Hapuna Beach Park

The beautiful white sand beach at Hapuna stretches for over half a mile between the points of lava that form its boundaries. During the summer months, the beach is more than 200 feet wide-the widest white sand beach on the Big Island. High winter surf often erodes the beach considerably, but still leaves beachgoers more than enough sand for various activities. About midway along the beach, a lava promontory that was known to Hawaiian fishermen as Ihumoku (the "bow [of the] ship") crosses the sand and effectively divides the beach in half. To the south of this rocky point is Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area. Facilities in the beach park complex include half a dozen A-frame shelters that provide lodging for four persons in each shelter, paved parking lots, picnic pavilions, restrooms, showers, and paved walkways to the beach.

The long, wide, flat white sand beach at Hapuna provides more than ample space for its many visitors. The beach slopes gently into the deeper offshore waters, where there are excellent opportunities for swimming, snorkeling, and nearshore scuba diving. A shallow, protected, sand-bottomed cove at the northern end of the beach is an ideal place for little children to play in the water. Professional diving instructors also use this area to introduce novice snorkelers and scuba divers to the ocean.