The beauty of the beach cove is five stars, but safety was not good, so I take one star out. Yes,…read moreadults should be fine with carefully mind but kids and people with conditions should have someone to consult with them. No safeguard down here, wave is very strong. The area that has lots of rock is very dangerous, even it looks safe and gorgeous it is very slippery and sharp. The wave will suck you out easily then you have to crew back to save your life on that type of rock so YOU MUST BE CAREFUL with your jewelry! The water can suck out all of your belonging on you body if you wear to the water! I know it is sound stupid if anyone will wear jewelry to the beach but believe it or not my husband lost his wedding ring and his pinky ring at the cove. Another girl that walked down with us also lost her rings and bracelet too. I talk to a group of local who was there, one of them lost their necklace in the past at this place. My husband tried to go back but I stopped him. It isn't worth at all to risk of your life for it. It is just the object even his value for our story, but I won't trade anything for his life. It was sad and disappointed, and my husband blame himself to made that such a wrong decision, but I take it as an exchange you lost something but safe the most valuable. From the pictures you will see the area that most people are enjoy, it is the area on the right of the beach that next to the cove and the surface at the bottom is flat and only sand. The area is safer to enjoy this beach but as I mentioned about the wave, you must be mindful of your own safety. This beach is like a beautiful flower that draw the insect but also very dangerous.

Beauty right before your eyes! The name of this cove is very deceiving. How can anyone name…read moresomething so beautiful after something so... yucky?! Beats me, but I didn't see not one cockroach on this beach. In fact, what I saw was a gorgeous aqua beach cove which the cleanest water waves. Luckily, this place goes by two other names which sound way more appealing (Halona Beach Cove and Eternity Beach). Cockroach cove is a small beach cove that's located between the Halona Blowhole and Hanauma Bay. Although it's small, it's super popular with both locals and tourists alike. Since the blowhole is so close to the cove, people like to come here to take pictures. It's also a great spot to snorkel as the water is super clear and shallow. It's a popular spot for swimming too (of course). Getting down to the cove requires a super short but steepish decent down jagged rocks. There's a parking lot (the Halona Blowhole parking lot) that fills up pretty quickly. However, since most people just comes to see the views of the blowhole, many people come and leave throughout the day making it easy to find a parking spot at times. Although there was a small crowd of people when I was here, it's waaay less crowded than nearby Hanauma Bay. The water here is just as stunning too. If you have time to trek down to this cove, do it. It's breathtaking and it surely deserves a visit.

Celebration of Life at the beach on the Windward side of O'ahu, Hawai'i…read more.. My high school classmate's Memorial Service was posted on Facebook. I had been working with her son, so I wanted to see him in person and drop off a sympathy card. I asked a bunch of classmates to join me, but Kahana Bay is about a 45-minute drive from Honolulu without traffic. Most people had to work or had other plans. Two gals were able to attend! Towards the end of the journey to Kahana Bay Beach, the road narrows down to one lane. Along the way, the scenery is breathtaking because some of the road is right next to the ocean. Using GPS, I entered the first parking lot, but I didn't see any signs. I parked at the next parking lot - which was for Kahana Bay Camping Site - and I walked on the sand to the Beach Park. I found the large tent with many white picnic tables and benches. I signed in at the reception table and presented my envelope. My friend's son was there - so I had a chance to chat with him before the service. The parking was all free. Some parts of the lot weren't paved. The sand was white and almost powdery-fine in texture. The foliage grew wildly. The shade from the trees was much appreciated. This was a peaceful area with no cell phone service. It was a place where my friend had spent her childhood... and now she has been laid to rest here... Aloha 'oe, Lyanne... until we meet again...

Beautiful place to stop and admire the scenery. The cove is a secluded place to parasail, surf,…read moreswim, or play in the sand. Parking and restrooms are available. The restrooms are a little strange since the stalls are half the height of typical stalls. If someone is already in there you may just want to wait until they are finished. We saw some dogs here that seemed homeless. Hopefully we were wrong and their owners were close by. We did not stay too long since it was raining and chilly. Overall, it was a nice place to stop and rest before continuing our drive.

Beautiful beach clean restrooms Nice drive out to the…read morewestside We had about 30 people enjoying the day

I was honestly just driving around the island with no set plans and happened to stumble into this…read morespot. Finding a beach with actually decent free parking right off the highway can be a pain out here, but Nānākuli Beach Park made it super easy to just pull over and touch grass. The beach itself is really nice and wide, but the coolest part is definitely exploring the surrounding spots. If you walk around a bit, there are a lot of hidden rocky areas, tide pools, and cool vantage points to check out that most people probably just drive right past. It can get a little busy with locals hanging out and camping, but it gives it a genuine, non-touristy feel. Definitely worth pulling over if you're doing an island cruise and want to explore somewhere a little less manicured!

Big, strong waves, but beautiful blue water on the base. So…read moreyou do need a military id to get in. It wasn't too crowded and had bathrooms and food nearby. The nearby eateries also offer free WiFi if you need to get some schoolwork or work done while on vacation.

Went to Bellows on 23 March for the first time in a long time. It's odd to see people give…read morenegative reviews about a beach based on jellyfish being in the water. It's the ocean. The jellyfish don't know that Bellows is a semi private beach that requires military ID access to get onto. They are just there like they are there at Kailua, Kalama, Lanikai, and Waimanalo beaches. Going on a Sunday, the beach was not very crowded. We got there around 1100 and there was still parking available in the main parking lot. Not sure why another reviewer complained about no public shower as there is one right at the point where the parking lot ends and the beach begins, right next to the public restroom building. We brought our two dogs and kept them leashed the entire time. I brought our own dog water bowl but recognized it was too small and our dogs kept knocking them over so I walked to the shoppette and was able to purchase a much larger silicone dog dish for their water. Afterwards, we stopped at the reservation building where we sat on the covered deck and had some chicken and french fries as well as some cold drinks. These are all amenities you won't find at Kailua, Lanikai, or Kalama Beach Parks. Nothing but pros and no cons. The best part is, it is o ly about 20 minutes from where we live in Kaneohe. Will go again.

