Waimanalo Bay Beach Park(Waimanalo Beach)

Located on the southeastern part of the island of Oahu, Waimanalo Bay Beach Park – also known as Waimanalo Beach, Sherwood Beach, and Hunananiho Beach Park – is a popular beach with white sand.  Waimanalo Bay Beach Park is not to be confused with another beach park with a similar name called Waimanalo Beach Park – this park is located to the south of Waimanalo Bay Beach Park.  Waimanalo Bay Beach Park has been listed as one of the best beaches in the United States by many publications including Business Insider and USA Today.  It is also a favorite of Randall Kaplan, the world’s foremost beach expert who is known as Mr. Beach.  

The beach is open between 7 am and 7:45 pm.

Waimanalo Bay Beach Park has lifeguards between 9 am and 5:30 pm.  In addition to lifeguards, it has many other amenities including showers, restrooms, and picnic tables.  Dogs are allowed in the portions of the beach that are below the high tide line. 

Waimanalo Bay Beach Park offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, fishing, hiking, volleyball, picnicking, swimming, surfing, kitesurfing, windsurfing, paddleboarding, snorkeling, scuba diving, boogie boarding, jet-skiing, water-skiing, bodysurfing, camping, wakeboarding, boating, kayaking, canoeing, surf-skiing, and wildlife watching. 

The water here offers fun and manageable surfing waves – this makes it popular among all kinds of surfers and bodyboarders.  The beach can also become windy generally during afternoons and this makes it ideal for kitesurfers and windsurfers.  Scuba divers and snorkelers also frequently visit this beach to explore the vibrant biodiversity here. The southern part of the beach is a particularly ideal snorkel site.  However, if you are planning to swim, snorkel, kayak, and canoe here, we recommend being careful because the water here is known to have unpredictable rip currents, especially during winters.  Snorkelers and scuba divers should also note that the water here can also have poor underwater visibility.  Jellyfish also live near this beach and these animals can inflict powerful stings when disturbed.  

If you like taking pictures with beautiful views, this beach offers amazing Instagram-worthy views of the Oahu shoreline and the Pacific Ocean, along with the scenic Ko’olau Mountains, especially at sunrise – the beach is also a popular spot for newlyweds who take their wedding photos.  This beach is an ideal place for those visitors who are looking for a quieter beach experience during weekdays because it sees very few visitors during this time.  If you like beachcombing, you can find many kinds of interesting shells here.  

Waimanalo Bay Beach Park also has oceanfront tent campsites that offer a fun Waimanalo Bay Beach Park camping experience – if you are planning to camp here, you can visit the City and County of Honolulu’s camping permits website for more information regarding the campsite amenities, fees, and rules.  If you are planning to organize an event near this beach, there is a community house nearby – this house is managed by a local residents’ club named the Shriners Beach Club Waimanalo.

Waimanalo Bay Beach Park has wheelchair-friendly access mats for disabled visitors.

Getting to Waimanalo Bay Beach Park is easy – the park is easily accessible from Kalaniana’ole Highway, which is also known as Hawaii Route 72.  There are multiple parking lots near the beach, along with multiple nearby free street parking spaces.  We recommend avoiding leaving valuables in your parked cars because this area has been known to have break-ins.  We also recommend wearing multi-layered clothing while visiting here in winter because the weather is known to get considerably chilly.

As an interesting fact, the area around Waimanalo Bay Beach Park was once used by criminals for stripping stolen cars.  The acts of these criminals were often compared to the acts of Robin Hood by the public, and the area around the beach was nicknamed “Sherwood Forest.”  This beach is also used as a seasonal nesting site by rare Hawaiian green sea turtles during the summer.  The area around this beach also served as a filming location for the television shows Magnum, P.I. and Baywatch Hawaii.  

There are many attractions near Waimanalo Bay Beach Park.  Makapu’u Point Lighthouse Trail offers amazing views of the southeastern Oahu shoreline including the nearby Koko Head and Koko Crater – the trail leads to a headland named Makapu’u Head, which offers views of a nearby historic lighthouse.  The trail also offers an interesting wildlife watching experience.  Waimanalo District Park is a recreational park that offers many amenities including a large playground, restrooms, basketball courts, tennis courts, benches, and large grassy areas.  Sea Life Park Hawaii is home to many kinds of aquatic and semi aquatic animals and birds including sea lions, dolphins, penguins, seals, and many kinds of native fish species – it also offers interactive animal encounters, and exciting animal shows.  The park also hosts many fun events including the annual Twilight Concert Series.  The Spitting Caves are sea caves that are a 20-minute-drive away and are carved along oceanfront cliffs – these caves shoot up the ocean water that enters them into the air at high speeds, resulting in a visual spectacle.  The clifftop area above these caves is a dangerous, yet popular cliff diving and cliff jumping sites.  If you are looking for another attraction near the beach, Ulupo Heiau State Historic Site has an ancient Hawaiian religious temple called the Ulupo Heiau.  Local legends often claim that the area around the temple was inhabited by dwarfs and this temple was constructed in a single night.

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants near Waimanalo Bay Beach Park within a 20-minute-drive.  Hawaiian Island Cafe offers a variety of amazing dishes with Hawaiian influences including burgers, pizzas, salads, seafood, and croissants.  Formaggio Grill is an upscale restaurant that serves amazing Mediterranean-inspired dishes and is known primarily for its great steak and seafood.  Boots &Kimo's Homestyle Kitchen serves amazing dishes for breakfast and lunch including poultry dishes, beef dishes, burgers, waffles, pancakes, seafood, and French toast – it also has interesting memorabilia related to the famous rugby team Denver Broncos.  Ohana Karaoke Grill & Bar offers amazing Asian dishes including bulgogi, chicken katsu, and bibimbap.  If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby restaurant, Ono Steaks and Shrimp Shack offers amazing dishes for breakfast and lunch including Asian dishes, burgers, steaks, seafood, Hawaiian-inspired lunch plates, fried rice, and eggs.

If you are looking for a hotel near Waimanalo Bay Beach Park, there are many great nearby Waimanalo Beach hotels and Waimanalo Beach cottages within a 40-minute drive.  If you are looking for an upscale hotel, the 5-Star Kahala Hotel & Resort offers many amenities including bike and beach towel rental facilities, multiple restaurants and bars, a fitness center, a spa, and a private lagoon that has dolphins.  Another great upscale hotel is the 4-Star Prince Waikiki Hotel which offers many amenities including a spa, multiple restaurants and bars, a golf course, a fitness center, multiple shopping stores, a library, a tennis club, multiple pools, and a hot tub.  The 4-Star Aston Waikiki Beach Tower is another upscale hotel that offers many amenities including multiple pools, a hot tub, cabanas, barbecue areas, a fitness center, sitting areas, a sundeck, a terrace, and a lounge.  A more affordable hotel is Waimanalo Beach Cottages which offers many amenities including a garden with a barbecue area, coin-operated laundry facilities, and nearby convenience stores – a minimum five-night stay is required for staying at this hotel.  If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby hotel, the 3-Star Aqua Palms Waikiki offers many amenities including a cafe, a pool, a sundeck, a barbecue grill, loaner facilities for beach chairs and towels, and an ATM.  Another great accommodation option is renting a vacation rental house near this beach – you can find many Waimanalo Beach rentals online.