Hawaii, You?

Post by: Britta Gehres

I want to tell you something about the beautiful beaches I have visited on O’ahu. Even in the blazing heat I found myself a spot were I could almost spend a whole day. But please be aware that there might be some people who don’t grant you anything in life. I’ll come to that later…and now, back to the Beach! 

In my opinion every beach is different and if you’re lucky enough to find a beach for your own just stay there and appreciate the sound of the ocean and the breeze in the palm trees.

Hawaii travel blogger photo

Makua Beach

 

By the time we arrived on Hawaii the only thing we wanted to do is jump into the ocean. I mean, after 8 month working our asses of in the bush without any ocean whatsoever it’s a pretty decent explanation right. So after getting in the car we drove northwest and got out of the car at the prettiest beach we saw on this route. Luckily it was a beach we could immediately make everyone jealous with. Really small grinded sand and beautiful clear water in colors from crystal clear to bright turquoise and blue as the ocean is supposed to be. 

Hawaii beach photo
Hawaii beach photo
Hawaii beach photo

Makua Beach is one of the most northwestern and one of the remote beaches you’ll find on Oahu. Besides some fisherman you’ll have the beach to yourself most of the time. It feels like an untouched world as even the mountains in the background are untouched. Please be aware that you can’t walk far into the ocean as the ground gets steep really fast. We only got to this beach once as we were busy discovering the rest of O’ahu but this is a really nice beach if you want to be on your own and far away from tourists. We got there by car and I guess so should you as it’s a struggle going there by Bus but for the first time going into the ocean on Hawaii it was kind of a perfect spot. 

Waianae Mountains

Lanikai Beach

Oh yeah, Lanikai Beach. Living up this name all the way trough, Lanikai Beach (heavenly sea in Hawaiian) is the perfect combination of white sand beach and azure water giving a perfect view of the Mokulua Islands. Maybe some of you remember this beach from my previous post when I was writing about the Pillbox Trail. 

Lanikai Beach

You can easily go there by bus when taking No. 57 (Kailua – SeaLife Park) to Kalanianaole Hwy + Opp Castle Medica and from there on No. 70 to Lanikai. Get out at Alapapa Drive. From there on walk across the street and go straight through Kaelepulu Drive until you arrive at Mokulua Drive. While walking along Mokulua Drive to the right you’ll notice small path which will lead you to the beach. 

Lanikai itself is a really expensive neighborhood. There are a lot of vacation rentals. Due to increasing popularity this beach might have a lot of visitors during the weekend but you’ll be good to go during the week. This beach was one of the first beaches we went to as the Pillbox Trail isn’t far away from it. And what’s better than taking a refreshing dip into the ocean after you’ve had an amazing hike, hey?! 

This beach gives you almost everything from kayaking to the Mokulua Islands to snorkeling as there are a few rocks in the water where you can see some Hawaiian coral life going on. 

Lanikai itself is a really expensive neighborhood. There are a lot of vacation rentals. Due to increasing popularity this beach might have a lot of visitors during the weekend but you’ll be good to go during the week. This beach was one of the first beaches we went to as the Pillbox Trail isn’t far away from it. And what’s better than taking a refreshing dip into the ocean after you’ve had an amazing hike, hey?! 

 

Lanikai Beach photo

This beach gives you almost everything from kayaking to the Mokulua Islands to snorkeling as there are a few rocks in the water where you can see some Hawaiian coral life going on. 

While we were spending our Day at this fine ass beach we discovered something in the water. Something dark coming right at us. After a while of confusion we ran out of the water, grabbed the GoPro and ran back into the water again. Two curious monk seals were curious enough swimming closer to the beach, giving us a clear look at their faces. I actually wanted to upload a video but no can do as it won’t work.

I really liked this beach but as I already said it can be crowded sometimes so we went on and explored some more. Let’s see what we got next. 

