Ala Moana Beach Park

Aerial view of Ala Moana Beach Park and its beach. Magic Island is on the right.

Ala Moana Beach Park is a free public park on the island of Oahu, U.S. state of Hawaii, located between Waikiki and downtown Honolulu. This 100-acre (0.40 km2) park has a wide gold-sand beach that is over a half-mile (800 m) long.

Protected by a shallow reef offshore, it is one of the most popular open ocean swimming sites in Hawai’i, with an estimated 4 million visitors annually. However, there are sharp corals, so most people prefer the east end of the beach (the one that's closer to Diamond Head) where the ocean bottom is sandy and has no reef or rocks. The middle section and west end of the beach has rocks on the nearshore ocean bottom, which makes entering the ocean trickier. Lifeguards are stationed on the beach daily.[1][2]

Ala Moana's ocean bottom drops quickly, so novice swimmers should use caution. Big grassy areas, banyans and palm trees make the park a good place to picnic, barbecue, play various ball games or go running. There are lifeguards, showers, restrooms, phones, tennis courts, picnic tables, food concessions and a music pavilion. Ala Moana Beach Park is a favorite among Honolulu residents. It is right next to "Magic Island" where many cultural events are held.

The park is closed from 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m.[3] Police enforce the closure with citations and arrests.[4]

Like almost all of Honolulu's city parks, Ala Moana Beach Park had many homeless people during the day and night, until the city started closing the park for the night in 2006.[5][6] Fodors travel guide rated it a "high crime area" at night after dark partly on this basis.[7]

  1. ^ City and County of Honolulu. "Ala Moana Regional Park". Department of Parks and Recreation. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  2. ^ "To-Hawaii - Ala Moana Beach Park".
  3. ^ Department of Parks and Recreation. "Park Closure Times".
  4. ^ Hawaii News Now. "Homeless crackdown catches Waikiki tourists".
  5. ^ Stacy Yuen (January 2014), Homelessness in Waikiki
  6. ^ Mary Vorsino (April 22, 2015), What Are We Doing to Fix Hawai'i's Homeless Crisis?
  7. ^ Jess Moss; Linda Cabasin; Mark Sullivan, eds. (2012), Fodor's Hawaii 2013, Fodors, p. 88, ISBN 9780307929273