Cleanest Hawaii Beaches Right Now

Hawaii DOH’s September 2024 Beach Monitoring Program document lists approximately 407 BEACH Act beaches statewide and reports that approximately 167 were monitored in 2023; frequency varies by tier and resources, and Molokaʻi/Lānaʻi are not routinely monitored. Surfrider Foundation's volunteer Blue Water Task Force extends official coverage, with some overlap. Below are the worst recent BWTF readings within Hawaii's coverage:

How This Ranking Is Calculated

Every Hawaii Department of Health advisory is a public record — Beach Advisories are issued when bacteria levels at a monitoring station exceed the EPA recreational threshold of 130 CFU/100 mL enterococcus, and Brown Water Advisories are issued when storm runoff makes coastal water visibly turbid.

We count the number of days each beach has been under any DOH advisory in the last 30 days. Fewer days under advisory means a higher rank. When a DOH advisory is island-wide (“Brown Water Advisory, Island of Hawaii”), every monitored beach on that island is counted as under advisory for those days. When an advisory is station-specific, only the matching beach is counted.

The ranking measures water quality exposure only — days under advisory. It is not a complete swim decision. A beach can rank high here but still have strong currents, shore break, rip currents, or no lifeguards. Always check the individual beach page for physical-hazard information and live DOH status before you swim.

The leader can change with the recorded advisory window

The table compares recorded advisory days among tracked Hawaii beaches. The leader can change as the rolling 30-day window changes. An advisory-free day means no matching advisory was recorded; it is not a bacteria test or proof of clean water.

Check current DOH notices, posted signs and local conditions before entering the water. Historical rankings do not override an active advisory.

Related beach histories and guides: Wailea, Makena, Haleiwa, Sunset, Hanalei.

Data Sources

This ranking is built from:

• Hawaii DOH Clean Water Branch public API — Beach Advisory and Brown Water Advisory events, including bacteria Count values when an advisory is issued.
• DOH station registry — the official list of monitoring stations, mapped to each beach page.
• EPA Recreational Water Quality Criteria — the 130 CFU/100 mL enterococcus threshold referenced throughout.

Every beach in this ranking has its own page with the 30-day daily-bar chart showing exactly which days were under which kind of advisory, plus live DOH status. Click the beach name to see its full history.

Which Hawaii beach has the cleanest water right now?

Ho'okipa Beach Park is the top-ranked tracked beach in this table, with 20/30 days advisory-free. This compares recorded advisory days among tracked beaches; it does not establish current water quality or explain the causes of a beach’s advisory history.

Does ’cleanest’ mean you should swim?

No. This ranking compares days under posted Hawaii DOH advisories in a tracked sample; it does not directly measure all bacteria conditions or swimming safety. A beach can rank high here but still have physical hazards like strong currents, shore break, rip currents, or no lifeguards. Always check current DOH advisories and local surf/current conditions before entering the water.

Why are some Hawaii beaches almost always under advisory?

The count reflects each notice’s stated scope, including sheltered locations; it is not a separate water measurement at each beach. A long-running advisory can affect many days in this window. Check the underlying notices and their dates rather than inferring the cause or current water quality from the count.

How often is this ranking updated?

The ranking refreshes daily from the Hawaii Department of Health Clean Water Branch public API. The 30-day window is a rolling window that ends at the current date, so tomorrow's ranking will drop today's oldest day and add tomorrow as the newest. Last updated: 2026-09-14.