Going to the beach – it’s what you do in Hawai’i. Whether you were born and raised here, are a transplant, or just visiting, going to the beach is how most people spend their free time. And why not? The beaches here are gorgeous, with clear blue water topped with just as blue skies, warm, inviting water, wonderful cooling breezes, large expanses of sand where you can relax, and a horizon view without compare.
As an inveterate people water though, I’ve been fascinated by what people bring with them to the beach, or in some cases, don’t bring.
Some people come with nothing more than a towel (and some don’t even bring that – they just sit in the sand). Others step it up a bit and bring along a towel and a chair, maybe a book. And of course surfers bring their boards, but they’re not up on the beach all that much. They come to the beach to surf, not sunbathe, so you rarely catch them and their boards up on the sand.
Brett and I always joke that we look like tourists when we arrive at the beach: we’ve each got our arms full with two chairs, beach towels, a beach mat for Brett to lay out on, an umbrella, and a big insulated bag with drinks and snacks. We also bring our phones and Kindles, loads of SPF70 sunscreen, and if the girls are along we may bring the boogie board or one of our tube floats. I absolutely have to have the umbrella – I don’t tan, and my fair skin can not be out in the direct sunlight for more than a few moments. We usually see a few other umbrellas up and down the beach, but there aren’t as many as you might expect.
My good friend Joy and her husband Les live up on the north shore, and within walking distance of Anini Beach. Anini has a shallower stretch of sand than Kealia Beach, where we usually go, and has trees where Les can hang a hammock. They also sometimes pitch a tent to protect themselves from the wind. Joy doesn’t mess around when it comes to her beach chair – she keeps it simple with a lightweight folding chaise longue so she can stretch out and relax. As the water at Anini is inside a protected reef, Joy and Les also keep a kayak in the back of their truck, and often bring that down to the beach so they can paddle around and check out the sea life, which often includes giant sea turtles.
Locals often kick it up several notches when they go to the beach. They don’t just drop by for a couple of hours, they set up housekeeping! Cars are parked at the very end of the parking area, or even right on the beach, so they can tailgate. Especially on the weekends you can often see several large 10′ x 10′ shade canopies set up in a row on the beach, covering folding tables with cookers, coolers, chairs and other accoutrement needed for a long day’s stay where extended families and friends gather. When the sun goes down, the tents go down as well and bonfires are lit. It’s very impressive!
I’ve heard a few times of people’s things being stolen at the beach, especially when they leave their gear on the sand and head down into the water, but I’ve personally never seen it happen, or even seen strangers go near someone else’s stuff. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but I haven’t seen it here. I know cars get broken into, but that’s when people leave expensive items or luggage in full view in their cars, marking them immediately at tourists. A little care goes a long way.
I sometimes wonder if anyone has ever done an anthropological study of what people bring with them to the beach here. I personally find it fascinating, how some can do with so little and others bring so much. It just goes to show there’s no “right way” or “cool way” to do the beach in Hawai’i. It’s there for anyone to enjoy, however they want.
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The Occasional Nomads 
Nice post!! We got to the beach the other day. We saw one tourist couple from the Westin. (their tell-tale Westin bags over their shoulders) The rest were locals and not many of them either. Maybe we’re going into low season, if there is such a thing anymore?
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We’ve practically had the beach to ourselves the last few times we’ve gone – Kealia was packed over Labor Day weekend, but it’s so empty now. There are always visitors here year-round of course, but it seems the amount has grown every summer we’ve been here. I remember when we lived in Key West, at first you could tell the “seasons,” but the second year the tourists arrived and never left, and just like that “low season” disappeared. Maybe it will be the same here, but so far it’s still noticeable when there are fewer visitors.
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The usual beach set-up here is exactly the same as yours – except we can only go TWO MONTHS a year!! Surprised to see the tailgating – there is only one beach in our entire province that allows vehicles on the sand. Environment 😦 This year I saw some sand chairs with coolers built into the backs – clever.
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Later I thought, oh, maybe the drive-on beaches are the ones with lava rock?
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We don’t have any lava beaches on Kaua’i, just sand. I’m not sure how some of the cars we see get on and off the sand – our car couldn’t do it!
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Our beach chairs have backpack straps! We’ve never used them, but technically we could free up our hands to carry MORE stuff to the beach! There’s also a roomy pouch on the back (not insulated) for more stuff.
Cars here drive right onto the beach in some places. At our favorite beach the parking area is close enough at the end where cars can park and be convenient for tailgating. On some beaches cars driving on the sand have become a nuisance to some, but thankfully it’s not possible to get a car down to most of the beaches on the island.
We are blessed to have good, year-round beach weather, but it comes with a price: heat and humidity during the summer, lots of bugs, etc.
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