Ala Moana Beach, Oahu

Ala Moana Beach is located on the south side of Oahu, Hawaii.

This long stretch of beach has lifeguards and calm water because of the large reef that breaks the waves.

You can go swimming, snorkeling, and paddle boarding here.

There's free parking and public bathrooms too.

This is where it is located on Oahu.

We pulled into a large parking lot that is for Ala Moana Beach and Magic Island Lagoon. This is free parking. If you drive the street that goes along Ala Moana Beach, there is also street-side parking.

From the parking lot, we walked over to the beach. You can see that there is a long stretch of turquoise water and to the left is a large reef. This reef protects this area from large waves. They even have buoys set up so you can swim this long stretch of beach.

We also saw a lot of people paddle boarding.

These are some aerial views of Ala Moana Beach.

We laid out our towels and decided to go snorkeling. As we made our way across the swimming area to the reef, we noticed that the reef has a steep drop off. We swam along the edge of the reef to find areas that you could swim in and explore.

After snorkeling, we got out and dried off in the sun laying on our towels. 

We had an amazing time swimming, snorkeling, laying out, and exploring Ala Moana Beach. We would definitely go here again.

(Click on the map above to go to a Google Maps larger view.)

Ala Moana Beach is free to go to and the parking lot is free too.

Total Cost: $0

These are the checklist items I recommend:

• Bring your own towels, beach chairs, and beach umbrellas.
• Bring some drinks and snacks.
• Bring reef safe sunscreen.
• Bring your own snorkeling gear.
• Don't leave anything in your car.