Hamoa Beach Park - Hana, Maui

Hamoa Beach is on the west side of Maui near Hana, a less-developed part of this popular island. Hamoa Beach has sea cliffs and lush vegetation; the public beach shares some facilities with the Hotel Hana Maui. For a beach vacation that never lets up - Hamoa Beach is where you need to be. Hamoa Beach is a must visit if you plan to visit East Maui. As you approach the beach from the main road, you'll walk past colorful plants and palm trees surrounding Hamoa Beach.

Hamoa Beach is a short walk away. Unprotected from the open ocean, Hamoa Beach is often swept with powerful rip currents. The surf breaks offshore and rolls ashore.

With views of Alau Island and tropical foliage all around, Hamoa Beach is a favorite of anyone who visits it. Hamoa has been rated as one of the best body surfing beaches in Maui.

The Hana side of Maui is considered the tropical side of the Island. This is a rain forest and rain can occur daily. Hamoa is very beautiful in its own right, with its sandy white beaches visible from high above the cliffs on the Hana Highway. However, many surfers and sun worshipers flock here so it is much more crowded than the Waianapanapa beach and much harder to find a parking spot. The beach is about a 10 minutes drive from the town of Hana and isn't hard to find at all. It's a great drive too with lots of beautiful scenery on the way.

Although affiliated with the Hana Hotel, the beach and most of its amenities are open to the public. The beach itself is a crescent of black and gold sand backed by a grass area, palm trees, and cliffs. We not only survived the road to Hana, but I survived my swim at Hamoa Beach. Could it have been my "amakua" watching over me, the beautiful green sea turtle called a "honu". The beach is two miles long, 125 feet wide, and bordered by the Hanalei River to the east and the Waipa River to the west. The ocean bottom slopes gently to overhead depths, and there are large coral reefs at both ends of the bay.

East Maui offers few beaches along the Hana Highway, but makes up for it with a beautiful black sand beach at Wai'anapanapa State Park. Plus, beyond Hana town there is world renown Hamoa Beach (voted one of the finest anywhere). The beach is surrounded by private property owned by the Hotel Hana Maui. Most of the facilities are for the guests of the resort, but the Hotel Hana Maui is gracious enough to allow the use of some of the facilities. People like to jump into the water from the Hanalei Pier, the entry point for scuba divers heading for the spectacular reefs offshore.