Hawaii - Must-see beaches on Oahu?

I will have a week on Oahu in Aug.

What do people consider the must-see beaches?
So far on my list is

- Lanikai and canoeing out to Mokulua Islands
- The plane crash beach from Lost (Mokule'ia Beach)
- Waimanalo.

I like placid beaches rather than surf, and like my beaches with vibrant blue water.

I'll hire a car for some of my stay but not the whole time because for at least some of the time I want to encourage myself to plant my butt on a particular beach for the day rather than spending lots of time driving around just b/c I have the car.

Thanks!

During the summer, the beaches on the North Shore will be full of sand and the waters calm. Waimea Bay would certainly be worth a stop.

yes Waimea Bay looks great, and also adding a dip in Waimea falls to my must-seeslist (this is from Lost too, its where Kate and Sawyer swam together)

Lots of nice beaches on Oahu but we always end up spending a day at Eternity Beach when we go to Oahu.

Spent a great day at Waimea Bay just soaking up the sun. If you feeling adventurous you could always take a leap off the jump rock.

We had a rental car but had to park further up the road from the beach and walk back since all the parking lots were taken by the time we got there.

Lanikai was beautiful in a different way. Got there at sunset and it was much quieter than Waimea. Probably my favourite beach of all time.

is there a good site or to rephrase, does anyone know good site that will show these beaches on a map?

I will have a week on Oahu in Aug.

What do people consider the must-see beaches?
So far on my list is

- Lanikai and canoeing out to Mokulua Islands
- The plane crash beach from Lost (Mokule'ia Beach)
- Waimanalo.

I like placid beaches rather than surf, and like my beaches with vibrant blue water.

For placid beaches and vibrant blue waters, you'd be hard pressed to top Lanikai. Kailua, up the road, is pretty good too. And, in the summer, Waimea on the North Shore is fairly calm, with abundant sand, although parking lot is often full.

Less placid, but still worth a visit are Makapu'u and Sandy Beach, although the latter has a particularly violent shore-break. In close proximity, they can be visited one after the other. I usually go to Makapu'u first, and when the sun dips behind the mountain, move over to Sandy to continue to soak up the sun.

I'll hire a car for some of my stay but not the whole time because for at least some of the time I want to encourage myself to plant my butt on a particular beach for the day rather than spending lots of time driving around just b/c I have the car.

I'd rent a car for the whole week unless you want to plant yourself on the comparatively disappointing and overcrowded Waikiki Beach on the days you don't have a car or depend upon The Bus to get you to and from the beach at which you want to loiter all day.

is there a good site or to rephrase, does anyone know good site that will show these beaches on a map?

http://www.hawaiigaga.com/oahu-beach-map.aspx

For placid beaches and vibrant blue waters, you'd be hard pressed to top Lanikai. Kailua, up the road, is pretty good too. And, in the summer, Waimea on the North Shore is fairly calm, with abundant sand, although parking lot is often full.

Less placid, but still worth a visit are Makapu'u and Sandy Beach, although the latter has a particularly violent shore-break. In close proximity, they can be visited one after the other. I usually go to Makapu'u first, and when the sun dips behind the mountain, move over to Sandy to continue to soak up the sun.



I'd rent a car for the whole week unless you want to plant yourself on the comparatively disappointing and overcrowded Waikiki Beach on the days you don't have a car or depend upon The Bus to get you to and from the beach at which you want to loiter all day.



http://www.hawaiigaga.com/oahu-beach-map.aspx

thanks for the map; very helpful ^

Hanuamu Bay is gorgeous. However, you need to get there early (once the parking lot fills, they accept no more people). There is also an abundance of people at this location. The snorkeling here is awesome though. Last time I was there, I spent 3 hours face down in the water (note: make sure you have sun screen on your back!!!)

Hanuamu Bay is gorgeous. However, you need to get there early (once the parking lot fills, they accept no more people). There is also an abundance of people at this location. The snorkeling here is awesome though. Last time I was there, I spent 3 hours face down in the water (note: make sure you have sun screen on your back!!!)

thanks for the tip; can you define early? also how about arriving later in the afternoon? do many of the people leave and would that be a good time for some later in the day snorkeling?

I'll second the beaches on the North Shore. I found heaven on earth, or at least a very similar beach to Ke'e Beach on Kauai, not far from Haleiwa Beach State Park.

Here's my link to the "lost" beach not far from there.

http://picasaweb.google.com/MarysAlbum/LostBeachOahuMarch2010#

The other Lost Beach mentioned above is easier to get to, but is in the opposite direction near Camp Erdman (the ymca camp) used as the "others" community.

Here are a couple of sites to look at. I can't remember when I got there, but it was mid morning or so, and we got in fine. This beach does have some costs associated with it, but is very beautiful.



http://www.honolulu.gov/parks/facility/hanaumabay/information.htm

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60982-d261241-Reviews-Hanauma_Bay_Nature_Preserve-Honolulu_Oahu_Hawaii.html

We went to Hunauma Beach the first morning we arrived - the time difference had us up very early so we were on the beach by 5:45. We left at about 10 and the line to get in was half way around the parking lot and the beach was just starting to fill up.

