Oahu Beaches, Hawaii - Beach Resorts & Hotels & Activities

Oahu is a veritable Hawaiian paradise of beaches, outdoor activities and hotels settled in beach resorts. It features different types of beaches, from sandy horseshoe shaped coves to beaches with rocky reefs.

A beach guide of Oahu should include:

Mokuleia Beach Park

This is a deserted windsurfing beach, recommended just for expert surfers.
Amenities: parking, restrooms, picnic tables, showers.

Haleiwa Alii Beach Park

It's a small bay protected by an offshore reef which has a large sand-filled channel that provides excellent swimming and snorkeling. It's also a popular surfing area, offering also excellent amenities for other vacation activities from October to April.
Amenities: community center, parking, restrooms, showers, lifeguards.

Haleiwa Beach Park

It's a 13-acre beach park with many recreational facilities, including a long and sandy beach, excellent for swimming. It's located not far away to Haleiwa Boat Harbor and a few hotels and beach resorts.
Amenities: parking, restrooms, picnic tables, showers.

Laniakea Beach

This beach features some of the best waves along the North Shore. It's not a very good swimming beach due to the strong alongshore currents, which are present even on calm days.

Chun's Reef Beach

It's one of the most popular surfing areas on the North Shore. Swimming is not very good because the very shallow reef comes right up to the beach.

Waimea Bay Beach Park

This beach is a paradise for surfers offering 30 foot high waves during the winter months. Swimming or snorkeling is recommended just in summer.
Amenities: parking, restrooms, picnic tables, showers, lifeguards.

Pupukea Marine Life Conservation District

This area consists of a marine preserve along a beautiful section of shoreline. Allow scuba diving and snorkeling at Shark's Cove area and Three Tables Cove during summer months, when the Pacific Ocean is calm. It's extremely dangerous in winter!
Amenities: parking, restrooms, showers, pavilion.

Ehukai Beach Park

This beach offers an excellent view of the famous "Banzai Pipeline", where board surfers disappear inside the wave and emerge a few seconds later.
Amenities: parking, restrooms, picnic tables, showers, lifeguards.

Sunset Beach Park

It's a famous site of professional surfing contests. In winter the surf reaches there heights of 20 feet!
Amenities: parking, restrooms, showers, picnic tables, lifeguards.

Bay View Beach (Kuilima Cove)

It's a sandy inlet at the Turtle Bay Resort offering great swimming and snorkeling; it's one of the few safe swimming beaches on the North Shore during winter.
Amenities: parking, restrooms, showers, food concession.

Malaekahana State Recreation Area

It's a magnificent wooded park and white sand beach, containing also a bird sanctuary. Reaching this beach on shore can be dangerous because strong currents exist when the tides change or the surf is high. The ocean floor has sharp corals, so attention by the feet!
Amenities: parking, restrooms, picnic tables, showers, camping.

Laie Beach Park (Ponders Beach)

It's one of the most popular surfing beaches on Oahu.
Amenities: parking, restrooms, picnic tables, showers.

Ahupuaa O Kahana State Park

Allows swimming all year round in a crescent shaped bay and it's great for many beach activities. Features a cultural park under development, where Hawaiian families keep live the native culture through different interpretive programs.
Amenities: parking, restrooms, picnic tables, showers, camping.

Kaaawa Beach Park

It's a narrow two acre strip, settled far away by the well developed all inclusive hotels and beach resorts of the island. The shallow waters are protected by a coral reef. It's a pleasant and safe place, very popular for campers during summer.
Amenities: parking, restrooms, picnic tables, showers, camping.

Kualoa Regional Park

It offers a spectacular view of Koolau Mountains and Mokolii Island. It's listed in the National Register of Historical Places due to its importance for the native Hawaiian people.
Amenities: parking, restrooms, picnic tables, showers, camping, lifeguards.

Kailua Beach Park

It's one of the best windsurfing and kite surfing places on Oahu - a white sand beach with good swimming conditions and gentle surf all year round.
Amenities: parking, restrooms, picnic tables, showers, lifeguards.

Lanikai Beach

It's a white sand beach more than a mile long. It offers safe swimming and snorkeling due to the sandy ocean bottom. The waters are well protected by the offshore reef. The trade winds make it an ideal place for sailors and windsurfers.

