming and kayaking opportunities among the kelp beds and sandy beaches. San Miguel and Santa Barbara are host to colonies …
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Keawakapu Beach
There's a lot to like about Keawakapu Beach, which stretches from the southernmost part of Kihei to Wailea's Mokapu Beach. Not only is Keawakapu Beach less crowded than Kihei's roadside beaches but it offers a stellar view, and during winter humpback whales come quite close to shore.
With its cushiony soft sand, it's a favorite place for people doing sunrise yoga and wake-up strolls and it's also a good spot for a sunset swim. Mornings are the best time for snorkeling; head to the rocky outcrops that form the northern and southern ends of the beach.
There are three beach access points, all with outdoor showers. To get to the south end, go south on S Kihei Rd until it dead-…
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Kapa'a Beach Park
This relatively unused beach park affords access to clear waters and great snorkeling if you venture past the rocky shore. The views of Maui can be spectacular. The park itself is mostly parking lot, with only a falling-apart wooden picnic pavilion and portable toilets. You will need a county permit to camp, but the beach is rocky and the ground uneven. There is only one really choice spot with a picnic table near the water.
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Manhattan Beach
If Manhattan Beach had its own magazine, it would surely be called Gorgeous Living. Classy beachside cottages, bougainvillea-lined walk-streets, bustling sidewalk patios, friendly boutiques, surfers silhouetted against the setting sun, and babies who never seem to cry – all within half a mile of a portrait-worthy pier. It’s that impossibly perfect.
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Popham Beach State Park
The 6-mile long, sandy Popham Beach State Park is one of the prettiest in the state, with views onto offshore islands and the Kennebec and Morse Rivers framing either end. Lifeguards are on hand, but the surf is strong, with undertows and riptides. It’s located off ME 209, about 14 miles south of Bath.
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Jasper Beach
Don't miss Jasper Beach, a bizarre mile-long beach consisting entirely of polished red jasper stones. As the waves wash in, the rocks slide against one another, creating a rather haunting song. It's one of two such beaches in the world (the other is in Japan). To reach it, head down Machias Rd toward the village of Starboard.
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Carpinteria State Beach
Mile-long, family-friendly Carpinteria State Beach is great for swimming, wading and tidepooling. It's often referred to as the world's safest beach for its calm waters. Parking is available for around US$8.
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Golden Sands Beach
A very interesting afternoon can be spent at Nome's Golden Sands Beach , stretching a mile east of town along Front St. At the height of summer a few local children may be seen playing in the 45°F water, and on Memorial Day (in May), more than 100 masochistic residents plunge into the ice-choked waters for the annual Polar Bear Swim.
Usually more numerous than swimmers here are gold prospectors, as the beach is open to recreational mining. Miners will set up camp along the shore and work the sands throughout the summer. The serious miners rig their sluice and dredging equipment on a small pontoon boat and anchor it 100yd offshore to suck up the more productive sand along…
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Old Kona Airport State Park
Despite being only a mile from downtown, the 217-acre Old Kona Airport State Park is often overlooked by visitors. Its lengthy shore offers solitude and the relaxing sound of waves, and it's a good place to picnic or stroll. The old airport runway skirts a long sandy beach laced with thick strips of black lava rock. Though there are a couple of breaks allowing entry into the water, fishing, not swimming, is the major activity here.
At low tide, the rocks reveal countless aquariumlike tide pools holding tiny sea urchins, crabs and bits of coral. One at the southern end of the park is large enough to be a keiki (child) pool. The waters offshore of the park and adjacent priv…
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Waikiki Beach
The 2-mile stretch of white sand commonly referred to as Waikiki Beach runs from Hilton Hawaiian Village in the west to Kapi'olani Park in the east. Along the way, the beach changes names and personalities. In the early morning, the surprisingly quiet beach belongs to walkers and joggers. Strolling down the beach toward Diamond Head at dawn can actually be a meditative experience.
