I just got back from a 5 day trip to Kauai and I thought I would share what I found in terms of skimboarding.  Kauai is a beautiful place and I would definitely recommend going there but if skimboarding is your primary goal, I think Maui or Oahu would be better choices.

Lumahai   Recommended  - This is a nice steep beach break located on the north side of the island.  The waves here break big and right on the shore.  I could see this place getting really really good for skimboarding.  Unfortunately, when I was there the sand was really soft (up to my knees at times) which made it impossible to run.  I am informed that the beach is often like this however it does sometimes firm up.  So if there is a north swell running this would be a good place to check out.  Spring time would probably be best (harder sand and small north swells)

Traveling west on Rt. 56 you will pass through the town of Hanalei.  After passing through town the road goes up alongside a cliff where there are a number of turnouts.  At the last one of these turnouts you can pull over and check out the beach.  After the last turnout, the road goes back down the cliff and follows a large beach (which is Lumahai) with trees on the right side of the road.  Just before a bridge there is a turnout where you can park your car.  There is a river and rocks on the west end of the beach.  Be careful, the waves at this place are for real.

Shipwreck Beach - Shipwrecks, on the south side, had the best waves while I was on vacation in Kauai.  This beach however was very hard to ride due to the bowling ball sized boulders scattered around the water line and there was a rock shelf just beyond the water line.  The waves would actually jack up along this rock shelf so in order to ride them I had to ride out over the rock shelf, bank off the wave, and then ride back to shore hopping not to hit one of the boulders on the sand.  In other words, you could very easily hurt yourself or your board here if you don't know what you are doing.  High tide would be best.

Shipwrecks is right next to the Hyatt Hotel.  From Lihue take the 50 west toward Poipu.  Take the 520 south.  You will reach a Y intersection where one road leads to Poipu and the other leads to a blowhole (spouting horn I think it called).  Take the road on the left (toward Poipu).  Continue on this road until you pass the Hyatt Hotel on your right.  Turn right on the next road called Ainako St. and it will take you to the parking lot.

The Napali Coast - Not surprisingly, the area offering the best potential for skimboarding on Kauai is the least accessible.  And when I say not accessible, I mean it.  In fact the only way to reach most of these beaches is by helicopter or by boat.  The waves here come out of deep water and break in small coves (for the most part) with sandy beaches.  Like Lumahai, the beaches on the Napali coast suffer the same problem with loose sand (according to locals) and because of this, spring time is probably your best bet to try these beaches out.

Assuming that you do not have access to a helicopter or boat, if you want to skim anywhere in this area, you are going to have to hike.  I did a hike to Hanakapi beach via a trail at the end of route 56 on the north side of the island.  It was a 2 mile hike each way and it was very mountainous and muddy.  The beach could definitely get good for both skimboarding and surfing.  This trail goes 11 miles into the Napali coast and goes to a few more beaches, however, going much further would probably warrant an overnight stay if you are planning on skimming.  Also, there are probably other trails that lead to the coast from Waimea canyon that I am not aware of.

Polihale National Park - This long stretch of beach offers some skimboarding potential.  It wasn't good (no swell) when I was there, but I could easily see it getting good.  High tide would probably be best.  Because this beach is located on the west coast, it will require a NW, W or SW swell.  It may work on a strong South swell too.

From Lihue take Rt. 50 west all the way to where it ends on the west coast.  There is then a dirt road through sugar cane fields with signs directing you to the beach.  The beach is lined with sand dunes which you can climb over at various points.  Just check it out and see where its good.

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Submitted by Aaron Peluso webmaster@skimonline.com