Visit to Ala Moana Beach Park in Honolulu

A visit to Ala Moana Beach Park in Honolulu is a fantastic place to spend a beach day with easy parking and accessible to Honolulu shopping and other activities close by. A nice urban beach that is frequented by locals and also tourists without the hassles of getting into the city, parking issues and just the overall headache of being right in the downtown Honolulu area. A perfect place for family gatherings, BBQs and full beach park amenities, you’ll enjoy this wonderful beach with fantastic views of the coastline and Waikiki scenic views all the way to Diamond Head.

A nice expansive half mile white sandy beach with grassy areas, palm trees and shady areas, Ala Moana Beach Park is the perfect city beach to enjoy in the heart of Honolulu. With full amenities on the beach park to include:

Picnic table areas, benches and barbeque grills

Grassy areas fronting the beach and shady tree areas

Easy and free parking areas fronting the beach

Concession stands

Tennis courts

Volley ball beach areas and playgrounds

Multiple restored bathrooms and showers

On duty life guards

Magic Island beach adjoining which is a crescent shaped beach

Pavilion shaped music stage area

Yacht club and harbor area

Ala Moana Shopping Center is a short walk from the beach area

History of Ala Moana Beach Park

Originally a swamp area that also included the general Waikiki area, the entire area was repurposed and the Ala Wai Canal built in the 1920s to channel any excess run off water from the nearby hills directly through the canal and out to the ocean. The Ala Moana Beach Park area now includes a one hundred acre park with about a mile of sandy beach and shallow water perfect for swimming, water sports and other activities.

Enjoy this Ala Moana video overview of the beach

Fun activities to do at Ala Moana Beach Park

You’ll find plenty of fun outdoor activities to keep you busy and occupied for a fun beach day at the park or just relax and hang out and enjoy the wonderful beach views from your spot.

Walk or jog Ala Moana to Magic Island

A popular spot to walk or jog on the paved trails fronting the beach area with a light run or walk with gorgeous views all the way to Magic Islands – a beautiful crescent shaped beach. From the main parking lot follow the path and through the seawall the Kewalo basin. Mornings are popular and cool along with late afternoons into sunset time frame.

Surfing at Ala Moana beach

Ala Moana beach is a popular surfing spot to enjoy the easy and fun surfing activities at the park area. You have a bit of paddling to get to the reef area and past it to the actual breaks about another 400 feet out from the reef areas. The main surfing spots front the concession stands and tennis court areas and the areas near Magic Island called Baby Haleiwas and Bomboras break.

The surfing on the south side of Honolulu have some of the cleanest and waves in the area and is worth the long paddling out to the line up areas past the reef.

You can sign up for a surfing lesson at Ala Moana with a 2 hour lesson and surf program here for more details to having a fun surf session or you can also rent surf boards from a variety of outfitters right on the beach.

Bike Riding Ala Moana Beach

You can rent bikes at the beach with Biki Bikes for only $3.50 and cruise the pathways in both directions all the way to the Aloha Tower or into Waikiki beach area depending on how far you want to enjoy an easy cruise or more of a workout on a bike in the area.

Try some Paddle board with Yoga session

Try something new combining Yoga and paddleboard on the water with most yoga poses practising sitting, lying down or easy kneeling poses that you can master. You can try this fun yoga and paddleboard experience here for a fun 75 minute session on the water at Ala Moana Beach

Swimming in safe waters protected by a reef

With the reef offshore about 200 yards the swimming areas right off the beach are protected and calm from big surf and rip tides. Relatively safe and family friendly, you’ll find swimming in this beach area to be a great place for family and beach fun

Enjoy Sunset at Ala Moana Beach Park

With easy parking and access to the beach, sunsets are a perfect time to enjoy at Ala Moana Beach. It’s fun to walk along the walking pathways all the way to Magic Island to find your perfect spot and you can’t go wrong with having a wonderful sunset on the beach at Ala Moana.

Getting to Ala Moana Beach Park

Centrally located and just across from the Ala Moana Shopping Center, you can easily catch the bus, the Waikiki Trolley or even do an Uber to get to the beach area.

By Oahu bus, catch the Number 8 bus or Number 20 on Kuhio avenue going towards Ala Moana Shopping Center and exit at the mall and walk across the street to the beach area.

If you have a car, parking is free and easy to park in the beach area fronting the grass and beach.

Other tips to visiting Ala Moana Beach

Mornings are relatively quiet and an easy time to enjoy the beach

Sunsets at Ala Moana are also a popular time to visit and enjoy end of day at the beach

If you drive to the beach, either arrive early or later to avoid crowds and parking issues

There are concession stands along the beach or you can easily pick up food at the food court in Ala Moana Shopping Center

Check in with the life guard stations for any changing weather conditions if you want more updated information and safety for your beach day.

Check out more information to visiting Ala Moana Park here for updated details and spending a fantastic beach day at the park.

Conclusion of best things to do around Ala Moana Beach Park

For Kailua fun, you’ll love explore all fun activities and attractions around this easy and walkable and beach areas of Kailua on the east side. Hope this gives you some great ideas of things to do and see around the town and outlying areas to visit.

Thanks for visiting Oahu Travel Now and checking out this post on the top things to do around Ala Moana Beach Park. If you enjoyed reading this post, please do share it with any of the social media buttons on the slider.