By midmorning it looks like a normal resort beach - body-board, surfboard and catamaran concessionaires and lots of beached bodies. By noon it's challenging to walk along the packed beach without stepping on anyone.As the beachfront developed, landowners haphazardly constructed seawalls and offs…
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Malaekahana State Recreation Area
Swimming is generally good year-round here, although there are occasionally strong currents in winter. This popular family beach is also good for many other water activities, including bodysurfing, board surfing and windsurfing. Kalanai Point, the main section of the park, is less than a mile north of La'ie and has picnic tables, barbecue grills, camping, rest rooms and showers.
You'll feel all sorts of intrepid pride when you discover the wild and rugged beach, just north of town, in the Malaekahana State Recreation Area. A long, narrow strip of sand stretches between Makahoa Point to the north and Kalanai Point to the south with a thick inland barrier of ironwoods.
Moku'…
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Lydgate Beach Park
Families flock to the clean, safe, conveniently located Lydgate Beach Park, with calm waters in a large seawater pool protected by a stone breakwater. It's ideal for shallow swimming and beginning snorkeling. Beware of the open ocean beyond the pool, where currents are strong. Amenities include changing rooms, rest rooms, showers, drinking water, picnic pavilions, lifeguard and ample parking. The Eastside paved coastal path runs through the park.
In 1994 thousands of local volunteers helped build the enchanting Kamalani Playground at the northern end of the park. This massive 16,000-sq-ft wooden castle has swings, slides, mirror mazes, a suspension bridge and other kid-pl…
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Kahalu'u Bay
Kahalu'u Bay is an easy-access snorkeling spot and a giant natural aquarium loaded with rainbow parrotfish, silver needlefish, brilliant yellow tangs and Moorish idol. At high tide green sea turtles often swim into the bay to feed or rest on the beach. They're endangered, so give them space. According to legend an ancient breakwater was built on the reef by the menehune (Hawai'i's mythical race of little people) and protects the bay.
This surf spot is popular with locals. It's normally a long-board wave, but when the surf is high Kahalu'u can harbor strong rip currents that pull northward into the rocks. If you're a novice, talk to a lifeguard about the day's conditions b…
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Tunnels Beach
A hot spot for snorkeling and diving, Tunnels Beach is a wide, horseshoe-shaped fringing reef with fantastic underwater life viewable during calm summer seas. During such conditions, you can start snorkeling near the east point and let the current carry you westward. It's more adventurous (and less crowded) than Ke'e Beach.
In winter, high surf conditions mean a tubular break (hence the name Tunnels) for expert surfers and perilous risk for the rest of us. Dangerous rip currents prevail from October to May. It was here on October 21, 2003 that competitive surfer Bethany Hamilton, then 13, lost her left arm in a shark attack. Undaunted, Bethany resumed her surfing career, …
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Lumaha'i Beach
If Lumaha'i Beach looks familiar, it's where Mitzi Gaynor promised to wash that man right out of her hair in the 1958 musical South Pacific. It's just as spectacular in real life. Plan to stroll this mile-long sandy beach, with jungle growth looming on one side and tempestuous open sea on the other.
Forget swimming. There is no reef barrier and waves are almost always too powerful, with perilous shorebreaks.
There are two ways onto Lumaha'i Beach. The first and more scenic is a three-minute walk that begins at the parking area 0.75 miles past the 4-mile marker on the Kuhio Hwy. The trail slopes to the left at the end of the retaining wall. On the beach, the lava-rock ledg…
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Mahukona Beach Park
Mahukona Beach Park has a rather ratty oceanfront picnic area and an abandoned landing. Once a key port for the Kohala Sugar Company, the landing was connected to sugar mills by rail. Today locals fish off it and use its ladder to get in and out of the water to swim or spearfish. Despite the name, there is no beach here.
Beyond the landing are interesting snorkeling and diving spots, although they're usually too rough in winter. Heading north, it's possible to follow an anchor chain out to a submerged boiler and the remains of a ship in about 25ft of water. You can rinse off at a shower near the ladder. The oceanfront picnic area has portable toilets, an unkempt wooden pa…
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Big Beach
The Hawaiian name for Big Beach is Oneloa, literally 'Long Sand'. And indeed the golden sands stretch for the better part of a mile and are as broad as they come. The waters are a beautiful turquoise. When they're calm you'll find kids bodyboarding here, but at other times the breaks belong to experienced bodysurfers, who get tossed wildly in the transparent waves.
