West Shore Swells
Polihale State Park is the longest stretch of continuous beach on Kauai if including Barking Sands and the military zone just south. With campgrounds on the berms (under minimal treeline) and drive-on beach access, your options are pretty expansive at this large campground. We drove onto the beach each night as we had a Jeep (don’t forget you need four-wheel and 20 PSI tire pressure to effectively maneuver on deep sand). Camped right next to our car. Swam under the moon (be careful, swells and currents can be pretty big here and wave break is only about ten feet from the shore). Showers, bathrooms, day use shelters and beyond. There are tons of great private off-chutes between the road and b beach for camping but we liked sleeping close to the waves. Be sure to check tide charts when setting up so the waves don’t reach your tent. Fires are not allowed in state parks but everybody lights small fires anyways. Be sure to light up closer to the water so debris from your fire (ash and the like) wash away. We put in on our last morning here for our overnight kayak trip to Miloli’i (highly recommend that trip even if you do a day trip. Check out Na Pali Kayaks for rentals and guided tours). This was our favorite beach campsite of the trip and can be booked online through Hawaii.gov.