Waimanalo Beach Park and Bellows Field Beach Park

Facts from City, Hawaii Ocean Safety and Marine Corps sources, checked Oct 13, 2026. The map shows Waimānalo Beach Park; Bellows has its own map below.

The bay has two beach parks with similar sand and different rules. Waimānalo Beach Park is run by the City’s Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and is shut only from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. (closure hours). Bellows Field Beach Park sits on Marine Corps Training Area Bellows. DPR says it is “under the purview of the U.S. Military, but is normally open for public access on weekends and holidays” in an agreement with the City (DPR, July 2026).

The Marine Corps sets the schedule. Its recreation order calls the Bellows beach “a training area Monday through Friday,” then opens it “from 1200 Friday through 0800 Monday and during state and national holidays” for day use and permitted camping through the City (MCB Hawaii Base Order P1710.1). Day use runs sunrise to sunset, and City lifeguards can close the beach for hazardous conditions (the Marine Corps’ 2023 environmental filing agrees).

Training can still close the park. DPR announced closures for July 10 to 13 and July 24 to 27, 2026, from Friday afternoon to sunrise Monday (DPR), and the military reserves the right to close it for its purposes (DPR, 2020). DPR posts the notices.

ID and the Air Force station. The weekend window is public: DPR calls it public access, so the park does not require military affiliation. Bellows Air Force Station is a different place. Its site limits it to military members, retirees, eligible veterans and DoD civilians, plus their dependents and guests (Bellows AFS). Its cabins and campsites are not the public park’s (DPR).

The City’s 2024 study of Waimānalo Beach Park describes a sandy beach with “an even and gradual slope” and nearshore water used for swimming, bodyboarding, paddling and fishing (City environmental assessment). Because of the fringing reef, surfing is not common along the bay; the closest popular surf spot is near Makapuʻu.

A gentle slope does not make the water calm. Hawaii Ocean Safety warns that shorebreak, waves that break directly onto the sand, is unpredictable and can drive swimmers into the bottom; the average wave height at a spinal cord injury is 3 feet (Hawaii Ocean Safety). Safe Beach Day, built with the Hawaii Lifeguard Association, the City and the Health Department, tags both parks for shorebreak, rip currents, strong currents, jellyfish and sharp coral (Waimanalo, Bellows). Bellows Air Force Station, on the same bay, adds Portuguese man o’ war and no diving in shallow areas (its safety page). More in our guide to swimming safely on Oahu.

Honolulu Ocean Safety lists Tower 6A at Waimānalo Beach Park and Tower 7 at Bellows (tower list). Hawaii Ocean Safety shows Waimānalo Beach 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily and Bellows weekends only, same hours (lifeguarded beaches). Tower closures are posted at hnl.info. Swim in front of a tower.

After heavy rain, check the Department of Health’s water quality map. It issued brown water advisories at Waimānalo Beach Park in February 2025 and May 2026, and at Bellows in May 2026 and again on October 9, 2026.

Waimānalo Beach Park has two comfort stations with showers, picnic tables, drinking fountains, a playground, a lit basketball court, ballfields and a canoe hālau (City study). The rebuilt Pahinui Pavilion reopened on August 28, 2026; DPR says electrical and grass work should finish by the end of 2026, and renovation of the comfort station and recreation building is expected to begin in early 2027 (DPR).

Shade comes from trees. The sand begins at an ironwood grove, and the park also has coconut palms, seagrape and naupaka. Ironwoods drop limbs in wind: Bellows Air Force Station says they have shallow roots and can rot inside unseen, and it has been removing older ones near its campgrounds after a large limb fell in July 2023 (Bellows AFS).

At Bellows, DPR’s notices mention bathrooms, showers and 50 campsites (DPR); no official page lists more, so pack shade and water.

Driving: Waimānalo Beach Park is about 16.6 miles and 37 minutes from Kūhiō Beach without traffic, by our count. Bellows is farther along Kalanianaʻole Highway, toward Kailua (City address 41-1201). Our east side drive covers the stops on the way, including the Makapuʻu Lighthouse trail.

Parking: Waimānalo has two lots, 35 stalls by the campground and 74 by the ballfields in the City’s 2024 count, which calls them “frequently insufficient, especially near the campground on weekends” (City study). Come early. At Bellows the City lists a lot gate that closes 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. (closure hours); we found no official stall count or fee.

TheBus: from Waikīkī, take the W Line to Ala Moana Center (5 to 8 minutes), then Route 67 toward Waimānalo. On Saturdays it leaves about every 30 minutes from 7:35 a.m., and the ride to Waimānalo takes 65 to 70 minutes (TheBus data). We found no confirmed stop at Bellows’ entrance.

Alcohol and glass: the Marine Corps order allows drinking only at MCTAB pavilions on its beaches and bans glass containers on all of them (order), so leave both at home when you go to Bellows.

Turtles and seals: green sea turtles have nested on the Bellows shoreline since 2020, and DPR says it cordons off confirmed nests (DPR). Stay at least 50 feet from a nesting turtle or a resting monk seal, with no flash or artificial light (turtles, seals). To report a nesting turtle here, call the Hawaiʻi Marine Animal Response hotline, 1-888-256-9840.

Both parks are City campgrounds, so permits come from DPR at camping.honolulu.gov. Online reservations open at 5 p.m. on the Friday two weeks before the camping period. A permit covers 10 people, 2 tents and 3 vehicles, and applicants must be 18. A 3-day permit was $32.75 and a 5-day permit $53.22 on DPR’s page, updated August 2025 (DPR).

Waimānalo has 10 sites in the George Keʻa Mahoe Jr. Campground, with five-day permits from Friday afternoon to Wednesday morning (DPR). Bellows has 50 sites and three-day permits. DPR has paused its overnight camping every spring for turtle nesting, April 30 to August 28 in 2025, so check the camping site for this year’s dates.

More: best beaches on Oahu and things to do on Oahu.