#31Orchid Pool
9.4Halekulani, USA
Hawaii does pools differently. The water around the islands is warm all year, so the best hotel pools here are not trying to replace the ocean. They frame it, borrow from it, or in one case, fill themselves with it. You will find lava rock instead of marble, reef fish instead of mosaics (and one mosaic you will never forget), and an infinity edge that lines up with humpback whales for a third of the year.
We've ranked six pools across five islands, from the classic beachfront of Waikiki to a cliff above Hanalei Bay. Here is where to stay, island by island, and when to go.
When to go
- December to April
- Humpback season. The whales are in Hawaiian waters from about November through April, and most numerous from January to March. Maui's Wailea and Lanai's Manele Bay are front-row seats.
- The holidays
- Christmas and New Year's are the most expensive weeks of the year in Hawaii, with long minimum stays at many resorts. The first two weeks of December are quieter, with the same water.
- April, May, September, October
- The shoulder months: fewer people, lower rates, warm water. Summer brings families and calm seas, especially on the north shores.
Oahu
The busiest island and the easiest to reach, with the most flights from the mainland. Waikiki is a city beach, so a calm hotel pool matters more here than anywhere else in the state.
#31Look down before you dive in. The floor of Halekulani's oval pool carries a giant cattleya orchid laid in about 1.2 million pieces of glass tile, and the water above it is heated, still and set just back from the beach at Waikiki. The rest of the scene is quietly old-school Honolulu: white umbrellas, Diamond Head off to the left, and a steady slow show of surfers past the reef. In a part of town built for noise, this is the calmest 82 feet of water around.
Maui
South Maui's Wailea coast is the island's resort strip: dry, sunny and pointed straight at the whale channel. West Maui is still rebuilding after the 2023 Lahaina fire, and visitors who book there are part of that recovery; travel thoughtfully and follow local guidance.
#52Serenity Pool
9.3Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, USA
The adults-only Serenity Pool is raised above the rest of the resort, so its infinity edge lines up with nothing but Pacific, with Lanai and the West Maui Mountains in the distance. It is for guests 21 and over, which makes it one of the quietest decks on the Wailea coast, and six cabanas line the terrace for anyone settling in for the day. From December to April, keep an eye on the water: humpback whales winter in these channels, and you can watch them breach without leaving the pool!
#88Wailea Canyon Activity Pool
9.0Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort, USA
The most ambitious family pool in Hawaii is 2,000 feet long: nine pools stepping down six levels, joined by a river, with seven waterslides, six waterfalls, caves, a rope swing, a sand-bottomed baby beach and a water elevator that carries swimmers back up to the top. The Lava Tube Slide drops three stories in about fourteen seconds. When the kids are finally asleep, the adults-only Hibiscus Serenity Pool next door has a hibiscus flower laid in more than 630,000 pieces of glass tile across its floor.
Lanai
Nine miles off Maui and a world away from it. Lanai has no traffic lights and two resorts, so the pool is most of the itinerary, in the best way.
#97Oasis Pool
9.0Four Seasons Resort Lanai, USA
Lanai is the quiet island, and its pools behave accordingly. The palm-shaded Oasis Pool is a lagoon of lava rock and waterfalls, kept at 84 degrees and open around the clock, a short walk from Hulopoe Beach, where spinner dolphins are regular visitors. Up a path, the adults-only pool hides in lava rock grottoes draped in bougainvillea. There is no traffic, no strip and very little to do between swims, which is the whole idea.
Hawaii Island
The Big Island's Kona-Kohala coast is black lava fields running down to turquoise water. The resorts here are big and spread out, built around the lava rather than on top of it.
#38King's Pond
9.4Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, USA
Half pool, half reef. King's Pond is a 1.8-million-gallon swimmable aquarium carved out of black lava rock on the Kona coast, filled with saltwater and home to more than a thousand tropical fish, including spotted eagle rays you can snorkel beside. Marine naturalists run feedings and touch-tank sessions from the Kumu Kai Marine Center next door, and an infinity pool sits on the deck above for anyone who would rather watch. It is one of eight pools at Hualalai, and the only one we know of where kids ask to stay in the water longer to see a ray!
Kauai
The wettest and greenest island. The North Shore around Hanalei is the dramatic side, with cliffs, waterfalls and big winter surf, so a pool with a view of it is a very good plan B.
#66Adults-Only Infinity Pool
9.21 Hotel Hanalei Bay, USA
Built into the cliffs above Hanalei Bay, the former St. Regis Princeville reopened as 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay in 2023, and its adults-only infinity pool is the reason to book. It floats on a terrace over the bay with shaded wooden cabanas along one side, a jacuzzi alongside and the green ridges of Kauai's North Shore filling the rest of the frame. It is limited to guests 21 and over. A second, family pool down at beach level is built among natural rock outcrops, so nobody has to choose between quiet and splashing!
