Hawksbay Beach Karachi: Huts, Turtles and Swimming

Hawksbay Beach is Karachi's hut beach: a long open-sea shore about 20 km southwest of the city centre, lined with rented and privately owned huts, with a free public stretch where families come for the day. Between September and February it is also one of the most important green turtle nesting beaches in Pakistan. The sea is the catch. Hawksbay faces the open Arabian Sea, its rip currents are notorious, and in summer swimming is usually banned.

This guide explains the difference between the public beach and the hut frontage, when and how to see turtles responsibly, the honest answer on where it is safe to swim, and how to get there.

Public beach or hut: what's the difference?

Hawksbay is really two beaches sharing the same sand. Most of the frontage is taken up by rows of huts, some owned by families and companies, many rented out by the day or the night. Between and beyond them is open public beach, where anyone can park, walk on the sand and take a camel or horse ride.

The public stretch is free and informal. You bring your own mat, food and shade, and park close to the sand. It is busy on Sunday afternoons and holidays and almost empty on weekday mornings. The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation has run an emergency and lifeguard centre on this part of the beach, which is one reason it is the least risky place to be near the water.

A hut gives you a building behind the sand: usually a lounge, one or more rooms, a kitchen, toilets and a roof terrace, sometimes a small pool. You rent the whole hut for a fixed slot, typically a daytime slot of around 10 hours or an overnight one. You still share the beach in front with everyone else, but the hut compound, terrace and pool are private.

For a large group, a hut is far more comfortable: shade, toilets, somewhere to cook and a place for older relatives to sit out of the sun. Our guide to beach huts in Karachi covers prices, slots and how to book without being caught by a fake listing.

Turtle nesting season at Hawksbay

Hawksbay and neighbouring Sandspit are the main nesting beaches for green turtles on the Karachi coast. Females come ashore at night to dig nests above the tideline, mostly between September and February, with nesting at its busiest around October and November.

The Sindh Wildlife Department has run a turtle conservation programme here since the 1970s. Its staff patrol the beach, move eggs that are at risk into protected, iron-grilled nests in a hatchery, and release the hatchlings to the sea. In the 2025 season the department reported nearly 30,000 eggs protected between August and November, with a target of 50,000 for the season. The department's marine conservation information centre stands on the Hawksbay beachfront.

The turtles have lost a great deal of their beach. Huts, walls and lights have spread over the dry sand the females need, and a 2009 study found that almost 60 per cent of the nesting habitat had already gone. What visitors do on the sand at night matters.

How to watch turtles without harming them

• Keep lights off. No torches, phone lights or camera flashes near a turtle or a nest. Lights confuse nesting females and draw hatchlings away from the sea.
• Stay well back and stay quiet. A disturbed female will often return to the sea without laying.
• Don't touch hatchlings or carry them to the water. They need to make their own way down the sand.
• No bonfires or cars on the upper beach, where the nests are.
• If you are staying in a hut, switch off the lights that face the sea at night during the season.
• If you find a turtle or hatchlings in trouble, tell the wildlife staff at the conservation centre rather than acting yourself.

Hatchlings from the protected nests are released through the season. If you want your family to see a release, ask the wildlife department staff at Hawksbay whether one is planned, rather than looking for nests on your own.

Where is it safest to swim at Hawksbay?

The honest answer is that nowhere at Hawksbay is safe for swimming in the way a sheltered bay is. The beach faces the open sea, the waves break hard, and rip currents form along the shore. A Dawn report on Karachi's beach rescues named Hawksbay the most dangerous of the city's beaches for exactly this reason.

It has a long record of drownings. In September 2017, twelve people drowned at Hawksbay in a single incident, and the authorities closed every beach except Clifton for a time afterwards. Over Eid ul Fitr in 2014 people drowned at Hawksbay, Sandspit and Sea View while a swimming ban was in force.

If you go in at all:

1. Only in the calm months, roughly October to March, and never when the sea is rough or a Section 144 order is in force.
2. Stay on the public stretch near the lifeguard post, where someone is trained and watching. Hut frontages have no lifeguards.
3. Stay in your depth, no deeper than your waist, and keep children in ankle-deep water with an adult beside them.
4. Keep away from rocks and from any channel where the water is running back out to sea. A rip often looks like a calmer, darker gap between breaking waves.
5. Never swim after dark, when nobody on the shore can see you.

Every summer the Karachi commissioner bans swimming at some or all of the city's beaches under Section 144, usually for part of the period from May to August. In 2026 the order for the Keamari coast, which includes Hawksbay, ran from 23 May to 22 June and also restricted recreation along the shoreline. Check local news before you go.

How to get to Hawksbay

Hawksbay is reached from the city along Mauripur Road, heading west past the port and the truck yards towards the coast. From Saddar or Keamari it is about 45 minutes to an hour outside rush hour. From DHA, Gulshan or North Karachi, allow longer, and add time on Sunday mornings, holidays and Eid, when much of the city is going the same way.

• By car. The easiest option, particularly for families with hut bookings and food to carry. The road is busy with heavy vehicles in places, so drive carefully and don't rush back in the dark.
• Ride-hailing. Works for getting there, but return pickups from the beach can be slow. Agree a time with a driver in advance, or come with someone who has a car.
• With a hut booking. Huts are known by a letter and number, such as A-33, and several can look alike from the road. Get the exact hut number and a map pin from whoever you book with.

Sandspit, the next beach towards the city, is on the way. Our Sandspit Beach guide covers the mangroves and the WWF wetland centre there, and French Beach and Mubarak Village lie further west.

When to go

October to March is the best time. The days are warm but not hot, the sea is calmer, and the turtle season is under way. Weekday visits in winter are quiet and pleasant.

April and early May are hot but still manageable, with a sea breeze in the afternoon.

Mid-May to August is the time to be careful. The sea is at its roughest, swimming bans are usually in force for part of the period, and yet this is when the crowds are biggest, because of the heat in the city and the school holidays.

September is a transition month: the monsoon swell is easing and the first turtles are arriving.

Is Hawksbay worth it?

Yes, for a hut day with family or friends in winter. It is close enough for a day trip, the huts make it comfortable for all ages, and a quiet night on the sand in turtle season is one of the most memorable things you can do in Karachi.

It is less good for anyone who mainly wants to swim, since the sea is dangerous for much of the year, or for a short outing, when Sea View is closer. If you want clearer water and rock pools, French Beach is the step up, and our guide to the best beaches in Karachi compares every option. If you are planning a longer trip around Pakistan, our trip planning page is the place to start.

Frequently asked questions