best calm swimming beach kauai
 

Planning a trip to Kauai this summer. My favorite part of Hawaii is the clear calm water but last visit (Maui) the water was<BR>murky and choppy. What resort has the best calm swimming beach? thanks. Jan

We found the best calm swimming beach not at a resort but at Anini Beach.

You can also try Salt Pond and Lydgate State beaches. Nice sunset from Salt Pond in the winter months. We still like Anini m' bettah.<BR>Kal<BR>242!<BR>

My wife and I stayed at the rental cottage of a private residence on Anini Beach for a week last October. I snorkled every day and despite the fact that high waves were pounding the reef, the lagoon was very calm.

Heartily agree-ANINI!!!Best beach on the island for swimming. Large reef keeps the wave action outside the lagoon. Was there in Feb and thoroughly enjoyed the day . The water was crystal clear, calm, warm. Just perfect. Have a grand time.

This does my heart good! Renting a home on Anini in September. Aaahhh the good life - snorkeling all morning, followed by....you get it!

Have heard many complaints about public camping on Anini. Any word on this from our sponsors?

Dan - The public campground was about 200 yards from where we spent a week. There were people camping there every night... mostly drifter/hippie types with their families living the easy life I guess. We talked to some of them and they were nice enough if a bit weird at times (one guy made a point of telling me that my home state had been proclaimed 'safe' by Nostradomus). Amazingly enough, everyone was very quiet and we hardly noticed them at all. Much of the time the beach seemed nearly empty.

During the summer, the north shore should be calm. Check out Hanalei beach fronting the pavillion(Lifeguarded beach) Kee beach at the end of the highway #56. Tunnels beach in Haena. All good swimming beaches(summer time) check with lifeguards or locals before swimming at any beach. Sheraton Kauai in poipu fronts a good swimming beach. Also the Kauai Marriott has a good swimming beach if the surfs small.

Anini sounds like a nice calm beach for snorkeling, but is there plenty of marine life or preserved/undamaged coral to see underwater? This would be helpful, as I plan on spending a week there in October.

Daniel - I had only snorkled one in my life before I spent a week at Anini last October. My point is I am far from being an expert. That being said, I was fascinated by the marine life I saw there. There are pockets of coral all over the place each with its own community of fish. Most seem to have a resident moray eel also. The large fish were fairly shy but patience and persistance led to many interesting encounters. I didn't go more than about 100 yards to either side of where we were staying and easily filled up 3 days with mainly snorkling.

There's a pretty good variety of coral at Anini, but most of the calm and protected area is quite shallow and you won't see many fish. For that you need to go out to the underwater canyons at the edge of the reef, but beware of currents if the surf is up or the tide is running out.