The beaches here are shared. Hawaiian green sea turtles — honu — rest on the warm sand at Poʻipū, watched over by volunteers and given a wide, respectful berth; in Hawaiian tradition the honu is an ʻaumakua, a family guardian, and a fitting emblem for a coast that has learned to look after what it has.
Down at the water, Poʻipū Beach Park has been called the best beach in America — a pair of golden crescents with calm, protected swimming and a gentle break that has taught generations of beginners to surf. Nearby, the Spouting Horn forces the surf up through a lava tube and throws spray forty or fifty feet into the air, with a low moan that the old stories tied to a giant moʻo, or lizard, caught in the rock. West of town, the Allerton and McBryde Gardens fill Lāwaʻi Valley — two of only five National Tropical Botanical Gardens in the country.
Why People Visit Poʻipū
Poʻipū rewards visitors who want Hawaiʻi at its sunniest and most easygoing — a warm, protected coast with a century of south-shore history behind it. People come for Poʻipū Beach and the Spouting Horn, for the gardens and the golf, and for the plantation-era streets of Old Kōloa Town, where the Garden Isle's layered past sits a short walk from the sand.
