Yesterday we returned to Hapuna Beach for a second visit. It’s a long drive from our Kailua-Kona condo, but worth it. It may be the best swimming beach I’ve ever visited.

I don’t have many pictures of it because I didn’t take any electronics to the beach this time. The sand is very fine, sugary and white – perfect for ruining lenses and any device with moving parts. Turns out Hapuna’s white sand is imported from Australia – the entire beach is a man-made playground. Someone (probably the Westin, or perhaps the HI state park system) spent a lot to create the perfect flat sandy beach. It’s a half mile wide with about 200 feet of exposed sandy beach, plus hundreds of feet of sand underwater. You can see the beach in real time via this webcam at the Westin.

There are a lot of 3-4 foot shore-breaking waves as you enter the water, with the occasional 6-7 foot breaker as you move out. But after you get past the shore break zone (about 100 yards out), the water is 10+ feet deep and pretty calm. Just floating and relaxing in the very clear water is the best.

One other feature I like about Hapuna – it’s not crowded. A similar beach in Socal would be packed shoulder-to-shoulder. But our two visits to Hapuna had a pleasantly low crowd size, even on Memorial Day weekend (see photo above).

All in, whoever in the media decided that Hapuna is the #1 beach in America got it right. I’m a fan.