Posted on January 17, 2013 // 0 Comments

Travel and Leisure’s best secluded beach survey voted Polihale beach on Kauai as it’s number one favorite. It truly is a beautiful 7 mile stretch of beach that ends at the beginning of the Na Pali coast cliffs, but there are a couple of things that we would like to expand upon.

One of the factors to take under consideration is that it is a 5 mile dirt road recommended for 4 wheel drive only, and most if not all rental car companies have you sign off that you will not drive this road. At times the road is in better shape and the potholes won’t swallow your car, but we have seen a number of tourists bogged down in the sandy conditions near the beach, especially near Queen’s Pond.

Kudos to Travel and Leisure for not recommending surfing or snorkeling due to strong currents. It is an unprotected shore break, the rip currents can be quite strong depending on the ocean conditions, and there are no lifeguards present. They do mention Queen’s Pond as a good swimming spot. It can be – if you can find it as there are no signs, and if it isn’t filled with sand. Changing surf conditions move sand around, and there have been times that Queen’s Pond is completely filled in.

Although there can be times that ocean conditions are good, we feel that due to Polihale’s extreme distance from any help and the number of drownings that have occurred here, that it’s best to enjoy Polihale by taking a nice long walk on the beach, and saving a dip in the ocean for beaches better protected and suited for water activities.

Category : Blog