Movies Filmed in Hawaii: Where to Find the Oahu Locations

The list runs by release year. The Film Office’s public feature-film list stops at 2006, so the newer entries lean on the ranch’s film page and news reports, linked below.

The Film Office lists Blue Hawaii and the 1993 Jurassic Park as Kauaʻi productions (Film Office), and both did shoot there. The Oʻahu spots above come from newspapers and the ranch.

• Family night: Jurassic Park, then Jurassic World, then Kualoa’s Jurassic Adventure Tour, which takes guests aged 3 and up.
• History night: From Here to Eternity, then Pearl Harbor, then a trip to Ford Island.
• Date night: Blue Hawaii and 50 First Dates, then Hanauma Bay.

Kualoa Ranch lists Jurassic Park, Pearl Harbor, 50 First Dates, Lost, Jurassic World and Kong: Skull Island among its productions. It says “over 70 Hollywood movies and 100’s of TV shows and commercials have been filmed at Kualoa since the 1950’s” (Kualoa Ranch). For Jurassic Park, HAWAIʻI Magazine places the gallimimus stampede, where Dr. Grant and the kids hide under a log, in the ranch’s valley.

Two tours go to the sets. The 90-minute Movie Sites & Ranch Tour stops at the Kong boneyard, the Jumanji dance-fight area, the ATV hill from Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates and “Godzilla’s massive footprints,” then a WWII army bunker full of movie props (ranch tour page). The 2.5-hour Jurassic Adventure Tour visits the original Jurassic Park sites and the Jurassic World sets, including the Indominus Rex paddock and the gallimimus field (ranch tour page).

Kualoa is a working cattle ranch and private nature reserve, so the sets are on ranch land and you see them with a guide. The ranch prohibits drones in, over or around the property without written permission (ranch FAQ) and says it is 45 minutes from Waikīkī. Our Kualoa Ranch tours guide compares every tour, price and age limit.

The public side of the valley is separate. The City’s Kualoa Regional Park is a short walk from the ranch gate, Kahana Bay Beach Park is a 5.3-mile drive north (our computed route, Oct 14, 2026), and the ranch’s own beach stop is covered in our Secret Island guide.

The 1953 film’s famous beach scene was shot “in the surf at Halcona Cove, on the island of Oahu,” says the BFI, which also credits Burt Lancaster with the idea of playing it lying down in the surf. The AFI Catalog adds that the film was shot partly at Schofield Barracks. The cove sits below the Hālona Blowhole Lookout on Kalanianaʻole Highway, 11.4 miles and about 27 minutes from central Waikīkī (our computed driving route, Oct 14, 2026). In July 2017 the lookout, lot and cove closed for a day for a Universal feature film (Star-Advertiser).

Watch the cove from the lookout. The Star-Advertiser reported in February 2026 that no lifeguards are posted there (Star-Advertiser), and Hawaii News Now reported “Do Not Enter” signs at the lot’s edge (2016). The state tourism authority asks visitors to stay behind safe-distance barriers (HTA). Lock the car and keep bags out of sight, as HPD advises. Our guide to the Hālona Blowhole has the full safety picture, and our east side drive puts it on a loop.

Blue Hawaii’s Oʻahu location shoots covered Waikīkī, Ala Moana Beach Park, Hanauma Bay and Tantalus, according to the Star-Advertiser; the wedding on the Coco Palms grounds is on Kauaʻi. Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve is open Wednesday through Sunday, with entry from 6:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and closed Monday and Tuesday. Visitors 13 and older who live outside Hawaiʻi pay $25 plus an online fee, children 12 and under are free, and the City recommends a reservation (City and County of Honolulu, checked Oct 14, 2026). Booking steps are in our Hanauma Bay reservations guide.

Godzilla shot its Waikīkī scenes on the helipad area and the beach at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in 2013 (Star-Advertiser), and HAWAIʻI Magazine says most of the filming was in Waikīkī. The beach is the part you can walk: see our Waikīkī beaches guide and things to do in Waikīkī.

The Star-Bulletin reported in May 2001 that Ford Island’s hangars 54 and 79, its control tower and building 37 “were used extensively in the filming of the Disney movie” (Star-Bulletin). Hangar 79 now houses aircraft at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, and the museum says bullet holes from December 7, 1941 can still be seen there (museum).

The museum says visitors without military base access cannot drive on and must take the shuttle from the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. It is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day (FAQ, plan your visit, checked Oct 13, 2026). Start with our Pearl Harbor visiting guide and how to get there from Waikīkī.

Hawaii News Now reported that Kong: Skull Island closed out its Oʻahu shoot on King Street between Mauna Kea and River Streets, “recreating Saigon in the 1970s,” on December 17 and 18, 2015 (Hawaii News Now). It is a working street near King and River Streets, and our Chinatown guide covers where to eat and park.

Lost’s pilot built its crash site on Mokulēʻia beach, along the makai side of Farrington Highway, in a shoot that ran through April 30, 2004 (Star-Bulletin). It was a production set, so go for the North Shore coastline, not for props. The Film Office lists the series as an Oʻahu production (Film Office).

Group them by area. Hālona and Hanauma Bay are 2.0 miles and about 7 minutes apart (computed route, Oct 14, 2026). Kualoa pairs with Kahana Bay on the windward side, Chinatown with Waikīkī, and Pearl Harbor needs its own morning because of the shuttle. Our things to do in Oʻahu guide sorts the rest of the island, and our Hawaii travel tips covers the basics.

Filming your own trip needs no state permit: the Film Office says permits “are not required for photography or video that is only for personal use or which takes place on private property” (Film Office). The ranch’s drone ban still applies.