United States / Hawaii
Kaanapali Beach
Kaanapali Beach is a 2.2 km-long beach facing west-south-west, 1.2 km south of Kā‘anapali (Hawaii, United States). The sea averages 26.8 °C in September, its warmest month, and 24.1 °C in February; it stays at 21 °C or above all year.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Kaanapali Beach
Beach-day index 8.8/10 · United States median 4.5
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 24.5 °C | 24.1 °C | 24.1 °C | 24.4 °C | 25.0 °C | 25.6 °C | 26.0 °C | 26.5 °C | 26.8 °C | 26.7 °C | 26.1 °C | 25.2 °C |
| High °C | 23° | 23° | 23° | 24° | 24° | 25° | 26° | 26° | 26° | 26° | 25° | 24° |
| Low °C | 22° | 21° | 21° | 22° | 23° | 23° | 24° | 24° | 24° | 24° | 23° | 22° |
| Rain mm | 61 | 63 | 83 | 47 | 37 | 28 | 32 | 40 | 38 | 55 | 64 | 71 |
| Cloud % | 42 | 47 | 53 | 48 | 41 | 41 | 40 | 36 | 39 | 46 | 48 | 46 |
| Wind m/s | 5.6 | 6.0 | 6.1 | 6.8 | 6.3 | 7.1 | 7.2 | 7.1 | 6.4 | 6.1 | 6.3 | 6.3 |
| Daylight h | 11.0 | 11.5 | 12.0 | 12.6 | 13.1 | 13.4 | 13.3 | 12.9 | 12.3 | 11.7 | 11.2 | 10.9 |
| Record high/low | 26°/18° | 26°/18° | 26°/18° | 26°/19° | 27°/20° | 27°/22° | 28°/22° | 28°/22° | 29°/22° | 29°/22° | 28°/21° | 26°/20° |
| Beach index | 8.1 | 7.8 | 7.6 | 8.1 | 8.6 | 8.8 | 8.8 | 8.8 | 8.9 | 8.8 | 8.6 | 8.1 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in May–November; September scores 8.9/10 with highs of 26 °C, sea at 26.8 °C and 38 mm of rain.
In September that is 1.5 points above the median of the 2,466 beaches in United States covered by this atlas.
At its warmest the water here is 5.9 °C warmer than the United States median for September (20.9 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 25.4 °C, warmer than 78% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
March is the wettest month (83 mm) and June the driest (28 mm); the yearly total is about 620 mm.
Daylight runs from 10.9 hours in December to 13.4 hours in June; in mid-September the sun rises at 06:13 and sets at 18:30 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces west-south-west (255°). Open water fills about 44% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
The sun sets over the sea in every month; in mid-June it goes down at 19:08 local time on a bearing of 295°.
The opposite shore is only about 12.0 km away to the west-south-west, which keeps the water sheltered from big waves. The beach is on an island of about 1,894 km².
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 26 m deep and 47 m at 3 km. Behind the beach the ground is about 25 m above sea level 500 m inland and 105 m at 1.5 km.
Within 1 km, the land is 57% grassland, 21% built-up land and 20% tree cover (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a partly built-up setting. Water makes up 37% of that circle.
- Grass 57%
- Built 21%
- Tree 20%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
Average wind speed at 10 m reaches 7.2 m/s in July, the windiest month.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Photos
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 66Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 4Public toilets
- –Showers
- 2Drinking water
- 16Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 35Hotels & guesthouses
- 1Grocery shops
- 4Water-sports spots
- 2Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 2Cash machines
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 50 restaurants, 7 cafés, 7 bars and 2 fast-food outlets. Accommodation: 35 hotels and guesthouses.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Around the beach
Attractions & museums
- Hawaii Wildlife Discovery Center museum 470 m NE
- Penguins At The Hyatt attraction 730 m SE
- Maui Ocean Center attraction 750 m SE
Nature
- Haleakala National Park nature reserve 750 m SE
- Puʻu Kekaʻa peak 1.0 km N
Diving & boat hire
- Jet Ski Maui 370 m N
- Maui Surf lessons Pro 460 m N
- Wake Maui 550 m NE
- Pacific Jet Sports, Inc. 550 m NE
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kapalua Airport Lahaina | JHM | 5.4 km | north |
| Kahului International Airport Kahului | OGG | 27.2 km | east |
| Lanai Airport Lanai City | LNY | 30.6 km | south-west |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 2 bus stops within 1.5 km, rail station Sugar Cane Train Kaanapali Station (1.2 km) and 16 mapped car parks within 1 km.
4 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 22K residents); within 30 km there are 11 (about 88.5K).
Map
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Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 8.5 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w155871587; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2B_4QGJ_20250228_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 40.5K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.