Kapiʻolani Park: The Zoo, the Beach and the Bandstand

Facts from the City’s park, closure-hours, zoo and lifeguard pages, checked Oct 12, 2026.

King David Kalākaua dedicated the park on Kamehameha Day, June 11, 1877, and named it for Queen Kapiʻolani (Parks and Recreation). After 1893 the land was set aside by law as a free public park that could not be sold or leased and could not charge an entrance fee, and it is now held in a public charitable trust with the zoo and the Shell. The City calls it one of the largest and the second oldest public park on Oʻahu.

• Honolulu Zoo: 42.5 acres and about 900 animals, open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with last entry at 3, closed Christmas Day. Adults $21, children 3 to 12 $13, kamaʻāina and military $10 and $6 (City; Honolulu Zoo). The penguin and hippo exhibits reopened September 1 after upgrades (City).
• Tom Moffatt Waikīkī Shell: the outdoor concert venue, about 2,400 seats plus room for 6,000 on the lawn (Blaisdell Center).
• Kapiʻolani Park Bandstand: the Royal Hawaiian Band, founded in 1836 and the only full-time municipal band in the United States, plays free here on Sundays (Royal Hawaiian Band). This is the fourth bandstand on the site, built in 2000.
• The Queen Kapiʻolani statue, on Kalākaua Avenue near the bandstand, and the Louise Dillingham Memorial Fountain.
• The banyans, planted in 1922 and 1923 by a thirteen-year-old Lowell Dillingham as a summer project; many are now listed Exceptional Trees.

The City’s park map labels everything, from the soccer and softball fields to the tennis courts. For more on this end of town, see things to do in Waikiki.

Across Kalākaua Avenue, the park runs along the shore from Queen’s Surf to Kaimana Beach. The Queen’s Surf seawall and promenade, which collapsed in May 2024, reopened on June 13, 2025 (City). Honolulu Ocean Safety staffs towers 2E and 2F along this stretch and 2H at Kaimana Beach, 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily (Ocean Safety). Our Waikīkī beaches guide covers the water, the marine rules and the snorkeling section by section.

Waikīkī Aquarium: run by the University of Hawaiʻi and open since 1904, the second-oldest public aquarium in the country (aquarium). It is open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily (hours); admission is $12, $5 for children 4 to 12 and seniors, and $8 kamaʻāina (prices). It is open while undergoing renovations, and closed all day December 13 (marathon day) and December 25.

Waikīkī War Memorial Natatorium: the World War I memorial pool has been closed to swimming since 1979, and in August 2025 the Mayor said restoring the pool is no longer feasible (City). See the arch from outside.

Kaimana Beach: at the Diamond Head end, with a timed low-flow shower and a drinking fountain; skip soap and shampoo. Hawaiian monk seals haul out here often (DPR), and the Kaimana Beach Hotel sits on the sand.

Diamond Head rises right behind the park, and the drive to the crater trailhead runs along its edge. The summit hike takes a reservation, and the details are in our Diamond Head reservations guide. Do the hike early, then come down to the park for the zoo or a swim at Kaimana.

The Diamond Head Tennis Center, renamed in 2019 for Donald A. Andrews, sits on the Paki Avenue side, and more tennis courts line Kalākaua by the bandstand. The rest of the park is open lawn and fields: five soccer fields, three softball fields and a rugby pitch on the City’s map, plus numbered picnic and event sites that take a permit for groups. The zoo rents wheelchairs and double strollers for $15 (Honolulu Zoo).

Walking: by our count, from the Duke Kahanamoku statue it is about 7 minutes to the zoo corner, 12 minutes to the bandstand, 15 to the Shell or the aquarium and 18 to Kaimana Beach.

TheBus: Routes 2, 8 and 42 run from Kūhiō Avenue to the zoo corner at Kapahulu and Kalākaua in about 7 minutes, and the E stops at Monsarrat and Kalākaua; Routes 14 and 200 run past the aquarium (TheBus schedule data). Fares are in our Getting Around Oahu guide.

Parking: the zoo lot, entered from Kapahulu Avenue, costs $1.50 an hour with a four-hour limit; its machines take cards, bills and exact coins (City). The zoo says the Waikīkī Shell lot across Monsarrat Avenue is free (Honolulu Zoo). Kalākaua Avenue has metered parking on the park side, and the aquarium keeps a handful of free stalls for its own visitors (aquarium). More in our Waikiki parking guide, and every stop is pinned on the Waikiki map.

The City closes the park from midnight to 5 a.m. (closure list); you may walk through to reach the ocean but not stay. The City’s on-leash dog list includes only a median strip at the park (DPR), and pets are not allowed in the zoo, the aquarium or the Shell. The zoo also bans alcohol, smoking, vapes, drones, bikes, scooters and skateboards inside its gates (City). For an event permit in the park, call (808) 768-4624 (DPR).

The park reopened on September 9 after Hurricane Lowell, though the City noted that some areas could stay closed while crews cleared storm damage (City).

• Waikīkī Shell concerts: Steel Pulse on October 23 (Blaisdell), The Green on November 7 (Blaisdell) and Iration on December 4 (Blaisdell).
• Honolulu Marathon, December 13: the course runs along the park past Sans Souci and the aquarium to a finish line near the bandstand, which stays open until the last runner is in (Honolulu Marathon). The Kalākaua Merrie Mile runs the day before.
• Hapalua half marathon, April 11, 2027: finishes in the park after looping Diamond Head (Honolulu Marathon).
• Saturdays: the KCC Farmers Market, 7:30 to 11 a.m., is outside the park, up Monsarrat on the Kapiʻolani Community College campus (KCC). Route 2 continues there from the park.

The things to do on Oahu guide has the rest of the island.