pronounced SAN-dee
Famous shorebreak beach — beautiful to watch, dangerous to swim, not a family swim spot.
NWS forecast for this exact lat/lon — forecasts can change, re-check before you go.
We hand-author beach details from on-the-ground sources. The city dataset (Sandy Beach Park) is an official inventory that can lag reality. Worth a cross-check on arrival.
Drinking-water flags vary across datasets and the fountains themselves can be out of service. Refill bottles before you leave home if it matters.
Kalanianaʻole Hwy, Honolulu, HI 96825
Sandy Beach is on this list because tourists visit it and need to know: do not let small kids in this water. The shorebreak slams directly onto a steep sand shelf and produces neck injuries every year. Toddlers can play in the very-back sand only; older kids can boogie board with adult supervision and only when conditions are small.
The honest pick here is: drive out, picnic on the grass, watch the bodyboarders, fly a kite. Do not swim. There are great beaches a few miles in either direction for actual water play (Hanauma reservation needed; Makapuʻu has a shorebreak too).
Highly-trained lifeguards — they handle multiple serious injuries here every month. Listen to flag warnings and lifeguard instructions; do not try to body-bash this beach with kids.
This beach sits in the Tsunami Evacuation Zone per Hawai‘i Statewide GIS. If sirens sound or shaking is felt, move inland and uphill immediately. Hawai‘i Emergency Management →
Long free parking lot along the highway side of the beach. Easy access.
Public restrooms at the main parking area.
Sparse — bring an umbrella and a hat. The bluff side gets some afternoon shade.
Visit for the view and the picnic, not the swim. Watching pros bodyboard at sunset is the local move.
Accessibility: Paved sidewalk from the parking lot; sand access requires steps in places.
Dramatic east-side beach with the lighthouse view — strong shorebreak limits family water use to small-condition days only.
Reef-protected snorkel preserve in a volcanic crater — Oʻahu's best-known snorkel beach, with a strict reservation system.
Long stretch of fine white sand on the windward coast — quieter than Kailua, with mostly gentle entry.