Mahai'ula Beach is a remote beach in the Kekaha Kai State Park.

It's a 0.6 mile out and back hike from the parking lot.

It's recommended to have a 4-wheel drive vehicle to get in as the road is not completely paved.

The water is crystal clear and has great snorkeling too.

Mahai'ula Beach is located on the northwest side of the Big Island of Hawaii.

We turned off from the highway into Kekaha Kai State Park.

We followed the road to the parking lot.

From the parking lot it's a 0.6 mile out and back hike. So that's only 0.3 miles to get there which takes about 7 minutes to walk. 

This is the view from the highway. You can see that the first part of the road is paved.

You'll see the sign for Kekaha Kai State Park and the park hours are from 8am to 6:30pm. They lock the gate at 7pm.

Once you get into the park, the road alternates between paved to unpaved back to paved back to unpaved. It's recommended to have a 4-wheel drive vehicle. We drove a Jeep and did just fine. We did see some smaller cars make it and some parked halfway and walked the rest of the way.

We finally made it to the parking lot, which is paved. There is a sign that shows an arrow to the right for Mahai'ula Bay. This is the direction you are going to go to get to Mahai'ula Beach.

We got there early so there was plenty of parking. You'll see a red and white gate. That's where the trail starts heading north. We took this trail to the first turnoff.

We turned left at the first turnoff to go to Mahai'ula Beach. You can also go straight and it will take you farther down Mahai'ula Beach.

We followed the trail to the left through the trees and it comes out at the beginning of the beach. This is what the beach looks like.

At the very end of the beach is a big stand of palm trees.

This is the view looking back to where we came in. We walked back and went snorkeling at the beginning of the beach around the rocky area.

This beach is really close to the airport, so we kept seeing planes fly overhead while we were snorkeling.

Overall, we had a great time exploring this beach and snorkeling. The views were amazing, the sand was soft, and the snorkeling was great with turtles and all sorts of fish. We would highly recommend visiting Mahai'ula Beach on your next trip to the Big Island of Hawaii.

(Click on the map above to go to a Google Maps larger view.)

Mahai'ula Beach has free parking. 

Total Cost: $0

These are the checklist items I recommend:

• Drive a 4-wheel drive vehicle if you can for the unpaved section of the road.
• Bring your own snorkel gear.
• Bring some drinks and snacks.
• Bring reef safe sunscreen.