I'm obviously the odd one out because I don't especially like Hanuamu Bay.
It was very pleasant but the coral seemed to be all dead?

I'm obviously the odd one out because I don't especially like Hanuamu Bay.
It was very pleasant but the coral seemed to be all dead?

That's because too many people touch it or stand on it. Frankly, at low tide, it's relatively easy to inadvertently scrape the coral, even if you're otherwise conscious about avoiding contact. Still, there are plenty of fish to see at Hanauma Bay, which makes it a worthwhile place to go snorkeling.

We went to Hunauma Beach the first morning we arrived - the time difference had us up very early so we were on the beach by 5:45. We left at about 10 and the line to get in was half way around the parking lot and the beach was just starting to fill up.

I keep forgetting about the time difference; I know I was up at 4:00 a.m. last time (coming from Eastern time) and I know my kids will be too.. so we probably can get there early enough

great thread (for me anyway) as this is something I plan on hitting.. many of the great beaches of oahu

Hanuamu Bay was my first real snorkeling experience, so didn't really know all of what I was seeing. Honestly, I didn't even know coral was there. I was just amazed at all the fish.

While Hanuamu Bay is a beautiful place (one of the most beautiful places I have ever been), the one thing I didn't like so much was the crowds, but everyone seemed friendly enough. I get paranoid though that stuff will get stolen or misplaced so someone in my group was constantly left on "watch" to make sure nothing happened while others were in the water.

Hanuamu Bay was my first real snorkeling experience, so didn't really know all of what I was seeing. Honestly, I didn't even know coral was there. I was just amazed at all the fish.

While Hanuamu Bay is a beautiful place (one of the most beautiful places I have ever been), the one thing I didn't like so much was the crowds, but everyone seemed friendly enough. I get paranoid though that stuff will get stolen or misplaced so someone in my group was constantly left on "watch" to make sure nothing happened while others were in the water.

A couple of questions here

is this a good snorkeling are for kids - 9 & 11? they are good swimmers although they would be with me all the time esp in the water

like you i'm paranoid about stuff getting stolen.. is it close enough to the car to leave stuff in the car while you snorkel or is it a hike to go back and forth?

looking forward to going there

Yes, it's a fantastic place for kids to snorkle and relatively safe.

The parking lot is at the top of a very steep grade which is no big deal walking down, but can be a bear walking back up.

A couple of questions here

is this a good snorkeling are for kids - 9 & 11? they are good swimmers although they would be with me all the time esp in the water

like you i'm paranoid about stuff getting stolen.. is it close enough to the car to leave stuff in the car while you snorkel or is it a hike to go back and forth?

looking forward to going there

Search the web for waterproof pouches. We bought some off the web before we went - they were thick plastic bags, about a quart size, that had a double fold and double seal at top, plus a cord to attach them to our swimsuits - something like these. (http://www.suntekstore.com/Swimming-Waterproof-Pouch-Case-for-Camera---MP3---Cell-Phone.html) We put wallets, keys, sunglasses, and other items in them, left blankets and books on the beach. They never gave us any problem, and they were about $5 each.

Re: going back & forth to the car - not really possible. When you go into Hanauma Bay, they take you through a building and you watch a short movie about the aquatic life. Then you go down the long hill. If you left to get to the car, I suspect you'd have to re-enter the same way, maybe even pay?

BTW, most folks don't climb the hill, they ride a tram. When we were there, it cost $0.50 to ride down, $1.00 to ride back to the top. :D

Search the web for waterproof pouches. We bought some off the web before we went - they were thick plastic bags, about a quart size, that had a double fold and double seal at top, plus a cord to attach them to our swimsuits - something like these. (http://www.suntekstore.com/Swimming-Waterproof-Pouch-Case-for-Camera---MP3---Cell-Phone.html) We put wallets, keys, sunglasses, and other items in them, left blankets and books on the beach. They never gave us any problem, and they were about $5 each.

Re: going back & forth to the car - not really possible. When you go into Hanauma Bay, they take you through a building and you watch a short movie about the aquatic life. Then you go down the long hill. If you left to get to the car, I suspect you'd have to re-enter the same way, maybe even pay?

BTW, most folks don't climb the hill, they ride a tram. When we were there, it cost $0.50 to ride down, $1.00 to ride back to the top. :D

Awesome, thanks for the link, I'll buy five of them today

LOL on the double the price to ride to the top; I guess there isn't much of a market downward bound ha ha

so it appears it may be difficult to bring a cooler down to the beach? and more difficult to bring it back up :D

Awesome, thanks for the link, I'll buy five of them today

LOL on the double the price to ride to the top; I guess there isn't much of a market downward bound ha ha

so it appears it may be difficult to bring a cooler down to the beach? and more difficult to bring it back up :D

Naw, it's an open-air tram like they have in zoos and mega-church parking lots. People hop on carrying coolers all the time.