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Hawaii Water Quality — August 17, 2026

New advisory posted at Waimea Bay — and what it means for the rest of Oʻahu

BIG ISLAND
-43pp worsening (57% of days without an island advisory)
MAUI
+21pp improving (86% of days without an island advisory)
OʻAHU
+14pp improving (14% of days without an island advisory)
KAUAʻI
Mostly advisory-affected, stable (0% of days without an island advisory)

New DOH advisory activity in the last 24 hours affected 18 tracked beaches: Ala Moana Beach Park, Anini Beach, Banzai Pipeline, Brennecke Beach, Haleiwa Beach Park, Hanalei Bay, Hanauma Bay, Kailua Beach Park, Kalapaki Beach, Ko Olina Lagoons, Lanikai Beach, Lydgate Beach, Makaha Beach, Sandy Beach, Sunset Beach, Tunnels Beach (Makua), Turtle Bay Beach, Waimea Bay. Check the linked beach page for the specific advisory type and live DOH status.

If you have a trip scheduled at an affected beach in the next 72 hours, consider the reef-protected alternatives in our where-to-swim-during-BWA guide. The 72-hour rule applies once the rain stops.

Where the islands stand today

Big Island

worsening

Big Island is worsening over the last 14 days (-43pp vs. the prior two weeks). All 7 of our tracked beaches on the island recorded one or more advisory days in that 30-day history window. NOAA's 7-day forecast is mild — scattered showers possible but unlikely to drive new advisories. See the Big Island leaderboard for the beach-by-beach ranking.

Maui

improving

Maui is improving over the last 14 days (+21pp vs. the prior two weeks). 6 of our 6 tracked beaches on the island recorded one or more advisory days in that 30-day history window. NOAA's 7-day forecast is mild — scattered showers possible but unlikely to drive new advisories. See the Maui leaderboard for the beach-by-beach ranking.

Oʻahu

improving

Oʻahu is improving over the last 14 days (+14pp vs. the prior two weeks). 12 of our 12 tracked beaches on the island recorded one or more advisory days in that 30-day history window. NOAA's 7-day forecast is mild — scattered showers possible but unlikely to drive new advisories. See the Oʻahu leaderboard for the beach-by-beach ranking.

Kauaʻi

mostly advisory-affected

Kauaʻi has remained mostly advisory-affected across both 14-day island-wide advisory-day windows (0% of days had no DOH advisory anywhere on the island in the latest window). All 6 of our tracked beaches on the island recorded one or more advisory days in that 30-day history window. NOAA's 7-day forecast is wet (peak 73% chance of rain) — expect the pattern to shift toward more advisories. See the Kauaʻi leaderboard for the beach-by-beach ranking.

NOAA 7-day forecast, per island tourist coast
  • Kohala Coast, Big Island: mild (max 42% chance of rain across next 7 days)
  • South Maui (Wailea / Kihei): mild (max 28% chance of rain across next 7 days)
  • South Shore O’ahu (Honolulu / Waikiki): mild (max 37% chance of rain across next 7 days)
  • Po’ipu, Kaua’i: wet (max 73% chance of rain across next 7 days)

For the always-live per-island outlook, see our Hawaii Water Quality Forecast, which regenerates daily from NOAA + DOH data.

Get the Daily Hawaii Water Quality Report

New report every day: trend per island, NOAA forecast, and 30-day advisory-free leaders and most advisory-affected tracked beaches. Free — unsubscribe anytime.

Methodology: The island trend uses Hawaii DOH island-wide advisory-day history where available: a day counts as advisory-free only when no DOH advisory was recorded anywhere on that island. If island history is unavailable, the generator labels its tracked-beach-fraction fallback explicitly. The separate beach list summarizes 31 tracked beach histories. Forecast data comes from NOAA National Weather Service (api.weather.gov) at each island's primary tourist coast. This report is not a swim recommendation; always check the individual beach page and current local conditions before entering the water.