Swell Cabin › Pacific Islands › United States

Hanalei surf guide

Lush Kauai bay with a long, powerful right reef, a beginner-friendly inside section and green mountains all around.

Location
Kauai, Hawaii, United States (22.2040, -159.4970)
Best season
Oct – Mar: October, November, December, January, February, March
Water temperature
24–27°C (boardshorts)
Waves
Reef break, Beach break
Suits
Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced surfers

Surf spots in Hanalei

What's on in Hanalei

Hanalei is a tiny, quiet village on Kauai's North Shore: evenings are sunsets on the bay and dinner, and nights end early. No current fixed weekly nights or upcoming events could be confirmed online; check locally.

Updated 2026-11-05.

Where to stay in Hanalei

78 places to stay within 10 km: 37 holiday rental, 24 hotel, 6 resort, 3 camp site, 2 surf camp, 2 villa, 2 bed and breakfast, 1 motel, 1 chalet. Compare them by distance to the nearest surf spot on the interactive map.

Surf camps: Hanalei Beach Boys Surf Shack, The surfshack Kauai.

Cafés, food and surf shops

8 cafés and bakeries, 63 restaurants and bars, 4 surf schools and 8 surf shops nearby. Surf schools: Aloha Surfing School, Titus Kinimaka's Hawaiian School Of Surfing, Hanalei Surf School, Sunrise Surf Lessons.

Frequently asked questions

When is the best time to surf in Hanalei?

The best surf season in Hanalei is Oct – Mar (October, November, December, January, February, March). The sea ranges from 24°C to 27°C over the year.

Which months have the most good surf days in Hanalei?

Measured over the last three years (2023-11-01 to 2026-10-31), the waves at Hanalei's best spot were good or better most often in January (87% of days, 68% great), December (84% of days, 68% great) and November (67% of days, 44% great), and least often in July (0%). From each day's swell and wind (Open-Meteo), rated like Swell Cabin's forecast.

Do I need a wetsuit in Hanalei?

Water temperature in Hanalei is 24–27°C: boardshorts.

Is Hanalei good for beginner surfers?

Yes. Hanalei suits beginner, intermediate and advanced surfers.

What are the surf spots in Hanalei?

Hanalei has 1 surf spots on Swell Cabin: Hanalei Bay (Reef break, right-hander, advanced surfers, faces W (offshore wind from the E), best at low to mid tide).

Where should surfers stay in Hanalei?

Swell Cabin lists 78 places to stay within 10 km of Hanalei, including 2 surf camps such as Hanalei Beach Boys Surf Shack and The surfshack Kauai, 39 rentals and villas. Each one shows its distance to the nearest surf spot.

What is the nightlife like in Hanalei?

Hanalei is a tiny, quiet village on Kauai's North Shore: evenings are sunsets on the bay and dinner, and nights end early. No current fixed weekly nights or upcoming events could be confirmed online; check locally.

What is the surf forecast for Hanalei this week?

Swell Cabin shows a live 7-day surf forecast for Hanalei and each of its 1 surf spots on https://swellcabin.com/town/hanalei: each spot rated hour by hour (Flat, Poor, Fair, Good, Great or Epic) from the way its coast faces, the swell, its period, the wind and the tide, with the best time each day and why, the size in surfers' words (e.g. "chest to head high, clean"), tides, and how sure the forecast is (three wave models compared). It is checked live against the nearest buoy and airport wind reports where there are any, and refreshed every few hours (waves from Open-Meteo, wind from MET Norway).

When is the best tide to surf in Hanalei?

It depends on the spot: shallow reefs usually want mid to high tide, most beach breaks work best around mid tide. Swell Cabin's forecast for Hanalei weighs each spot's tide hour by hour and shows the best window each day with the high and low tide times, predicted from the Hanalei Bay tide gauge (1 km away).

Is the Hanalei surf forecast checked against measurements?

Yes. The open water off Hanalei is checked against the satellite altimeters (Copernicus Marine's near-real-time wave heights): 57 satellite passes within 100 km since 2026-09-24, typically 57 km out, put the forecast wave height within 20% of the measurement 100% of the time. Of the three wave models compared, Météo-France has been the closest to the satellites here. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information (https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00179). Last checked 2026-11-05.

How reliable is Swell Cabin's information about Hanalei?

Trust in this page's data is medium (55/100): the town has not been verified against sources in the last 12 months; 0 of 1 spots fully verified, 1 with a researched tide; season and water temperature checked against measured data; no open audit warnings. How we check: https://github.com/danielgalam/swellcabin/blob/main/docs/data-accuracy.md Last checked against sources on 2026-11-05. Every value comes from measured data (Open-Meteo, buoys), open databases (OpenStreetMap, Wikidata) or a published page we opened, never from visitor reports; a daily audit compares them and a weekly evaluation measures the error rate (https://github.com/danielgalam/swellcabin/blob/main/docs/data-quality.md).

Is there a live surf cam in Hanalei?

Swell Cabin hasn't found a live surf cam it could check in Hanalei yet (it only lists cams it has opened); the surf forecast on its page shows the waves this week.

Where can I take surf lessons in Hanalei?

Surf schools in and around Hanalei include Aloha Surfing School, Titus Kinimaka's Hawaiian School Of Surfing, Hanalei Surf School and Sunrise Surf Lessons.

Nearby surf towns

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