Sand Island Beach

Nice beach that is close to Honolulu, but is very private and not crowded. Nice place for a quiet place to lay on the beach an a sunny day! Good people and safe!

Hubby and I stopped here to kill time cause there was traffic coming in town. This beach was pretty secluded and away from everything. It was a nice afternoon here and it was a pretty day considering that it was so windy. It was nice. The sand kept blowing around as I sat down.
Hubby and I enjoyed the beach and there were only a few people on the beach around the time we went. I definitely would come back here. It closes early around 6:45 pm. We left prior to the closing time but it was nice just sitting down on the beach and relaxing to the sounds of the water.

Exploring Honolulu, Hawaii...

Many years ago, some friends and I had a picnic here because there are restroom facilities and lots of parking. There are many picnic tables with benches and large (dry patches instead of grass) areas to play games. There are even two baseball fields, feral cats, and a tower from WWII!

Note: Fishing and camping are available here!

I saw some beautiful photos of Sand Island Beach by Joe C. and other photos of the spectacular sunset by Jolene L.
Gosh...

I don't think I can get sunset photos because this place is quite secluded and a bit creepy. I drove to the end of the park for the beach photos and left!

I wouldn't recommend going alone...
There were sketchy people hanging around...
Maybe some day, when I have company...

True confessions of a Townie...

They say, "You don't know what you got till it's gone." This is certainly true about beaches for kama'aina that move away temporarily and return home to the islands. It has only been a little over a year since we moved but honestly, I don't recall ever coming to this beach when we were younger because it was "too far" to drive too.

Yeah yeah, stop laughing, because I know other "Townies" that also avoid driving more than 20 minutes away LOL

This beach park is huge! There's tons of parking and the roads are fairly maintained. Parks and Recreation vehicle patrols and alerts visitors in the last hour before they lock the gates....just enough time to capture gorgeous sunset pictures!

Even the townies have to think when you hear "Meet me at Sand Island Beach". Here is my story:

With quarantine as it is, I wanted to find a picnic location where all (all 8 of us) can fee comfortable and the scene and area was acceptable, clean and safe. So, I pick Sand Island Beach.... Here are some of the comments I received:

1) What? I've not been to Sand Island past the Sand Island Business Association Industrial are....
2) Beach? With Sand? Well, it's call Sand Island Beach right?
3) Where's the beach?
4) Don't speed going into the park.... 25 MPH or you might get ticket
5) What a view....

So for me, I chose this park because it is relatively clean, close in proximity for the townies, and you get a great view of Honolulu from the ocean looking into the city compared to looking down on the city from some scenic heights.

Picnic tables readily available (of note: brink disposable table cloth and maybe cover for the benches because benches are kind of worn) Most of the tables are shaded; sitting under trees giving good shade. Trash cans scattered throughout the park so no need to bring your own trash bags

Parking plentiful!!! Nuff said on the parking

Now for some history and the irony of my selecting this place....
1) in the 19th century; Sand Island was a quarantine center for passengers from incoming ships....
2) It was also an Army internment site during WW2
3) In modern day (like the 70's) it was a homeless haven
4) TODAY- its a park run by the State of Hawaii and also home to the US Coast Guard

Park Rules- 7 am opening and closes promply at 6:45

If you are in the mood for a picnic and you don't want to venture too far; this would be the place for you to go.

Sand Island State Recreation Area is not your typical picture-perfect park or beach. It's located right offshore from Honolulu Harbor and is accessible via Sand Island Access Road, about a 10 minute drive off of N. Nimitz Hwy.

Open daily from 7:00 am to 6:45 pm.

You can enjoy a distant view of Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head. One thing you'll quickly notice is the many incoming freight and big cruise ships that anchor right in the harbor.

Plenty of parking due to the limited crowds makes this location a nice place to gather with friends. Picnic tables and restrooms are available.

Swimming conditions are limited and not allowed in the harbor shipping lanes. Note: no lifeguards are on duty so please be aware.

I mean one star is harsh. It's not the nicest park. It's pretty dated and there are shady characters afoot but it's dangerous and I like it!

No seriously, it's close to my work and I am able to make it quickly and back on my lunch break. So I'll go here twice a week. Lots of feral cats, few homeless and I'm pretty sure there's an encampment on the Ewa end in the low vegetation where the roads end. Heard there's a nude beach too but honestly nude beaches are never cracked up to what people think they be like. I usually will hang around the areas I take pictures of. Picnic and diamond head end of the beach. There's some cool street art I think by IG @deferk2s but it's quiet and pretty empty most of the time. Good for sitting on a rock on the jetty and pondering deep thoughts while waves roll in. Lots of people fishing too.

Away from tourist place and it's to find since it's in shipping zone. Nice and clean beach, plenty of parking with picnic tables & overlooking the beautiful cruse ship. We had nice lunch and enjoyed our stay.

Who knew that on Sand Island there would be a beach park? I certainly didn't know. Yea...it's "it's Sand ISLAND," but really? First of all (Stanley), I've only gone to two places on Sand Island access road in the past 14 years (the popcorn and bagel place), four if you now count the carpet place and this beach park to date. Honestly didn't know this place existed and there's a reason why - this beach park is so out of the way and almost hidden that if you weren't a frequent visitor or patron to Sand Island and all the businesses, you'd never know.

Sand Island is populated with a multitude of Industrial and commercial companies and the by products of supporting these companies include small "mom and pop" restaurants that thrive on the patronage of those hard working employees. Seated deep on the edge of Sand Island is this much neglected beach park and state recreational area.

Whether or not you're coming from east or west, get on Sand Island Access Road and drive all the way down until you pass Matson, Pasha and the U.S. Coast Guard on the left. Keep driving until you hit pay dirt (SIBP). Ironically, dirt is what you will see once you get there.

The beach park is expansive with tons of free parking (don't mind the massive concrete road barriers), 5 bathroom facilities, showers, baseball field, benches and tons of picnic tables. Like I said, huge park with all these amenities and grown, mature trees for shade. The BEACH was practically empty with a few people (I'm assuming Coasties with their family) in the water and few people laying out on the sand getting a rotisserie tan. The water seemed like a safe place to swim but don't take my word on that since I didn't experience it first hand. Sand is much coarser than Waimanalo sand but not as gritty as Pu'uloa Beach (if you've been to both you'd understand). Every couple of minutes you'll also hear and see airplanes flying overhead (quite low) so that's both amusing and annoying at the same time.

On paper (or screen) the above description reads divine but the truth is, it's got all the makings of a potentially great beach park if not for these deficiencies:

1. Grass is uninviting as it's all brown and in some areas just red dirt is seen.

2. SKETCHY!!! Even going there mid-day with my hubby I could see all sorts of "shenanigans" going down. As a woman, I would never go here alone - period. Nor would I ever come here with just girlfriends or children. Doesn't seem safe and my instincts tell me to "run, Forest, run!!"

3. The park itself is really unappealing despite all the amenities - just feels drab and dark in comparison to the bright, clean and sparsely populated beach. From the beach you can see Diamond Head in the distance as well as town and towards the right, the west side of Oahu.

Overall, come to enjoy the beach and the water but I'd skip on the park stuff. Just not a very cool place to hang out and I'd be worried about my car getting vandalized or maybe getting assaulted or confronted by the stragglers who frequent this place. Just walking from the car to the beach I felt all eyes on us and I didn't feel safe.