Kāʻanapali BeachWest Maui, HI

Visibility is an estimate — wind, rain, tide & water alerts.

Getting in

Shore access, walk in off the sand

Depth

8 to 32 ft

Who it suits

Suits beginners

Snorkeling

Snorkelable from the beach

Best conditions

Calmest roughly May through September; winter brings more surf and chop. Go early, since the wind typically picks up by about 11 a.m. and the crowd builds from mid-morning. Check the current at the point before swimming around it. One Maui dive shop writes that the reef here has suffered a decade of depredation and the sea life has dwindled; the shop itself now dives here only in certain situations.

Parking

Free county lots at both ends: Hanakaʻōʻō Beach Park to the south, off Honoapiʻilani Highway near mile marker 23.4, and Kahekili Beach Park to the north, off Kai Ala Drive near mile marker 25.1. Free resort public-access stalls along the middle stretch (196 stalls across seven properties, per the parking guide that tracks them) fill by 8 to 9 a.m. The Kāʻanapali Beach public-access trail, between the Sheraton Maui and the Outrigger, reaches the sand closest to Black Rock itself. Paid parking is available in the Whalers Village garage when the free lots are full.

On site

restrooms, rinse showers, parking lot

Watch for

Current around Puʻu Kekaʻa (Black Rock) itself: multiple dive and snorkel operators warn it runs along the point and can pull a swimmer out past it, and advise staying inside the point in rough water, The state Department of Health's drowning report names Kāʻanapali/Puʻu Kekaʻa ("Black Rock") as one of Maui County's documented ocean-drowning hot spots. Maui County as a whole recorded 221 ocean drowning deaths from 2013 to 2022, and 69% of the victims were visitors, No lifeguard tower at Black Rock itself. Maui's ocean safety bureau chief has named it a target area for one; the nearest county lifeguard covers Hanakaʻōʻō Beach Park to the south, Cliff jumping from the rock is a popular but unofficial visitor activity

Checked 2026-08-27. Sources: Maui Now: Maui County ocean-drowning hot spots and Department of Health data, Hawaii DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources: Marine Life Conservation Districts, Auntie Snorkel: Kaanapali Beach and Black Rock Beach Guide, Hawaii Guide: Black Rock (Puʻu Kekaʻa), Hawaii Snorkeling Guide: Kaanapali Beach, In2 Scuba Diving Maui: Black Rock shore dive, Maui Guidebook: Black Rock Beach, Zentacle: Black Rock dive site, KaanapaliBeach.net: parking guide, ABC13 Houston: past winners of Dr. Beach's best beach in the US, Maui Now: Kāʻanapali Beach ranked best beach in the US by Tripadvisor.