Kawela Bay Beach Park — Attraction in Oʻahu

A short walk through a coastline rain forest with well-marked and level trails adjacent to - and apparently well-maintained by - the Turtle Beach resort. You do NOT have to stay at the resort to use this park or Kawela Bay Beach, which is also beautiful.

Bring your water shoes if you plan to get into the bay, because most of its bed is covered in sharp volcanic rock. You can wade in without shoes if you stay close to the narrow sandy shore, but expect to step on something pointy eventually even so. There are plenty of loose volcanic stones, bits of coral, shells, sticks and other sharp objects in the sand, so step lightly!

With some foot protection, this is a great spot for kayaking, snorkeling and spotting endangered green sea turtles. Don't approach or touch the turtles! They will swim up to check you out on their own if they feel like it. You can also see them from above from a perch along the low volcanic rock cliffs that line the point shoreline.

The Banyan Tree is one of the highlights back on land, but the rest of the forest is wonderful too. Park on the road near one of the entrances, and take a nice relaxing walk amongst the trees. Head out to the Pillbox, which isn't all that interesting itself, but the view from the point is stunning. Then meander back and buy an ice cold coconut from the (pricey) farm stand across the street. It's a fun and low-stress place to spend...

There is a stretch of white sandy beach for any beach goer to enjoy outside of Turtle Bay Resort. If your a sunbather, fisherman or a family you can find a place here and stay there all day! This review is more for information, I spared showing any beach pics for I would be duplicating the one that already exist. I'm here to share with you how to go about enjoying your day. There is a few free Beach Access parking available in the right side parking lot area just before you were to pull into the resort lobby that is marked as so. This stretch of white sand beach is actually marked by signage and the pathway as pictured gives you an idea of what you be looking for. We arrived bout 11am there were a few stalls available with a sign basically stating the Resort would not be responsible if by chance something happened to your vehicle so practice being smart to not have anything visible and tempt whoever the opportunity to do something to your vehicle. On the beach there were lots of room to stretch out till bout 1pm when you would see lots of local people and families there to enjoy themselves! There is no public restroom and no lifeguards on duty. When we can it was during low tide but as time went on and tide began to rise you could tell there was a strong current in some areas. It was a nice day, sun shinning, no wind at all just every1...

Gorgeous beach is just a short walk from the road like 5-10 mins. It has no facilities, no lifeguards, no bathrooms, no showers. It does look like the resort offers surf lessons at the beach. It's pretty secluded and not that busy even on weekends. Lots of trees for shade or to put up a hammock. Saw a few 🐢 honu pop their heads above water so keep an eye out from em.

I have seen this beach recommend for snorkeling but so far every time I have been it's been extremely murky, like less then a foot of invisibility, with extremely calm waters. It is really rocky so there are probably a lot of fish. Maybe they are mistaking this beach for a different one? Maybe the water is clearer with more waves? Or maybe the water is clearer much further out from shore? Definitely had more success snorkeling at Turtle bay resort just up the road.

Good for swimming, photos, walking along the beach or just chilling. Water shoes would probably be good but try to avoid stepping on rocks in the first place as you never really know if they are...