Favorite Beaches on Oahu

Kailua Beach Park

We’ve given all of the beaches nicknames and Kailua Beach Park is known as “Snowball Beach” in our house.  Add a little water to the powdery white sand at Kailua Beach and you’ll be able to form perfect snowballs!  This beautiful beach park offers shade, plenty of outdoor showers, clean restrooms and relatively easy to find parking.  For us, Kailua Beach Park is more enjoyable overall when toting around a toddler when compared to the neighboring Lanikai Beach which does not offer any of the perks mentioned above.

The inviting crystal clear turquoise waters and sandy bottom also make it the perfect beach for the little ones to play in the water.  Most areas of the beach are gently sloping and waves are typically small making this one of the most family friendly beaches on Oahu.

 

 

In the winter months, the North Shore of Oahu is the surf mecca of the world.  Big surf also creates a lot of driftwood washing up on shore which has resulted in us giving this beach the nickname of “Stick Beach”.  If you’re lucky enough to be visiting Oahu in the winter, keep an eye on the surf report and come out early when the surf is good at Pipeline or Backdoor.  Bring some beach chairs, binoculars, plenty of sunscreen, and you’ll have a front row seat to world class surfers doing their thing.  

 

 

When summer rolls around, there’s a lot more sandy beach and a lagoon that will form which is fun for the kids to splash around in.  The surf may not be as big in the summer but keep an eye out for flags warning against swimming as the current remains very strong.  As the saying goes, ‘when in doubt, don’t go out’.