Tunnels Beach

Tunnels Beach General Description

Tunnels Beach offers great scenery and snorkeling opportunities. If you are looking to try your hand at snorkeling, Tunnels Beach is a prime location to start. It is such a supreme snorkeling location because it has a massive reef that is so large it can be seen from space. As can be seen in one of the photos above, even the view from a helicopter is impressive and shows the magnitude of the reef. The waters are generally calm which also makes the beach popular for scuba divers. There is a slight rip current, but most of the time it is weak.

Location: North Kauai

On the Kauai Map

Take Highway 560 east from Hanalei toward Ha'ena. Two short dirt roads, just past Mile Marker #8, lead to the parking area for the beach.  One of the roads is 4/10 mile past mile marker 8 and the other 6/10 mile past mile marker 8 (the latter is the better of the two). Parking can be a hassle because you will have to park along the side of a narrow road. The roads are a bit hard to find, but there are a few signs placed by residents that let you clearly know which roads do NOT lead to Tunnels Beach. Please show aloha and don’t park at those spots.

The beach itself is nearly directly across from mile marker 8 on Highway 560, but we highly recommend that you do NOT park on the street, the police will ticket you for doing so. Attempt to visit this spot earlier in the day so that you’ll get a parking spot at the locations we mentioned above.