Kahanamoku Beach & Hilton Lagoon, Oahu

Kahanamoku Beach and the Hilton Lagoon are right next to each other on the south side of Oahu in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Both of these are great for families with young kids as the lagoon is man-made and the water is always calm and the ocean side has a rock barrier that keeps that part of the ocean fairly calm.

This is where it is located on Oahu.

There is a large paid parking lot just northwest of the beach. It is a pay by your license plate, so you will need a credit card to pay for it. We paid $1.50 for two hours.

After we paid for parking, we walked over to the beach. We decided to explore the Hilton Lagoon first as it was the closest and then we explored and snorkeled at Kahanamoku Beach.

The Hilton Lagoon was free to visit. We saw people swimming and paddle boarding here. They also have large water tricycles that you can rent and ride around the lagoon.

I went swimming and snorkeling in the lagoon, but the visibility wasn't that good and I didn't see any fish. The Lagoon is man-made so I wasn't expecting to see much.

After hanging out at the lagoon, we walked over to Kahanamoku Beach which is right next to it. The water was calm here too as they have a large rock wall that protects this bay from large waves.

As we walked the beach, we noticed that there are more rocks and shells in the sand here. It was still nice, but not as fine of sand as we had seen on other beaches.

After exploring the beach, we laid out our towels and decided to go snorkeling. The visibility was decent and we saw some fish. It wasn't the best snorkeling, but it was still fun.

After snorkeling, we got out and laid out on our towels. The warm sun felt so good.

You can see below that there is a small beach on the other side of the parking lot. We didn't know about this beach and would definitely want to go back to try snorkeling there. It looks like there is a big coral reef there.

Overall, we had a great time exploring the beach and the lagoon. We would definitely go back.

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

Kahanamoku Beach & the Hilton Lagoon are free to visit, but you will need to pay for parking. We used the parking lot on the west side, which was pay by plate so you will need a credit card. We paid $1.50 for 2 hours.

Total Cost: $1.50 for parking

These are the checklist items I recommend:

• Bring a credit card to pay for parking.
• 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.