Mau'umae Beach on The Big Island of Hawaii
Blog Post - Nov 11, 2023
Mau'umae Beach is a beautiful remote beach with great snorkeling.
This beach is located on the northwest side of the Big Island of Hawaii.
There are 2 ways to get to this beach. You can drive or you can hike.
We decided to drive by going to the gate at the Mauna Kea Resort and to request a pass. Unfortunately, there is very limited parking and all the spaces were taken. That's when we decided that we would do the hike instead.
We drove up to Spencer Beach Park and parked in the southernmost parking lot for this hike.
From Spencer Beach Park it is a 1 mile out and back hike.
So 1/2 mile there and 1/2 mile back.
As you start the hike, you will walk towards the big pavilion and right before you get to the big pavilion you will go left and that's where the trail starts.
We hiked this trail in our flip flops and did fine.
The trail is wide and easy to follow. You can see on the map below that it follows the coastline.
You'll know you're close when you see this small little beach. If it's really hot, this is a great spot to get in and cool off. From there you continue on the trail.
This aerial view shows how close your are to reaching Mau'umae Beach.
As we reachedĀ Mau'umae Beach, the trail turns down right to the beach. These views are so beautiful.
After exploring and hanging out on the beach, we decided to get in and go snorkeling. We got in by this big rock formation and snorkeled heading north.
After snorkeling, we got out and enjoyed the beach for a while longer. Then we did the 1/2 mile hike back to Spencer Beach Park.
In hindsight, we are so glad that the parking was full and did the 1 mile out and back hike. We really enjoyed the hike and Mau'umae Beach was amazing.
We highly recommend visiting this beach on your next trip to the Big Island of Hawaii.
MAPS:
Mau'umae BeachĀ Map, Big Island Hawaii:
(Click on the map above to go to a Google Maps larger view.)
PRICING:
Mau'umae BeachĀ on the Big Island of HawaiiĀ is free to visit.
Total Cost: $0
Ā
CHECKLIST:
These are the checklist items I recommend:
- Bring your own snorkel gear.
- Bring some drinks and snacks.
- Bring reef safe sunscreen.
