Doris Duke Beach and Rock Walls

Rest on the perfect golden sand of Doris Duke Beach (Ka'alawai Beach) and dip into the clear cool water. This beach is also called Cromwell's, after Doris Duke's married last name. You'll usually only be sharing the beach with one person, or two at most. My favorite place to swim is to the left as you walk down the stairs onto the beach. It's like a pool there- the water is super clear and deep and feels especially refreshing, and there are bouncy waves. Float to your heart's content! At high tide, the pool effect is gone, so come at lower tide. I recently learned that the reason this pool is so refreshing is that it's a natural freshwater spring!

Just to the left of this idyllic beach is the Doris Duke house, where the wealthy Duke family heiress had a massive lava rock wall built and her home situated atop it. She filled her home with exotic treasures from the Middle East. She also had a rock wall built at the shore to form a place to park her husband's yacht. You can swim and snorkel in this sheltered area between the walls, but don't get speared in the okole! (There are spear-fishermen here sometimes).
If you're hungry, head to nearby Kahala Mall for a bite to eat.

Directions

Click "satellite" on the map and zoom in to see how nice this place is! You can see the Doris Duke swimming pool where Duke Kahanamoku practised for the olympics.
From Kahala Ave, take Papu Circle. Turn right on Kulamanu Street and then left on Kulamanu Pl. Park as soon as you see a space, and then walk down to the end of Kulamanu Place, where you will find stairs going down to the beach!
Or you can walk down a beach access path from one of the overlooks on Diamond Head Rd and walk along the sand to this beach.

Click on map for interactive view