Makaha Beach

Located in the small town of Waianae, Makaha Beach has a long and wide white sand beach on the west shore of the island of Oahu.  Makaha Beach is a part of the popular Makaha Beach Park filled with locals and their families during the weekend.  Makaha Beach is a popular destination for swimming, surfing, snorkeling, scuba diving, and bodyboarding. 

Although Makaha Beach does not have lifeguards, it offers many amenities including restrooms, showers, picnic tables, and an offshore dive site named Makaha Caverns. 

There are many fun activities at Makaha Beach including swimming, surfing, snorkeling, scuba diving, bodyboarding, picnicking, and beach walking.  Please note that only advanced surfers and divers are advised to go in the water during winters at Makaha Beach because of huge waves and strong rip currents.  If you are looking for additional activities, you can drive three minutes north to Kea’au Beach County Park – it has an incredible campground with 25 camping sites that remains closed on Wednesday and Thursday every week. 

Getting to Makaha Beach is very easy – the beach is located at 84 Farrington Highway and there are street parking spots along the highway.

If you are looking for attractions near Makaha Beach, you can drive 25 minutes to many nearby options. USS Missouri Battleship Museum features the remains of the Iowa-class battleship Missouri that received a total of 11 battle stars for service in World War II and has been the setting in many movies including Pearl Harbor, Battleship, and Under Siege. Wet’n’Wild Hawaii is an incredible water park that is spread across 29 acres and has more than 25 rides and attractions including Big Kahuna, Cutter’s Island, Hawaiian Waters, Shaka, Surf sliders, Tornado, Volcano Express, and Waimea Whirl.  If you like to golf, Ko Olina Golf Club is an 18-hole golf course that was designed by Ted Robinson and has multi-tiered greens, water features, and a clubhouse.  Another great attraction near Makaha Beach is the Ala Moana Center, the largest open-air shopping center in the world featuring shops, restaurants, twice-weekly hula shows, and a ride-simulating movie theater.

If you get hungry, you can drive five minutes to many restaurants near Makaha Beach. Kehau’s Kitchen is a nice Hawaiian restaurant that offers taro, poi, breadfruit, limu, taro tops, and sweet potato.  If you like Japanese food, Gyotaku Japanese Restaurant serves sushi, unagi, soba, udon, and onigiri at very affordable prices.  The Korean restaurant Hannara Restaurant has a nice menu that includes kimchi, bibimbap, jajangmyeon, bulgogi, and red rice cakes.  Another good restaurant near Makaha Beach is Button Up Café, a breakfast restaurant featuring pancakes, omelets, sandwiches, tacos, burgers, and homemade pies.

If you are looking for a hotel near Makaha Beach, there are many hotels within a 20-minute drive.  The luxurious 5-star hotel Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina offers many amenities including a private beach, pool, bar with live music, spa, fitness center, kids’ club, tennis courts, as well as Asian, Italian, and seafood restaurants. Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa is a 4-Star hotel with a pool, adults-only pool bar, spa, movie nights, and pool parties with Disney characters.  If you are looking for affordable hotels near Makaha Beach, the 3-Star Hampton Inn & Suites Oahu/Kapolei features a pool, gym, and snack bar – and Pagoda Hotel is a 2-Star hotel that has a nice Japanese-Hawaiian fusion floating restaurant.