Waikiki Sunset: Free Places to Watch It

These times are from the U.S. Naval Observatory for central Waikīkī, pulled on October 13, 2026. Hawaiʻi does not change its clocks, so they hold all winter. Dusk, the end of civil twilight, comes 22 to 25 minutes after sunset. The last column is the sun’s compass bearing as it sets: 180 degrees is due south, 270 is due west.

Honolulu Ocean Safety’s towers are staffed 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (Ocean Safety), so a tower closes 11 minutes after sunset on October 1 and 42 minutes after it on December 1. Swim before the sun goes, not after.

The City publishes one crowd figure for these places: 11,000 visitors on an average day at Ala Moana Regional Park (Parks Board handout, Feb 2026). It has none for the Waikīkī beaches, so we make no crowd claims for them. Our Waikīkī beaches guide covers the shoreline.

View and where to stand: Kūhiō Beach Park sits on the ocean side of Kalākaua Avenue by the Duke Kahanamoku statue. Stand on the sand and face the water; the sun sets to your right, over open ocean, past the walled swim basin. The City closes the park midnight to 5 a.m. (DPR).

Saturdays: the free Kuhio Beach Hula Show runs 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the hula mound, weather permitting, after every sunset in the table; there is none on October 17 or 31 (show schedule). The state aims to start sand work on the swim basins this fall (DLNR), so check the basin when you arrive.

Getting there: metered stalls cost $3 an hour until 10 p.m. (see our Waikiki parking guide). The W Line stops on Kūhiō Avenue at Dukes Lane every 10 minutes until 6:03 p.m. on a weekday, then every 15 (TheBus schedule data).

View and where to stand: the sand along Waikiki Beach between the Moana Surfrider and the Royal Hawaiian faces the same way as Kūhiō: southwest over open water. Stand at the waterline. Tower 2A, at 2367 Kalākaua Avenue, is the first on the City’s Waikīkī list (Ocean Safety).

The boats: this is where the beach sails board. Kepoikai II boards in front of the Moana Surfrider and leaves at 5 p.m. from October through February (Kepoikai); Holokai sails 5 to 6:30 p.m. from the sand between Fort DeRussy and the Royal Hawaiian (Holokai). From shore you watch them head out before the sun drops. To ride one, see our Waikiki sunset cruise guide.

Getting there: walk from anywhere on Kalākaua. The Royal Hawaiian Center garage gives the first hour free with a $25 purchase, and the street meters run to 10 p.m. (details in our parking guide).

View and where to stand: Duke Kahanamoku Beach, in front of the Hilton Hawaiian Village at the ʻEwa end of Waikīkī, has the same open view west-southwest. The park is closed 2 to 5 a.m. (DPR).

Friday tie-in: the Hilton’s fireworks go up at 7:45 p.m. every Friday (Hilton). That is 1 hour 44 minutes after the October 23 sunset and nearly two hours after the late-November one, so you can have both from one spot with dinner in between.

Getting there: from the Duke statue it is about 1.2 miles, 25 minutes on foot by our count. The W Line from Kūhiō Avenue at Dukes Lane to Ala Moana Boulevard at Kahanamoku Street takes about four minutes; on the October 23 schedule, Friday return buses leave the stop across the boulevard at 7:48, 8:08 and 8:28 p.m. Park at the Ala Wai Boat Harbor lot: $1 an hour, cards only (Secure Parking HI).

View and where to stand: Magic Island is the 47-acre peninsula at the Diamond Head end of Ala Moana Regional Park, built in 1962 (Parks and Recreation). Walk out toward the lagoon and lifeguard tower 1G and face the open water. The park is open 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. The City’s own report warns that surf hitting the rock wall around the lagoon can hurt anyone near or on it (City EIS, 2019), so stay off the wall. Magic Island reopened on September 9 after Hurricane Lowell (City).

Getting there: parking is free, about 950 stalls in the City’s 2019 count. By bus, take Route 42 from Kūhiō Avenue and Seaside Avenue to Atkinson Drive, a ride of about 15 minutes; Tuesday trips leave at 4:45, 5:21, 5:59 and 6:32 p.m. Or ride the W Line to the Hilton stop and walk about 1.1 miles, 24 minutes by our routing. For the layout of the strip, see our Waikiki map.

View and where to stand: Queen’s Surf Beach lies between the Waikīkī Aquarium and the Kapahulu Groin, the rock wall known as the Wall. It has parking, restrooms and lifeguards (Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority), and Ocean Safety staffs towers 2E and 2F along this shore. Kapiʻolani Regional Park is closed midnight to 5 a.m. The tourism authority says the Wall is for walking only: do not jump off it.

Getting there: the Waikīkī Shell lot on Monsarrat Avenue is free and the zoo lot is $1.50 an hour (Honolulu Zoo). Route 2 runs from Kūhiō Avenue and Seaside Avenue to Monsarrat Avenue in 7 to 8 minutes, leaving 5:00, 5:15, 5:31 and 5:57 p.m. on a Tuesday. Coming back after dark, Route 8 leaves the park about every 20 minutes from 6:11 to 8:55 p.m.

The crater trail is not a sunset hike: the last reservation is 4 p.m., and everyone must be out through the tunnel by 6 p.m. (Hawaiʻi State Parks). Our Diamond Head reservations guide has the hike. The drive-in lookouts on Diamond Head Road work better: the City lists Kuilei Cliffs as closed 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. (DPR), after every sunset here. They are roadside pullouts (to-hawaii.com), and by our bearings the sun sets out over the water.

The House Without a Key at the Halekulani takes no reservations for sunset cocktails on its outdoor lawn, first come, first served (Halekulani). Hawaiian music plays 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and hula 6:30 to 8:30, so the hula comes after the sun. Dress is casual resort or beach attire with a shirt and footwear. The page lists no cover charge, and you pay for what you order. Call (808) 518-2019.

From the sand, nothing blocks it. The shore from Kūhiō Beach toward the Hilton runs at about 311 degrees, and the October to January sun sets at 245 to 267, which is 44 to 66 degrees south of that line, over open water. From Kalākaua Avenue the hotel row stands between you and the sun, so walk to the sand. The Waiʻanae Range is no factor: its summit, Kaʻala, bears about 308 degrees, at least 41 degrees from the sun in every month here. Summer is different: on June 25 the sun sets at 296 degrees, 12 from Kaʻala and about 15 from the line of the hotels. These bearings are our own math from the Observatory’s sun positions and map coordinates.

For the rest of the evening, see our things to do in Waikiki guide.

• TheBus fare. A HOLO card or exact change: $3.25 cash with no transfers, or $3 on a HOLO two-hour pass (TheBus fares).
• A credit card. The Ala Wai Boat Harbor lot takes cards only at its pay stations.
• Shoes you can slip off. Kepoikai asks beach-sail passengers for footwear that comes off easily, since boarding is from the sand.