Kukio Beach

by Joe
(Kona )

About 15 miles north of Kailu town off hiway 19 is Kukio and Hualalai resorts. Both resorts have their own beaches. This post is only about Kukio beach.

The reason I mention Hualalai is because that's the sign you look for when going to Kukio beach. Once you make the turn from the main hiway you'll come to a guard shack. Tell them you want to go to Kukio beach and they will give you a pass.

From the guard shack it's a short drive to the public parking area and then a short walk to the beach. They have public restrooms and showers. Very nice.

The beach its self is the finest money can buy. You should have seen the pile of sand they brought in to build this beach with back in 2004. It was HUGE!

Wear Water Shoes and Gloves Here

That's right, this is a man made beach. And a dam fine one at that. But... there are hazards. Wear gloves and water shoes here because there is a lot of wana in the reef that you have to cross to enter the ocean.

Wana is pronouced "vana". And it will flat put the hurt on you like cactus. I picked up a sliver of it myself yesterday just for old times sake. Ouch. But you won't because you're going to wear water shoes and gloves right?

Great Kids Beach

This is a great beach for little kids because there is basically no surf here due to the cove shape. But always keep your eyes on the little whippers just in case.

Snorkeling

There is decent snorkeling here but visibility was only about 20 feet the day I went and it was pretty calm surf wise. The big island revealed author say's it's like that all the time. I don't know. Maybe he's right.

Amount of other people

You know, the ones who show up and ruin your tranquillity. We got here at 9AM and were the second people on the beach. Not bad. Till... about and hour later when the masses started showing up. It was starting to get busy but nothing like Hapuna.
Overall I'd say it was still pretty relaxing.

Overall Score: 6 out of 10

And I don't care if you did pay $10 million for your place there. LOL