queen’s bath

On the way back through Princeville one day, we decided to stop off at the Queen’s Bath. My sister had heard of it from some of her local friends, and wanted to check it out, so we found our way over there.

Queen’s Bath is on the northeast coast of Kauai. There is a little parking lot designated for parking, but don’t park anywhere else or your car will get towed.

It’s about a ten minute scramble down to the ocean from the parking lot, I can’t really call it a hike? But there are stairs and a dirt path that takes you down there.

Once you get down to the lava rocks, turn left, and keep walking. It’s further than you think it’s going to be, and if you don’t see anyone else coming back you will probably think you are lost, but you aren’t.

Queen’s Bath is a big, rounded pool that is surrounded by rocks on all sides, and sits right against the ocean. Depending on whether you are there during high or low tide, or summer or winter, it can be varying levels of dangerous to swim there, but they dissuade people from swimming because there have been so many drownings.

When a wave set starts rolling in, they break directly on the rocks surrounding the pool, and then there is a little break in the rocks that forms a tunnel, the water from the wave gets sucked back out to sea, and if there are any swimmers in there who are inexperienced or unprepared, they often get sucked out as well.

If you are going to go in (my sister did, I didn’t have my bathing suit on? For some reason? On a beach day in Hawaii?) stay close to the higher rock cliffs further away from the ocean where the waves come in, that way you are farther away when the water gets sucked back out, and you have the rocks to grab on to. Also, bring a mask.

It’s pretty crazy to watch people swim in there when the waves are coming in, these pictures don’t really do it justice. The waves are enormous, and come barreling ferociously over the rock wall really fast.