Kuhio Beach

Kuhio Beach, in my opinion, is one of the most visited beaches on Hawaii. Located in Waikiki Bay, O’ahu’s most famous bay it’s as touristy as ever. I mean, who doesn’t want to go out of the hotel standing on a beach straight away?! We only went there once as it was just too full of people and there was not really a place to sit. Due to erosive force of the ocean the beach was about to completely disappear a few years back so Honolulu decided to pump some sand offshore onto the beach. When it comes to Sunsets this beach is a good spot as the sun slowly goes down on the right side of the horizon.

One of the attractions of the beach is the famous Duke Kahanamoku Statue. He is probably the most famous surfer of Hawaii and it’s said that he even brought surfing to Australia. He’s also called “the Father of Modern Surfing”.

Kuhio Beach
Kuhio Beach Hawaii

Waimanalo Beach Park

Alright, let’s get it on with the Waimanalo Beach Park. I guess it was the second most visited beach we visited while staying on O’ahu. This beach is just beautiful. Not only they have a McDonalds with WiFi in walking distance, it’s also the longest beach on O’ahu itself. Walking from beginning to end will take you about 1 1/2 hours as it’s about 4.8km long. Getting there is really easy, whether you go by car or by bus. If you go by car you can easily take the route to Maunawili and just drive along the road going south. Just drive along until you see a McDonalds, there, that’s your spot, don’t go any further. If you’re lucky or early enough you can turn left into the street next to McDonalds and just park there. Go to the end of this road and you’ll see this magnificent beach with its oh so blue water. Going there by bus from Ala Moana Center you can take Bus No. 57 Kailua to Waimanalo and get out at Kalanianaole Hwy + Opp Aloiloi St right across McDonalds.

This beach park has got everything you need for a day full of sun. You’ll find showers there, a picnic table and lots and lots of shade from huge trees. Also one of the things to do there was swinging life away as there is a huge swing underneath a tree where we spend a lot of time soaking in the sun.

Lanikai Beach

Due to the fact that this beach is really long you don’t have to worry about other people as they spread out. You can see a lot of locals doing their famous barbecue and if you’re lucky listen to some music from their ukulele’s. The water itself is really shallow so you can walk a while until you have to start swimming.  Due to a small coral reef the waves which are crashing down on the shore aren’t huge at all so it’s a nice spot to just bobble around. 

Beach photo Hawaii with swing
Hawaii beach photo

Mokulēʻia Beach Park

Driving up, up,up the coast close to the most western point of O’ahu there is  the Mokulēʻia Beach Park. It’s the only Beach Park with facilities along the north shore and has got plenty activities to offer. Whether it’s windsurfing, kite surfing or snorkeling as there is a shallow reef. The day we went there we also visited the Kaena Point State Park (I’ll come to that later), so it’s a perfect opportunity to combine walking and swimming together. As we didn’t wanna lay down at the most crowded point we drove a bit more west where there’s a beach called Mokuleia Army Beach. There are small spots to park your car and you can easily access the beach. The only disadvantage is, that there’re no palmtrees or shade at this point of the beach whatsoever. So it can be pretty hot. Please bring some sunshade or a beach tent with you. 

As lucky as we were on this day some turtles paid us a visit while we were swimming in the ocean. As unlucky as we were we didn’t bring the GoPro which was a good thing on the other hand as you have to appreciate some things on your own. We pay tons of money for the best picture ever but in the end you’ll never have a picture taken the way your eyes can see.  The water is really shallow and as you can see on the picture I attached the waves are really small. Unfortunately I didn’t take tons of pictures of this beach as we left most of our stuff in the car. 

Makapu’u Beach

 

Let’s finish this list of beautiful beaches I’ve visited on O’ahu with my most favorite and on the other hand most hated beach of all of them. Taking the Bus No. 23 from Ala Moana Center getting out at Pahoa Ave + Kilauea Ave, you’ll take the next Bus No.22from Kilauea Ave + Pahoa Ave to Sea Life Park. From there on you have to walk down the Road and cross the highway so access the Beach.

