Sunset beaches in Hawaii

20 Hawaii beaches where the sun goes down over the water, worked out from each shoreline's orientation and the sun's position month by month.

Of the 180 Hawaii beaches with a page here, 62 face the sunset in every month of the year and another 49 manage it for part of the year; the top 20 are ranked below. The seasonal ones exist because the point where the sun goes down swings about 50° along the horizon between the December and June solstices, which is enough to move it off the water at a beach that only just faces the right way. A further 32 beaches are left out entirely: their shoreline is too curved or too broken for us to state which way they look, and we would rather say nothing than guess.

This is geometry, not opinion. For each beach we know which way the shoreline looks, and we compute where on the horizon the sun sets in every month of the year. A beach makes this list when the setting sun falls inside its seaward arc — the sun actually goes down over the water rather than behind the land. Beaches that manage it in all twelve months rank first. One caveat we can't compute away: a headland, an offshore island or high ground can hide the last few degrees, and the maths doesn't see the skyline.

Best-equippedFamilyEasy parking
  1. 1Kamaole I BeachMaui

    sun sets over the water year-roundlatest sunset 7:10pm in Julyfaces westparking 27m from the sandtoilets 18mshowers

  2. 2Sunset BeachOahu

    sun sets over the water year-roundlatest sunset 7:18pm in Julyfaces north-westparking 65m from the sandtoilets 79mshowers

  3. 3Kamaole II BeachMaui

    sun sets over the water year-roundlatest sunset 7:10pm in Julyfaces westparking 37m from the sandtoilets 13mshowers

  4. 4Kamaole III BeachMaui

    sun sets over the water year-roundlatest sunset 7:10pm in Julyfaces westparking 77m from the sandtoilets 57mshowers

  5. 5Hapuna BeachHawaii (Big Island)

    sun sets over the water year-roundlatest sunset 7:06pm in Julyfaces westparking 46m from the sandtoilets 42mshowers

  6. 6Napili BeachMaui

    sun sets over the water year-roundlatest sunset 7:11pm in Julyfaces north-westparking 41m from the sandtoilets 5mshowers

  7. 7Kapalua BeachMaui

    sun sets over the water year-roundlatest sunset 7:11pm in Julyfaces westparking 65m from the sandtoilets 38mshowers

  8. 8Ka'anapali BeachMaui

    sun sets over the water year-roundlatest sunset 7:11pm in Julyfaces westparking 60m from the sandshowersBBQ

  9. 9Kahekili BeachMaui

    sun sets over the water year-roundlatest sunset 7:11pm in Julyfaces westparking 63m from the sandtoilets 46mshowers

  10. 10Keka'a BeachMaui

    sun sets over the water year-roundlatest sunset 7:11pm in Julyfaces westparking 114m from the sandtoilets 102m12 places to eat within 1km

  11. 11Wailea BeachMaui

    sun sets over the water year-roundlatest sunset 7:10pm in Julyfaces westparking 108m from the sandtoilets 66mshowers

  12. 12Mokapu BeachMaui

    sun sets over the water year-roundlatest sunset 7:10pm in Julyfaces westparking 126m from the sandtoilets 61mshowers

  13. 13Papohaku BeachMolokai

    sun sets over the water year-roundlatest sunset 7:14pm in Julyfaces north-westparking 106m from the sandtoilets 159mshowers

  14. 14Keawakapu Beach SouthMaui

    sun sets over the water year-roundlatest sunset 7:10pm in Julyfaces westparking 43m from the sandshowersdrinking water

  15. 15Polo BeachMaui

    sun sets over the water year-roundlatest sunset 7:10pm in Julyfaces westparking 111m from the sandtoilets 41mshowers

  16. 16Ulua BeachMaui

    sun sets over the water year-roundlatest sunset 7:10pm in Julyfaces westparking 79m from the sandtoilets 41mshowers

  17. 17Kahe PointOahu

    sun sets over the water year-roundlatest sunset 7:18pm in Julyfaces westparking 109m from the sandtoilets 14mshowers

  18. 18Honokowai Beach ParkMaui

    sun sets over the water year-roundlatest sunset 7:11pm in Julyfaces westparking 67m from the sandtoilets 41m12 places to eat within 1km

  19. 19Honl's BeachHawaii (Big Island)

    sun sets over the water year-roundlatest sunset 7:06pm in Julyfaces westparking 39m from the sandtoilets 17mshowers

  20. 20Polihale BeachKauai

    sun sets over the water year-roundlatest sunset 7:26pm in Julyfaces north-westparking 73m from the sandtoilets 78mshowers

Facilities, parking and shoreline data come from OpenStreetMap, and a beach can only be ranked on what somebody has mapped — "not mapped" is not the same as "not there". Distances are measured to the nearest point of the beach itself.