PHOTO: HAWAII TOURISM AUTHORITY (HTA) / TOR JOHNSON
O‘ahu is blessed with more than 130 golden-sand beaches that slope gently into the beckoning blue expanse of the Pacifi c. Find your favorite beach from the small sampling below: In WAIKĪKĪ , you’ll fi nd a 2-mile strand of a dozen beaches just outside your hotel doorstep. They stretch from the Ala Wai Yacht Basin to Diamond Head and include Kūhiō, Sans Souci (Kaimana), Grays and Kahanamoku. ALA MOANA BEACH PARK , just west of Waikīkī, also is a favorite of local residents.
HANAUMA BAY NATURE PRESERVE, just past Hawai‘i Kai in East Honolulu, is known internationally as a premier snorkeling and sunbathing destination.
Back on the highway headed east, you’ll travel along a rugged, swell-splashed coastline featuring SANDY BEACH and MAKAPU‘U. Both beaches are beautiful, but sometimes treacherous.
Continue down the highway to Waimānalo, where you’ll find WAIMĀNALO BAY STATE RECREATIONAL AREA AND BEACH PARK, a 4-mile stretch of generally safe, always beautiful white-sand beach.
KAILUA BAY , a favorite kayaking, windsurfing and sailing location, offers 3 miles of sand, small shore breaks for the beginning bodysurfer, windsurfing and stand-up paddling lessons, all on a relatively uncrowded beach.
NORTH SHORE are several notable beach parks: Kualoa, Kahana, Hau‘ula and Mālaekahana.
Once you reach North Shore, you fi nd the renowned Sunset and Waimea Bay beaches.