Best Family-Friendly Beaches on the Big Island of Hawai’i

When we booked our family trip to the Big Island of Hawai’i, we naively thought it would be easy to find soft, sandy beaches to enjoy; I mean, it’s Hawai’i right? But it was surprisingly hard to find family-friendly beaches on the Big Island.

We’ve explored many incredible family-friendly beach destinations with our kids, but the Big Island of Hawai’i was really unique. The Big Island is wild, rugged, and incredibly diverse. It’s full of lava-rock coastlines, hidden coves, and jaw-dropping scenery.

But not all Big Island beaches are ideal for young kids. Some are too rocky for swimming, some have strong currents, and others take a bit of effort to reach. That said, we traveled to all corners of Hawai’i and we are happy to report that we found some absolute gems – beaches that are calm, sandy, and perfect for families.

If you’re traveling to Hawai’i with kids and wondering where to spend your beach days, we’re happy to share the family-friendly beaches on the Big Island we enjoyed most.

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7 Kid-Friendly Beaches in Hawaii

1. Hāpuna Beach

Big Island Region: South Kohala Coast

Our favorite family beach on the Big Island was Hāpuna Beach. After days of exploring rocky shorelines and hidden coves, it was such a relief to find a long stretch of soft, white sand where the kids could actually run and play.

Hāpuna Beach  is a very long, soft white band beach, lined with natural trees and palm trees for a beautiful natural setting. It’s exactly the type of beach we had envisioned when we planned our family vacation to the Big Island! The water at Hāpuna Beach is typically calm in the morning, perfect for swimming, and there’s enough space for everyone to spread out without feeling crowded.

We came here as we heard it is a good boogie board beach, and it delivered big time. The waves at Hāpuna Beach are mostly a moderate, medium size, which crash well offshore. This leaves plenty of room for boogie boarders to choose where they wish to begin their ride. It stays shallow for a long time at Hāpuna Beach, so boogie boarders who time it right, can get an extra long ride all the way to shore.

Occasionally waves can get very big at Hāpuna Beach, so watch your kids carefully. There are also a few sections with dangerous rip tides. There are several lifeguard stations all along the beach, who closely monitor for swimmers in the danger areas. I’d advise talking to a lifeguard before entering the water to locate the spots to avoid.

In addition to all the fun we had on the beach and in the water, we were also fortunate enough to see a humpback whale swimming just off the beach!

There are lots of great family-friendly amenities at Hāpuna Beach, including washrooms, showers, feet washing stations, covered picnic areas, and more.

As you’d expect with a soft, sandy beach, there were lots of families at Ho’okena Beach Park. There are occasional big rocks jutting out of the water, but there’s a spot at the far end of the beach where there is a gap in the rocks. This is where most of the families and boogie boarders hung out.

The waves at Ho’okena Beach Park were near perfect for boogie boarding on the day of our visit. On average, the waves were just big enough for a great ride. But every now and then, a larger wave would come along and produce all kinds of excitement, with laughter and smiles all around.

Apparently, spinner dolphins overnight in the bay outside Ho’okena Beach Park. It would have been exciting to see some from shore, but by the time we arrived, it appeared that they were gone.

We chose a spot in the middle of the beach. The kids instantly went into the very calm water and played there for over 2 hours straight. They had a ton of fun in the shallow water, but they complained about bigger rocks and urchins in the deeper water.

There were 2-3 sea turtles swimming nearby the entire time. They didn’t seem phased by the human activity at all, and were happy swimming in the shallows, attracting a ton of attention from beach goers the entire time.

You can hire a local to drive you in a 4×4 instead, but why pass up such an incredible opportunity for a family walk along the crashing waves on Hawaii’s south coast?

Mahana Beach is in a really beautiful setting. It’s set in a deep cove, with tall rocky cliffs on the left and smaller, black volcanic boulders on the right. The deep cove protects Mahana Beach from the full rage of the Pacific Ocean waves, making it a great spot for kids to play in the surf.

We’ve been to enough beaches around the world to know that sand color claims are often exaggerated. “Black sand” beaches aren’t always midnight black, etc., so we kept our expectations for the green sand at Mahana Beach reasonably low.

But, we were very surprised at how green the sand at Mahana Beach really was! It’s a bit of a pale green when you look at it, but that’s due to the sun drying off the surface sand. When you pick up a handful of sand at Mahana Beach, you’ll marvel at what a deep green it is. I’ve been on countless beaches and have never seen anything quite like this!

Upon arrival and looking down on Honoli’i Beach, we were excited to see that the waves were a moderate size and there were tons of surfers in the water. All good signs, right?

Then we started noticing all the warning signs about rip tides, which was followed by a blunt “No Swimming” sign near the entrance! We were bummed!!

We started putting our stuff down on the beach, when a super-friendly and very helpful lifeguard came to talk to us. He explained everything we needed to know about the currents, including where they started, where they went, and what to do if you get caught in one.

He gave us advice on where our kids could boogie board, with close adult supervision. Our kids started boogie boarding, but we could instantly see how quickly the ocean was moving them. They lasted about 3 minutes in the water before I got too nervous and asked them to get out.

Thankfully, not all was lost, as the river is a popular place for families to play in the water. There’s a small, rocky beach next to the shore of the river, so as long as your have water shoes, they’ll have a ball playing in the tranquil river water.

The river originates way up high on Mauna Kea, so its still very chilly by the time it reaches Honoli’i Beach Park. Given the warm temperatures in Hilo, our kids didn’t seem to mind the cold water.

When we arrived at La‘aloa Beach Park, we quickly could see that all the sand near the water was gone. We chatted with a local, and he said that the sand was washed away a week prior. We had just purchased our kids boogie boards and had promised to let them try them, so we jumped back in our car in search of a good beach to boogie board on. We had much better luck at the nearby Ho’okena Beach Park (#2 above).

Directions to La‘aloa Beach Park

7. Mauna Kea Beach

For full disclosure, we didn’t get to visit Mauna Kea Beach, but I wanted to include it in this list as it is supposed to be one of the nicest family-friendly beaches on the Big Island. We tried several times to visit Mauna Kea Beach, but were unable to find parking.

Mauna Kea Beach is a public beach, but access is via the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. The hotel graciously reserves approximately 30-40 parking spots for beachgoers, but these fill up super fast, and hotel guests will always receive priority.