Queen’s Bath – Kauai, Hawaii

Queen’s Bath is a super controversial place to visit in Kauai. Before leaving, Matt and I read really contradictory posts about whether or not it was safe to visit. We ultimately decided to at least hike to it and see what exactly it was all about.

Quick Info About Queen’s Bath

LOCATION: Queen’s Bath is located in Princeville on the North Shore of Kauai. The trailhead is in a neighborhood.
TRAIL: Length – 0.8 miles // Rating – Moderately easy. Although this is a short hike, you do encounter slippery mud and lava rocks. I recommend somewhat substantial shoes, like Tevas. 
IMPORTANT NOTE: Entrance to this trail is gated in times of unsafe weather. There have been deaths here. Heed warnings, watch for waves and hike at your own risk.
CONSIDER TRAVEL INSURANCE: When we take a trip that we know we’ll hike, we like to use Travel Insurance (it came in helpful when I broke my arm hiking in Thailand). We love World Nomads.

Our Experience at Queen’s Bath

We were very excited when we found out that the trail to Queen’s Bath was just down the road from our condo! We left bright and early, which was good because the parking area for the pool was really small, and we didn’t want to get a ticket. The trail takes you through a patch of forest until opening up to the coast. Be careful because the almost daily rains make the mud here very slippery – I fell once on the way back up. Don’t hike this in flip-flops, try Tevas or even hiking shoes.

The trail is tree-covered and shady and winds around a small stream.

This stream falls into a couple of different small falls. I just adore watching waterfalls flow.

Suddenly, you come to a spot on the trail where the forest ends and opens up to the coast. You instantly get some views of the beautiful North Shore. The North Shore is notorious for potentially extremely dangerous and unpredictable surf, especially in the winter. We took the warning of ‘never turn your back to the ocean‘ very, very seriously. Truly, trust the locals.

Looking out at the ocean was worth the hike, but then it gets even more beautiful!

This sign, which was made by a local, from what I’ve heard. But it did its job of warning and scaring people. When I saw this sign with the tally marks of people who were swept away and had drowned, I was feeling incredibly uneasy about even walking to close to the edge – of course, I have a MAJOR ocean phobia. 

This “bath” isn’t Queen’s Bath. In fact it isn’t really a bath. This tiny inlet fills with water and then when the tide rolls back out you can really see the power of the ocean as it sucks it all back down. My strong suggestion would be don’t ever get in the water here or stand too near the edge. Even in the summer it looked pretty intense!

This was a small wave compared to some that crashed against the far edge.

This was after a wave crashed – that lower ledge on the right is completely covered, and look at that wave about to hit! So beautiful, but insanely powerful. Respect mother nature and her amazing strength! 

Now, the actual Queen’s Bath is a different story. We came with the decision already made that we weren’t going to swim because of the contradictory things we had read. However, we both regret that decision now. Obviously, this is something that each person needs to decide on their own, but in the summer when we were here, I truly felt that we would’ve been safe swimming in the pool, but only Queen’s Bath. (See the pictures below.)

I can see how someone can be swept away standing on the edge, but I felt if we stayed away from that, we would be okay. Again, this is the summer, and winter may have been a completely different story. I personally wish that we would’ve worn swimsuits just in case, and on our next trip to Kauai I want to take a dip in the Queen’s Bath.

  Even with this decent bit of a crashing wave, the rocks block it quite a bit. I would definitely stay toward the middle, but I’m taking a dip next time for sure!

I think it’s very important to heed warnings and to be smart when going places that can be unpredictable. Trust your gut. Listen to what others say. Be aware of how seasons + weather can change environments and make your own decisions. What do you think? Would you swim in Queen’s Bath?!

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This post was last updated July 2020.

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