Is Puʻu Poa Beach open?
No closures reported
No County, State or Health Department notice closes Puʻu Poa Beach. Checked Oct 28, 10:20 am HST. Details
Weather Service alert
Weather
–
Loading…
Air temp
–
Loading…
UV index
–
Loading…
Surf
–
Loading…
Water temp
–
Loading…
Sunrise and sunset
–
Loading…
Puʻu Poa Beach in 3D
The 3D view loads when you scroll here.
Drag to spin · Blue P: parking · White line: walk to the sand · Heights doubled; waves are for illustration, not a surf report ·
Closures and alerts
Closures and advisories
- Loading the latest check…
Official alerts
Loading National Weather Service alerts…
Conditions
Surf
Loading the surf forecast…
Weather
Tide
Loading tide predictions…
Parking and access
Parking
The same small public lot used for Hideaways Beach: about eight or nine tight stalls on the right of Ka Haku Road, just before the 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay gatehouse. Free, and it fills early. Hotel parking is paid valet, not public parking. Don’t park at nearby condos; cars may be towed.
Getting to the sand
From the lot, walk toward the gatehouse. The public path to Puʻu Poa starts near the gatehouse and runs down the hotel’s west side, about 200 feet of paved path and stairs (one guide counts 191 steps). The Hideaways trail is a different path. The hotel’s elevator is for hotel guests.
Lifeguard
Not guarded. The County of Kauaʻi Ocean Safety Bureau doesn't list a lifeguard tower here.
Where we stay. We stay at Honu Hale Sunrise in Princeville. It’s ours.
See Honu Hale SunriseAbout Puʻu Poa Beach
Puʻu Poa Beach is a strip of reddish-gold sand on Hanalei Bay in Princeville, on Kauaʻi's North Shore. It runs below the bluff from the 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay, formerly the St. Regis Princeville, toward the mouth of the Hanalei River, where a sandbar can link it to Black Pot Beach at low tide. Kamani and ironwood trees shade the back of the beach, and the view looks across the bay to the Hanalei mountains and Makana, the peak known as Bali Hai.
A wide fringing reef lies offshore, and snorkelers visit it mostly in summer, when North Shore surf is smaller. Winter swells reach the beach, and there is no lifeguard. Far out, a big-wave surf break sits off Puʻu Poa Point. Public parking is the small lot just before the hotel gatehouse on Ka Haku Road, shared with Hideaways Beach, and a public path with stairs leads down beside the hotel to the sand.
Puʻu Poa Beach (also called Puʻupōā) is a beach on Kauaʻi’s North Shore, on the north-facing coast. No County lifeguard tower covers it. Its surf follows the National Weather Service forecast for North-facing shores, and its tides follow NOAA’s Hanalei Bay station.
Questions
Is Puʻu Poa Beach open?
The top of this page shows any closure or advisory that the County of Kauaʻi, the State (DLNR) or the Hawaiʻi Department of Health has posted for Puʻu Poa Beach. We check every 3 hours. If our last check is more than a day old, it says “Status unknown” instead of guessing.
Where is Puʻu Poa Beach, and how do you get there?
Puʻu Poa Beach is on Kauaʻi’s North Shore. Its public access point is at GPS 22.21727, -159.49872. Directions in Google Maps. The map on this page shows lots that OpenStreetMap marks as public.
Is there a lifeguard at Puʻu Poa Beach?
No. Puʻu Poa Beach has no County lifeguard tower. The nearest guarded beach is the place to ask about conditions.
Where do you park for Puʻu Poa Beach?
The same small public lot used for Hideaways Beach: about eight or nine tight stalls on the right of Ka Haku Road, just before the 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay gatehouse. Free, and it fills early. Hotel parking is paid valet, not public parking. Don’t park at nearby condos; cars may be towed.
Can you swim at Puʻu Poa Beach?
That changes day to day with the surf, and this site doesn't make that call. Check the North-facing surf range above, any alerts, and a lifeguard at the nearest guarded beach. Hazard ratings for guarded beaches are at hawaiibeachsafety.com.
Report conditions
Just there? Tell us what you found. Reports never change this page by themselves.
Sources
- Closures: County of Kauaʻi, DLNR, Hawaiʻi Department of Health
- Surf, weather and alerts: National Weather Service Honolulu
- Tides: NOAA station 1611683
- Parking lots on the map: © OpenStreetMap contributors
Sources last checked October 26, 2026.