Best O'ahu, Hawaii Beaches

Okay, y’all I wanted to do a ranking of all the beaches we went to while in O'ahu!

1. Bellow Fields Beach

2. Sandy Beach

3. Waimānalo Beach

4. Waikiki Beach

5. Halona Beach Cove

6. Laniakea Beach

7. Pounders Beach

8. Sharks Cove Beach

Bellow Fields Beach

This beach felt so secluded and was not packed whatsoever, which was extremely nice. It felt like we had the whole beach to ourselves. The sand was also this powdery white which I lovedddd. There was also just a lot of scenery there too. You could look in front and see two small islands or look behind at this magical-looking forest. It really was picturesque. Parking here was really easy too because there’s a lot right across and there were literally like 2 cars in the lot lol. I did read before going there that it was common to find man-o-war jellyfish washed up on the shore (they are this blue little bubble-looking thing with what looks like a blue string attached to their body). When we were there we did not see any of these (thank gosh) but definitely don’t get in the water if you see these on the shoreline. It means there are more close to the shoreline and their stings hurttttttt.

Sandy Beach

Sandy beach was a fun place! The sand here was really good. It was this bright taupe color that just felt good on the toes. I will say, the waves were harsh here. Really a good beach for boogie boarding and surfing. In fact, there was a surfing competition going on while we were there! I also liked that it was a more established beach. Meaning there were lots of parking spots. There was even a small food truck parked in the lot! The water at the beach was like a cerulean blue color which was so picturesque. You could even see the blowhole from where we were sitting at the beach. The only real downside was the waves were really strong (not meant for swimming) and since they were so strong they pulled a lot of sandy with them. So even if you went in the water to get some of the sand off there really wasn’t much help from the ocean. In fact, you might have gotten his by more sand lol.

Waimānalo Beach

This beach was gorgeous!! Such a cool area and beautiful homes surrounded the part of the beach we went to. This beach had quite a few people at it, but it didn’t feel crowded by any means. It actually was the perfect amount of people. You can also see Bellow Fields Beach from the shoreline. One special thing I liked about the beach was getting to see all the dogs on the beach. Several people played with their dog in the ocean and it just made my heart warm—it also made me realize how much I missed by furs babies. You could also see any rain that was amount to come in move through the mountains from this shoreline and watching the rain come through was very cool to see. The only downside to this beach was the man-o-ware jellyfish. I saw several washed up on the shoreline. Before we noticed them, we went in the water and weren’t stung, so we got lucky. But I definitely stayed away after that. This was a great beach just to lay at! Parking-wise, the area we parked in was near some expensive homes and just walked through a public access alley.

Waikiki Beach

Waikiki is a cool beach and still picturesque even with the skyscraper hotels in the vicinity. What I really liked about this beach was how much you can people-watch at this beach. I mean, it’s crowded like the whole day and into part of the night as well. The water is shallow and you can go out far and still touch, which was wild! There were also a lot of surfers out far into the ocean that you could watch. Lots to keep the mind occupied here. It honestly was an easy beach to love. At the same time though, this beach is very crowded which could also be a downside if you’re into more of a secluded location. We did go to this beach the most though because of how much we loved it and how close it was to things.

Halona Beach Cove

Now, this isn’t an official beach. My best directions are to drive to the blowhole and park there. There’s a walkway to the right of the cliff that you can climb down and there’s a small beach in the alcove. I don’t recommend swimming here because there’s a lot of coral and the waves are reallyyyyy strong so you can easily get swept up in them. But it was a really nice little secluded beach to sit at for a while and dip your toes in the water. But this was a very relaxing and picturesque secluded little beach.

Laniakea Beach

It’s known by many as Turtle beach. It’s funny because this part of the island typically has a lot of stop-and-go traffic. That’s because this beach attracts a lotttttt of people and you have to park across the street (and parking is sparse to find) and cross to make it to the sand. I will say, our island tour guide told us we can see turtles at any of the beaches, buttttt we only saw a turtle at this beach (we actually saw a few…some were in the water. There’s a lot of rock on the shore that the ocean tide reaches and vegetation grows on it. That’s what the turtles come on to the shore to eat. If you walk further off (away from the turtles) then you get to an area that’s a lot more secluded and really enjoyed that. It felt almost as if we had to beach to ourselves.

Pounders Beach

Pounders Beach, known for its shallow waters. It’s on the North Shore and since the sun was setting we missed out on the warmth it brought, so this side of the island was a little colder. That didn’t stop us from getting in lol. We had to soak in our last beach before it was all over. Definitely a beach to go to during the peak of the day, though. It had a lot of pretty scenery to look at. This beach also had the man-o-ware jellyfish. I saw several washed up on the shoreline. Before we noticed them, we went in the water and weren’t stung, so we got lucky again lol. Parking here too was easy, but we also were heading here around sunset set beaches tend to die down around that time.

But the craziest thing happened while we were there. We saw something floating in the water and didn’t really think anything of it. We just thought it was driftwood or something. The object continued to get closer and I kid you not, it was a PIG. A PIG was just nonchalantly swimming in the dang ocean. I literally have proof, this actually happened. The dang pig swam who knows how long in the ocean and then came up to the shore and sprinted off into the woods lol. What a sight! Maybe you’ll get lucky and see another one when you visit!

Sharks Cove Beach

Also on the North Shore, we went to Shark’s Cove and looked at all the fish. If you’re into snorkeling, this is a really fun spot! Fish like to swim/stay around coral and there’s a lottttt of coral in this area and it attracts a lot of people wanting to look at all the fish swimming through. The parking here was a little hard because it was so packed and there were a lot of kids around. But the bright side was that this was near Foodland so if you needed to pick anything up before heading to the beach then you were able to! I think the reason I didn’t love this beach was because of all the coral and the number of people on the beach in general. It was almost, if not just as crowded as Waikiki.

Well, there you have it! We went to 8 beaches and those are my rankings of them all! There were so many beaches that I wanted to go see, but there just was not enough time…if only daylight could extend however long you wanted lol. Oh well, hopefully, I’ll get to make a trip back to experience more of the island and hop over to the other islands as well!

Xoxo,

Amber