Surfing Beaches
1. Kaka’ako Waterfront Park/Point Panic
Unless you’re highly skilled on a board and ready to join the elite who paddle out to Point Panic every day, this park is strictly for spectators. There’s no beach, swimming is dangerous because the break crashes into the retaining wall, and sharks haunt the area. However, a broad pathway extends the length of the park offering great views, and picnic pavilions are clustered along it. This is also a favorite spot for watching celebratory firework displays over Waikīkī.
2. Ala Moana Beach
This area is popular for surfing because if offers a range of challenges from easy and slow Canoes to the more frisky Queen’s, Paradise, and Populars areas. Locals who work in Waikīkī hit the waves before and after work.
3. Sandy Beach
“Sandy’s” is the body boarding capital of O’ahu. Unfortunately, it is also the site of a lot of serious accidents and frequent rescues. A steep drop-off at the sand’s edge means that waves are always pounding here, so only the most experienced should take on this surf, and everyone should take care of the treacherous backwash, which frequently catches waders off-guard.
4. Makapu’u
The slow rolling shoulders of the waves and the lack of a reef below make this spot ideal for bodysurfing, plus board surfing is prohibited to prevent collisions. But watch out during high winter surf, and take heed of flag warnings from the lifeguards.
5. Sunset Beach
In winter, this wide, golden strand is piled high, forming a steep, natural amphitheater for watching surfers attack the awesome waves. In summer, changing tides flatten the beach out, making it more sunbathing friendly. All year long, though, dangerous currents make swimming risky. There are park facilities across the street.
6. ‘Ehukai
‘Ehukai (“sea spray” in Hawaiian) is safe for swimming during spring and summer, but during the fall and winter the board surfers take over and it becomes the unofficial viewing stand for observing the action at the world famous Banzai Pipeline just to the left of the beach park.
7. Banzai Pipeline
A shallow coral reef extending out from the beach fronting Ke Nui Road throws up waves of tremendous power and steepness – so powerful that no one thought they could be ridden until the 1960s. Injuries from wiping out on the reef are numerous, but surfers can’t resist these monsters. “Banzai”, by the way, was the final cry of Japanese kamikaze pilots.
8. Waimea Bay
A beach with two personalities. Calm as a bathtub in summer, it’s ideal for swimming, kayaking, and snorkeling. Come October and on until April, this beach (where Captain Cook first landed on O’ahu) is crowded with open mouthed visitors watching surfers from around the world ride the wild surf.
9. Ka’ena Point State Park
Until the introduction of tow-in surfing, the mammoth waves of Ka’ena Point remained tantalizingly off limits to surfers because of the impossibility of paddling out from the rock-fringed, current tossed shore. A north swell at Lae o Ka’ena results in 30–40-ft waves and brings out the most daring sorts.
Reached via a 2.5 mile walk
10. Mākaha
Site of the Mākaha International Surfing Contest, the beach here is steep-sloped and wide, with lots of golden sand and deep waters close to shore. The well formed waves range from medium in the off-season to VERY large in the winter. Stray boards can be a hazard to swimmers.
