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Moloaa Bay
1 review
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Category: Local Flavor
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Poipu Beach
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Category: Swimming Pools
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Category: Landmarks & Historical Buildings
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Ke'e Beach
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Tunnels Beach
Rating Details »
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
8 reviews for Tunnels Beach
Best beach on the North Shore for snorkeling. TONS of coral reefs and beautiful fish swimming around. Beware though, every time I come here I end up getting pushed up against the coral and cutting up some body part.
The view while you're laying on the beach is AMAZING. No wonder so many movies have been filmed here. It really is just picturesque and perfect- I feel like King Kong is going to come running out of the lush mountains at some point.
Makua beach (a.k.a Tunnels).
Beautiful, serene, amazing snorkeling...
and many times, crowded =(
Parking can be difficult at best - go really early for easy parking and first choice pick of beach spot (we found an old abandoned fishing boat to hang out by - easy to find our stuff coming back from snorkeling).
Sadly, as more and more people discover snorkeling at Makua, the reef is getting pretty banged up. Come on people - malama da reef! Still, the variety of fish was absolutely stunning - we even got to swim with the honu (turtles)...at least till 20 other peeps would bum rush the poor guys - they were like the paparazzi - getting WAY too close and personal. You'd think Brad Pitt was in the water or something...sheesh...
You can expect to see: angelfish, butterflyfish, eel, tangs, unicornfish, triggerfish (humuhumunukunukuapua'a bitches!), wrasse, parrotfish, boxfish, trumpetfish, and blenny.
If you go, PLEASE be cautious of the reef and clean up after yourself. Be courteous and respectful of the wildlife and your fellow beach goer. It would be sad if this place turned into another Hanauma Bay...
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This was the highlight of our trip.
This was my first time snorkeling so we decided to go by a locals recommendation to try out Anini beach first. We saw.....like...two fishies. And I was pretty damn excited.
Someone else said to go to Tunnels and said it was the THE beach to go to for snorkeling. Tunnels beach has the most to offer in terms of variety of fish and quantity. We came back to Tunnels the next day and we saw even more stuff which we didn't think was possible.
Absolutely beautiful reef life...the reef in the shallow part of the beach is not exactly teeming with life but offers plentiful algae for the fish to eat. I saw SCHOOLS of fish all around me. You don't even have to swim out too far to see the ocean life.
The water here was crystal clear and though it may be 'crowded' by Kauai standards, it never feels crowded because there is plenty of space.
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I could not believe how gorgeous this place was. I have never, ever seen as many fish as I did here, and once you pop up out the water, things are just as amazing! It's set just outside the rugged Na Pali Coast, with the most clear, blue water you've ever seen. Truly a memorable experience. Spectacular.
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Also known as Makua Beach, Tunnels lived up to its reputation as the best beach in Kauai for snorkeling. You can tell that the reef is suffering but the variety and quantity of fish is still amazing. The best part though is that you're swimming side-by-side with them! We went to Molikini Crater in Maui which is beautiful but you needed to dive down to get up close and personal with coral and most of the fish there.
The water is quite shallow and can be unnerving at first when you float over the reef. It might seem like you're going to scrape over but you have more room than you think. Most of the reef is covered by cushy algae but you can still get cuts if you're careless.
We saw a white-tipped reef shark which completely freaked me out but they're shy and aren't maneaters. It's the surfing area where the big bad boys are so snorkelers are quite safe at Tunnels.
It's hard trying to figure out what sunblocks are reef-safe but you're on a good path if you find something that's oil and fragrance free.
Don't step on the reef. Try to find a sandy spot to stand on if you need to readjust your snorkeling gear.
Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Kill nothing but time.
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Out of Poipu beach, Ke'e beach, Lawai beach, Lydgate park beach and tunnels beach.....
The winner on best "beach" (and I'm talking about just the beach, not everything else like snorkeling etc...) would have to be tunnels beach by a nose over Poipu beach.
Dont get me wrong, I loved poipu beach and there's a reason why it's rated one of the best beaches in the nation, but with tunnels beach, you're lying around in ample sand..... not crowded at all because of the lack of parking..... AND you got the Northeastern most part of the Na'pali coastline in the background...... where else in the world can you sunbathe and enjoy the beach with this kind of scenery?
Snorkeling (4.5 stars):
-- very shallow in lots of areas of the water. but there were parts of the reef that you cannot miss. That's where alot of the fish action were.
Scenery (5 stars):
-- cant beat the mountains in the background literally behind you and to the side
-- since on the north side, do not get the majestic sunsets like poipu beach would get.
HK's advice:
-- check out both Poipu and Tunnels beach. Judge for yourself. I beleive overall Poipou beach is better taking EVERYTHING into consideration, but for the beach itself only, Tunnels by a nose.
-- Park in the small parking lot.... it's a good 400 yards to the good snorkeling area. There are two "side" driveways that lead directly to the snorkeling area but it's usually full.
Best snorkeling I've ever experienced. The only downer, is that it is hard to find good parking. It is a PERFECT snorkeling beach though, but not for much else.
Tunnels is one of my favorite beaches on Kauai mainly because of its gorgeous setting and superior snorkeling. I would go there more often if 1.) the 20 parking spots weren't filled by early morning & 2.) the waves weren't massive during the wintertime. During off-season when the waves are low I go in the early morning and am very pleased.
