Family Friendly Beach Days at Napili Bay

Maui’s Napili Bay is a Tropical Beach Paradise

During our stay at the Westin Maui Resort, my family and I were looking for a nice beach that offered calmer surf and maybe had some other family activity close by. I luckily found Napili Bay which was very close to The Gazebo Restaurant. Since we had planned on dining at the Gazebo restaurant anyway during our vacation, we decided to hit up the beach at Napili Bay and stop by the restaurant for breakfast.

The tidal rocks, tide pools of Napili Bay with a view of Moloka’i in the distance. | Photo by FamilyVacationHub

The crescent shaped Napili Bay is located in the northwest portion of the island of Maui was a short 15 minute drive from Kaanapali and Lahaina. We stopped off at the The Gazebo Restaurant inside the Outrigger Napili Shores Resort for an early breakfast and then made the very short walk to Napili Bay. We started off on the south side of the bay which has tidal rocks and tide pools. This was a fun area of Napili Bay to spend some time and explore with our daughter. The area had calm waters as the coral reef and rocks slowed the surf from coming toward the shore and leaving us the tide pools. During our visit it was a bit windy, so my guess is that a on a calmer wind day there would have been even calmer waters. We walked along the tidal rocks, explored the tide pools and had a great view of the entire bay.

A view of the beautiful Napili Bay seen from the tidal rocks on the south end. | Photo by Family VacationHub

We then walked along the shore to get to the main beach portion of Napili Bay. Unlike some of the other beaches along the Lahaina and Kaanapali shore, Napili Bay is not lined with touristy shops, restaurants or rental places. Since it is surrounded by small resorts, condos and a golf course it is more remote than others that have major resorts and shops in the nearby surrounding area. The beach has nice soft sand and beautifully clear waters. The surf was pretty gentle to playful at times which allowed us to go out and play and swim without a problem.

All in all, it was a great family day at a beautiful Maui beach without all of the crowds, boats and touristy beach stuff. Napili Bay is great for swimming, boogie boards, snorkeling and we saw a few folks paddle boarding around as well. Although we didn’t see one, we hear that sea turtles can swim close to the shore. If your family is looking for a beautiful Hawaiian tropical beach that has calm and clear waters for swimming, Napili Bay will fit the bill.