Bellows Field Beach Park

Settled into a military reservation, it's open to public only in weekends and national holidays. It's a popular recreation area for novice surfers.
Amenities: parking, restrooms, showers, camping, lifeguards.

Waimanalo Bay Beach Park

It's a beautiful, secluded, white sand beach at the edge of an ironwood forest. Offers safe swimming, great boogie boarding and surfing.
Amenities: parking, restrooms, picnic tables, showers, camping, lifeguards.

Makapuu Beach Park

It's the most famous surfing beach of the entire Hawaiian archipelago. Consists from a sandy pocket about 1,000 feet long and features extremely dangerous currents and surf from September to April; during summer it's generally calm. Not far away are a few good all inclusive hotels and beach resorts.
Amenities: parking, restrooms, picnic tables, showers, lifeguards.

The Sandy Beach

It's known in the whole world as a top body boarding and body surfing place. Still, it's one of the most dangerous beaches on the island, with a shore break and strong rip currents. The waves are great, but so is the risk too!
Amenities: parking, restrooms, picnic tables, showers, lifeguards.

Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve

It's a marine preserve located into a beautiful horseshoe bay, home to hundreds of tropical fish. It has ideal snorkeling amenities for novices. Taking off any marine plant or animal is strictly prohibited!
Amenities: food concessions, gift shop, parking, restrooms, picnic tables, showers, shuttle service, lifeguards.

Kahala Beach

It's a long and narrow stretch of sand with a shallow offshore reef. It's not very good for swimming, but offers ideal conditions for snorkeling. An offshore break offers a fair surfing area.

Diamond Head Beach Park

It's situated beyond the eastern edge of Waikiki Beach. Swimming, board surfing, scuba diving are good there. It's also one of the most popular windsurfing sites on Oahu.

Kuhio Beach Park

It has two famous surf areas and feature the statue of Duke Kahanamoku - the inventor of the modern surfing.
Amenities: food/equipment concessions, restrooms, showers, picnic tables, lifeguards.

Waikiki Beach

Waikiki Beach and its all inclusive resorts dotted with luxury hotels are world famous! It's a two mile stretch of shoreline with splendid waves for surfing; it has white sand and offers excellent amenities for sunbathing.
Amenities: equipment rental concessions, parking, showers, restrooms, lifeguards.

Fort DeRussy Beach

It's one of the longest sections of sand near Waikiki Beach. It's part of Fort DeRussy, but it's open for the public. Contains several popular surf sites offshore.
Amenities: food, parking, restrooms, picnic tables, showers, lifeguards.

Ala Moana Regional Park

It's the most popular beach park in Honolulu. Provides numerous vacation activities, but it's not so crowded as Waikiki. It's safe all year round for water activities.
Amenities: parking, restrooms, picnic tables, showers, lifeguards.

Ewa Beach Park

It's the best-known seaweed foraging area on Oahu and it's a very popular five acre park, with a good swimming beach.
Amenities: parking, restrooms, showers.

Nimitz Beach

It's located within the former military reservation, at Barber's Point. Offers good swimming despite of the coral reefs; the break offshore is excellent for surfing.
Amenities: parking, restrooms, showers.

Ko Olina Lagoons

It's the most picturesque lagoon of Oahu and allow great snorkeling and swimming. Features also a shoreline walkway.
Amenities: parking, restrooms, showers, lifeguards.

Pokai Bay Beach Park

It's the safest swimming beach on the coast.
Amenities: parking, restrooms, picnic tables, showers, lifeguards.

Makaha Beach Park

It's a paradise for surfers and site of many international competitions. Features waves up to 25 feet in winter. Offers good conditions for swimming and snorkeling in summer only. Scuba divers frequent the Makaha Caves - a spectacular series of underwater arches and caverns.
Amenities: parking, restrooms, showers, lifeguards.

Yokohama Bay Beach Park

It's a secluded white sand beach, where can not be found well developed all inclusive beach resorts and hotels. It's a good surfing area, but it's recommended for experts only. Definitively, this area is not good for swimming!
Amenities: restrooms, lifeguards.

Select from below some of the most exciting vacation activities on Oahu beaches, Hawaii