Cool stop along the way shaved ice and along the road at the north shore…read more Educational and recreational - fun and awesome all wrapped together!

Win-dy! But what a…read morebeautiful, scenic beach. There weren't a lot of people out on the sand; maybe because the beach was a little too rocky? Parking is free and was quite empty when we stopped by. I imagine this place gets more crowded during peak tourist season.

I learned about Electric Beach from the local Hawaiian Yelpers. The beach is away from tourist…read moremainstreams but popular for snorkeling classes and beginner surfers. The actual name of the beach is E Komo Mai Kahe Point Beach. The water is warm thanks to a discharge from a local energy plant (hence the name Electric Beach). The warm water draws sea life, making the snorkeling spectacular. We stopped twice today. Early morning we stopped on the beach area on the north side to watch the surfers and enjoy the quiet, beautiful beach. The backdrop of Hawaiian mountains is lovely. This is one of my favorite beaches, for sure. Towards noon, we moved to the beach on the south side. There is a modern shade deck, restrooms, outdoor showers, picnic tables and another sandy beach. My granddaughter had a blast in the water. Older kids were having fun on body boards. Lots of people were scuba diving. A life guard on duty watched. Parking fills early at both lots. What to bring: beach chairs, beach umbrella, snacks, water, snorkel equipment, sun screen....

another great snorkeling spot if you're an intermediate and above swimmer! there's enough ample…read moreparking here in a lot, but it's notorious for car thefts so don't leave any valuables in the car. the most difficult part about snorkeling out towards the pipes is just the shore as the waves can get pretty aggressive, but once you're past the shore the waters are a lot calmer and there's tons of different species of fish to see near the pipes and we even spotted a honu as well!

Is there such a thing as a hidden gem in Hawaii?…read more This place comes very close to it. While Wifey and I were exploring North Shore after having crossed off Giovanni's Shrimp Truck and Matsumoto's Shave Ice from our bucket list, we needed a place to wind down and relax. We drove along Kamehameha Highway and pulled into Kahalewai Place and found a parking spot along the side road. One thing we noticed right away that it seems to a a local spot and there weren't too many tourists around, even though we were up in North Shore. We walked towards the beach and followed some people with surfboards in tow. I could see a bunch of locals out by the beach on their paddle boards and surfboards, and most of them were kids and young adults. It seems to be the local surf spot for beginners as the waves were pretty tame, but it was consistent with the North Shore winds behind them. It also seems to a be a good fishing spot for locals as there was a Filipino family enjoying themselves having a picnic. I got into a conversation with one of the local fisherman (P. Sherman), who told me what types of fish he was catching and how to cook 'em. He showed me his bucket of his catches of the day, and they were enough to feed his family. He didn't have to, but he was nice enough to let me take photos of him as he was more than accommodating. I thanked him for his time and appreciated his hospitality with my intrusion on his daily life. We explored the area some more as there were trails to follow, but there were also "Private Property" signs posted everywhere. I was beginning to wonder if Mark Zuckerberg bought half of this place with all those signs around. But we skirted around it as we went around the beach and enjoyed the relaxed vibe and energy of the beach. We also liked that it wasn't very crowded compared to the hustle and bustle on the main strip of Haleiwa as it felt like a cocoon shielded us from that source. We could have spent more time on this beach, but we wanted to see and experience as much as possible on the North Shore of Hawaii. Definitely a place you could spend a day at if you were a local.

Great beach to learn to surf. Lessons from Sand n Sea were here; waves about 3-5' when we were…read morethere. A few other surfboard rental n lesson places are set up in the parking lot. Each place has a different number of surfboards in different sizes. Reservations are best if you have specific board needs.

Peaceful and secluded. Definitely not the prettiest beach in the world, but in a place where the…read morecrowds seem to take over pretty much everything, it's nice to find some solace in the sand. And the reason why it's so peaceful?! It's tucked behind a residential neighborhood. Parking is on the street only and there's not much of it. So, it'll be a short journey to get there, but this is what also deters the big crowds. The sand isn't the softest and the views aren't amazing, but the sunsets are pretty and the water feels good. There are no facilities here either (except for one large garbage can near one of the entrances). You gotta pack it in, pack it out, and use the restroom before you go unless you're a local who lives in the area. Had a little picnic here and it was really enjoyable. The few people that I come in contact with were really friendly. Most of them were walking their dogs on the beach, so I feel like this is the local dog beach in town. There's a nice breeze on this side, so it's a great beach to come to when that hawt Hawaii heat attacks. It's also really clean. If you're looking to escape the crowds and don't mind a longer trek, Hunakai Beach will do you right.

Hunakai beach was our third destination to go to a couple of weekends ago. My daughter wanted to go…read moreto the beach. First we went to Ala Moana beach park but there was some paddling competition so there was no parking. Then we drove to Waikiki and there was a craft fair at the park so there was no parking there either. So we just yelped a place closer to home and found Hunakai beach. You just park on the side of the road and walk down a beach access road. It was surprising because there were quite a few people there. People were all spaced out so that was good. The beach itself is very beautiful. There was just a lot of coral and rocks. Not really the best place to go swimming. That didn't stop my daughter though, she just took her floatie and pulled it in the water and kicked her legs so she floated down the ocean. She had a great time. Great for parking and sunbathing but if you want to swim, you should probably try to find a new place.