To continue last week’s Maui vacation post, I wanted to share my beach days with you! Let’s be honest, the beaches are the most iconic part of island vacationing, so I couldn’t let you wait any longer!

Tuesday we woke up, and the water was a brilliant shade of blue. More like 10 brilliant shades. We all declared it was time for a beach day! Since we had gotten a good start on the day, we decided to drive South to the larger, more famous “Big Beach” that was about an hour away from where we were staying. The beaches on the North-West side of the island are beautiful, but a little smaller. I’ll get to them later.

We arrived at Makena Beach State Park and dove our feet right into the sand. Towels out, sunglasses on, ready to soak in some Hawaii rays.

Clothing Details: Swimsuit – Victoria’s Secret || Glasses – H&M || Hat – Forever 21

The beach went on as far as the eye could see, and the water was impeccably clear and refreshing.

I spent the day walking along the beach, frolicking in the water, and pestering the boys to take photos for me. They’re such good sports!

What’s that?

You talkin’ to me!?

But seriously, that water though… and the sand is sparkling!

Most of Makena Beach has soft, tan sand, especially as you move away from the beach entrance where it was quite rocky. If you venture far enough out, there are groves of lava rock jutting up from the ocean.

They looked just like the scene from The Little Mermaid where she sits on a rock, gazing at the land, wishing she could be a human. Even the sea spray compared! I tried my best to recreate it.

 

I felt a little silly.

Nik decided there were other movie interpretations to try. Can you guess this one?

 

Did I mention we saw whales like every 10 minutes. It was incredible!

A day filled with sunshine and silliness that couldn’t be topped. I definitely recommend Makena Beach as a top spot for sunbathing and people watching.

 

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Later in the week, we decided to venture to some of the other beaches that were closer to our place. Kapalua Beach was about a 15 minute drive North, hidden behind the glamorous Ritz Carlton. (In another much richer life I would stay there with the incredible beach access, pools, and grounds!) Though this beach was most easily accessible from the Ritz, all of the beaches in Maui are public access! We laid out towels next to the fanciest of beach goers (so much jewelry for a trip to the beach!) and soaked in the view.

 

Kapalua Beach is known for sea life and great snorkeling. Because of it’s protected shape, small sea creatures and fish spend their time in the calmer waters. People filled the water with goggles and snorkels trying to catch a glimpse of the many fish and turtles that filled the bay. We even saw the turtles up close! They ducked under too fast for me to snap any shots, but if you want to snorkel this is the place to go. They even have a shack that rents the equipment to you right on the beach.

After some great swimming time, Kyle and I decided it was time to explore. If you hike up along the side of the bay even further north, you can explore the next two bays over. One is all rocks, but people were jumping in to the waves alongside the jagged shore. I was not so brave. Further on from there is a short hike with a grassy preserve that leads out toward the ocean. Sadly, I hadn’t brought my camera so I don’t have any pictures, but the walk is worth the fantastic views of the crashing waves.

Though there are many other beaches in Maui, these two encompassed all the excitement of Hawaii beaches. Makena boasted the expansive beach shoreline with big waves for simming or surfing in and volcanic rocks to explore. Kapalua provides exquisite colors and reefs to snorkel through, along with the sea life you don’t get to see so often.

If you’re looking to see what other options you have, this is a great website giving snippets of information and photos of each Maui beach. Shore hope you enjoy this as much as I did!