Gillin’s Beach was named for the long time engineering supervisor of the Grove Farm Company, the owners of the sugar plantation behind the beach. Gillin was best known for supervising the construction of the Ha’upu Tunnel. The half-mile-long, dirt-lined tunnel cuts through the ridge to provide direct access between the sugar cane fields north of the ridge and the Koloa Mill to the south.
Broken patches of beachrock protrude through the sand covering the crescent of Gillin’s Beach. Vegetated sand dunes back the beach as well as the original house built by Elbert Gillin in the 1920s. Boogie boarding and windsurfing are popular recreational activities on this beach.