Makapu’u Beach
Makapu’u Beach

Makapu’u Beach is located on the southeastern part of O’ahu right next to the famous Sea Life Park next to a highway and backed by sea cliffs. Due to trees which grow underneath the highway you won’t even notice the cars passing by above you. On this beach we spend most of our time dozing of in the shade of trees, diving underneath huge waves and enjoying the clear water in one of the tide pools. This beach is definitely NOT made for a relaxing swim. Once you’re stepping into the water you’ll have trouble swimming out a bit further as the waves are so powerful they’ll throw you right back to the beach but once you’re out there you can easily dive underneath them and enjoy the beautiful warm water. 

If you think about going back be prepared to dive with the waves otherwise it’ll happen the same to you as happened to me. By the time I wanted to go back to shore a wave caught me and pressed me onto the ground making it really hard to keep my breath. As it was over I had to struggle very hard to come to shore due to the fact that I was trying to take deep breath as the next wave was coming right at me so please be careful and don’t take a swim there if you think you aren’t a good swimmer. 

As some of you might notices I mentioned some tide pools before and let me tell you, there are some pretty cool ones!! Once you’re on the parking lot just walk straight to the shore and you’ll see some rough rock formations which you have to climb while walking up the coast. Sooner or later you’ll notice some of the most beautiful tide pools I’ve ever seen. And while the waves are crushing onto the rocks surrounding the tide pool you’ll be perfectly fine taking a dip in those pools. 

Makapu’u Beach
Makapu’u Beach

I have to tell you I really, really love this beach and I would totally recommend it to anyone who asks me. 

 

The sad thing about this beach is that all that glitters isn’t gold. Due to the current trash from all over the ocean is pushed onto this beach so do yourself a favor and clean at least up after yourselves. 

 

Also let me tell you something I hope you’ll never get acquainted with. Take care of your stuff, whenever and always. One Day we were on this marvelous beach. I was dozing underneath our favorite tree and my companion was enjoying life in the ocean when I woke up and noticed some boys sitting under an umbrella right where we sat. 

Honestly I didn’t pay much attention to them as some days before other people were sitting there while everyone was minding their own business. So I got up, placed both our backpacks a bit further down so that we could easily see them and went into the water to join my companion. Once I was in the water turning my head back to the shore my mood changed immediately. My companion swam back to the shore running up the hill looking for our backpacks. They were gone and with them the boys which were sitting next to us. I ran out of the water running up the hill through the woods trying to find the boys. My companion was running around the beach trying the same and even a life guard helped us asking everyone on the beach if they saw something suspicious. After an hour maybe we came back to the lifeguard booth. Our feed were covered in blisters as the sand was so hot during midday and I started to recognized that it’s all gone and that we probably never ever going to see our stuff again. Not only our new mobile phones and my smartwatch was gone (which we bought with our hard earned money from digging in shit all day) but also memories. Memories in the shape of Polaroid pictures which we had taken wanting to decorate our rooms with it. Memories in form of my backpack which I had bought the first day I’ve landed in Australia. I cried almost a whole day through and the last week we spend on Hawaii I didn’t wanna leave the house or I was just really afraid while walking outside as not only stuff was gone but also my faith in humanity and if I’m honest, I’m still not over it. Due to the fact that our hosts were just the most beautiful human beings they managed to give us some money which we could transfer to their PayPal accounts before as even our drivers license, credit and bank cards were gone. 

So please do me a favor and always take care of your stuff and if you’re on Hawaii. I would also recommend you not to put valuable things into your rental car as some people might even break the cars open only to get to your stuff. 

I hope you still enjoyed my post about the beautiful beaches on O’ahu. I know there are more but we just settled down at the ones we liked the most. Thank you for reading and if you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment or text me!

You can find Britta here:

 

Website: https://whereisbrittinow.wordpress.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brittaa_ny/ 

Britta

Britta

Guest Blogger

I started travelling when I was 15 years old with visiting the US and continued following the travel path since then. I’m always curious for more and if travelling was for free you would never see me again. 

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