In the late 1960s this was the site of an alternative-lifestyle encampment that took on the nickname 'Hippie Beach.' The tent city lasted until 1972, when police finally evicted everyone. More than a few of Maui's now-graying residents can trace their roots on the island to those days. The turnoff to the main p…
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Larsen's Beach
The long, golden sands of Larsen's Beach, named after L David Larsen (former manager of C Brewer's Kilauea Sugar Company), is good for solitary strolls and beachcombing. Although shallow, snorkeling can be good when the waters are very calm, usually only in the summer. Beware of a vicious current that runs westward along the beach and out through a channel in the reef.
When the tide is low, you might share Larsen's with Hawaiian families collecting an edible seaweed called limu kohu. The seaweed found here is considered to be some of the finest in all of Hawaii. Otherwise, it will be you, the sand and the waves.
To get here, turn onto Ko'olau Rd from whichever end (ie wher…
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Pine Trees Surfing Break
Pine Trees Surfing Break, one of west Hawai'i's best, is just south of Nelha. Why Pine Trees? Early surfers spied mangrove trees near the break, which they thought were pines. No mangroves (or pines) are visible today, but the name stuck. The break is along a long, pretty, rocky beach that makes swimming difficult. Gates are closed between 20:00 and 06:00.
There is surf at a number of points along this stretch, depending on the tide and swell. The final bay gets the most consistent yet more forgiving waves. An incoming midtide is favorable in general, but as the swell picks up in the winter these breaks often close out. This place attracts a crowd, so if you plan to paddl…
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Ho'okena beach
Ho'okena beach is medium-sized with soft dark sands backed by a steep green hillside. The bay's waters are often calm and great for swimming and kayaking. The snorkeling is decent, with a fair amount of coral, some fish, and often dolphins and sea turtles, though it drops off quickly. Be aware of strong currents further out. The beach park has a picnic pavilion, bathrooms, showers and a hang-loose vibe, but no drinking water.
Camping here is pretty choice, so much so that some folks live out of the campground for short periods. Sites are right on the sand, and the shady ones fill up quickly. When the winter surf is up, local kids hit the waves with bodyboards. A county pe…
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Hammonasset Beach State Park
Though not off the beaten path by any means, the two full miles of flat, sandy beach at Hammonasset Beach State Park handily accommodate summer crowds. This is the ideal beach at which to set up an umbrella-chair, crack open a book and forget about the world. The surf is tame, making swimming superb; restrooms and showering facilities are clean and ample; and a wooden boardwalk runs the length of the park. There is no entry charge in the off-season. Stroll the boardwalk all the way to Meigs Point at the tip of the peninsula and visit the Nature Center before heading out on a trail that meanders through saltwater marshes. Excellent bird-watching here. Hammonasset is a Nati…
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Hanalei Beach Park
Often dubbed simply 'Hanalei Pier,' due to its unmistakable landmark, the stretch of sand shaded by ironwood trees at Hanalei Beach Park is popular mainly with surfers. The sandy-bottom beach slopes gently, making it very safe for beginners. Lessons are typically taught here, just west of the pier, where you find surf schools lining up big ol' softboards and rashguards daily.
In summer, swimming and snorkeling are decent, as are camping and kayaking. As always, take extreme caution during periods of high surf as dangerous shorebreaks and rip currents are common.
At the eastern end of the park the mouth of the Hanalei River opens into the beach and you'll find a small boat …
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Ho'okipa Beach Park
Ho'okipa Beach Park reigns supreme as the world's premier windsurfing beach, with strong currents, dangerous shorebreaks and razor-sharp coral offering the ultimate challenge. Ho'okipa is to topnotch windsurfers what Everest is to mountain climbers.
The beach is also one of Maui's prime surfing spots. Winter sees the biggest waves for board surfers, and summer has the most consistent winds for windsurfers. To prevent intersport beefs, surfers typically hit the waves in the morning and the windsurfers take over during the afternoon.
The action in the water is suitable for experts only. But a hilltop perch overlooking the beach offers spectators a bird's-eye view of the worl…
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