Kauai has many trails to hike, but it also has many fine beaches to hike/walk.   Lumahai Beach is not a safe swimming beach with no protecting reef, but it is a scenic and interesting beach.   To find Lumahai Beach continue along the north shore past Hanalei.   After completing the big loop around Hanalei Bay, the narrow, winding road  climbs over a bluff and at the curve at the top is a pullout for a few vehicles.   Park here and follow a single track trail down the bluffs.

We can also walk to the beach from the other end.   Park near the Lumahai River and walk through the ironwoods out to the beach.   The walk along the beach is a 2km return walk.   For most beach walks, we like to take off our shoes and walk at the edge of the wet zone where the waves lap onto the shore.   Not on Lumahai.  The beach has a steep sandy lip carved by crashing waves.   There have been many drownings or near drownings on this beach for people who have come to close to the powerful waves and have been pulled out to sea.

Black cliffs rise above the beach but there is always room to walk a safe distance back from the shoreline.   In winter the waves here can be an impressive site.   On a sunny day, we enjoy sitting on the beach for lunch while we watch the waves come in.   When the waves are the right height, surfers go out to a break on the west side.   The enormous currents and waves here change the beach from season to season, with the size of the beach varying by as much as 35 feet.   We usually come in winter when the sands pile up on the east side.

The Lumahai River is one of the only undiverted, untouched rivers on the island and there is only cattle grazing upstream in the Lumahai Valley so it has remained an important home for the native o’opu freshwater fish.   We can wade through the shallow river, exploring the interaction of life in the estuary.

The North Shore has a number of fine shoreline/beach walks, and Lumahai is among the best.