Anini Beach

Here is one of the entry points; other entries may be made on several sandy beach locations. Pick your spot to dive, and enjoy!

Anini is a wonderful snorkeling spot and we especially enjoyed the numerous turtles. Summer only, the current is strong in winter. Lots of the reef is dead, so sad. More fish and life than Anahola. Wonderful place to spend the day, but we didn't get past the protected reef.

Snorkeled here in March 2011. Beginner snorkeler, and I thought it was awesome! Saw a ton of fish, and several sea turtles. Sort of an overcast/ rainy day, so it was not crowded. I can't wait to go back!!

I had read the comments so I wasn't expecting much and was not disappointed. The site is easy to get to, easy to dress and enter. I had a scooter so I took the boat channel past the reef and got down to 60 feet. Saw lots of "Honu", probably in excess of 20. Saw plenty of fish just before the drop off; otherwise they were sporadic inside the reef; which in my view is igneous rock from the island formation covered with mostly algae. Water temp around 81 degrees. It is a nice tune up dive for anyone but don't expect to see too much. Beach is very nice and the view is great.

Dreamlike, in the shoreline shade of our rental cottage, taking in the unbroken ocean view, and walking up to the park, wading, caught in the rain, talking to locals gathering tiny shells with tweezers and making necklaces to sell right there. Swam in the shallows, but snorkeled in fishier waters. Found no better spot to headquarter our 10-day visit.

The non-water-oriented factors in the rating system gives this site a far higher score than it deserves. It's easy to get to by a good road, the visibility is good, and inside the lagoon, there's no current or surf. There's a nice park onshore as well. All of those non-diving-related fives jack up the average for the flat, slimy-seaweed-covered bottom, the tiny showings of coral, the few fish, the windsurfer traffic, and the limited opportunities for anything but a low-key swim or snorkel. We stayed right across the lane in a great house, and we still drove to Tunnels or Ke'e, or down to Lamai or Koloa Landing, for actually good (for Kauai) snorkeling and diving. (Click the 'Site Average' link below and you'll see that we have been using weighted averages for the reasons you mention above! -- Editor)

This is my favorite snorkel place. We usually come to Kauai for vacation and spend a lot of time on this beach. You have to swim pretty far to get out to the reef, but if you are lazy snorkelers like us, you can find enough sea life to keep you entertained for hours. There were lots of families here, so it must be a good place for kids.

A very nice, relaxing beech with plenty of parking, bathroom facilities and fresh water shower. Water entry was extremely easy with a nice, soft sandy bottom. You had to swim out quite a ways to get to anything that looked like a reef. There were some fish and eels out there. Didn't see any scuba divers out there. Inside the reef is shallow. It's a long kick to get outside of the reef. Some fishermen boated out, which might be your best way for scuba. I would definitely dive there again, if only for the relaxation.

Very nice dive site. Clean, perfect for divers and non divers. Well preserved reef. The "canyon" is amazing.

My wife and I learned to snorkel here. Lots of fish - great place to learn. Spectacular setting.

I learned how to snorkel here -- great place to take the family. It's out of the way, and very relaxing

Don't waste your time scuba diving here. Very shallow, sandy bottom, poor reef health, very little coral, very few fish, 30 feet visibility on a calm summer day. It is a beautiful beach, great for beach combing, and it looks like it would be a nice dive from above the water, but it is not. Only a beginner diver freshly graduated from the swimming pool would get any excitement diving this spot.