Wiil be in Honolulu next week for 4 days( business, I know, tough duty!). Could anyone recommend a pool for some lap swimming? Staying in the Ala Moana Mall area. Of course swimming @ Waikiki is always an option. Thanks all.
Ala Moana Beach Park isn’t the most picturesque, but parking is easy (at least mornings and weekdays) and you can swim 1000 meter “laps” if you want.
Kaimana Beach Park (next to New Otani Hotel) has much nicer water, even fish, and parking isn’t bad on that side of Waikiki.
With ocean water temperatures 77-81 year round, why would you want to swim in a pool? I do sometimes, but only for convenience.
Off Waikiki or Ala Moana Beach (it’s 1K long, the poles mark 500 M from the end with the life guard tower) for ocean swimming. Waikiki is clear water (usually), Ala Moana smells like suntan lotion is murky. Just check this calendar and the signs/lifeguards at the beach to find out about jellyfish invasion. They don’t always come 7-10 days after a full moon, but it’s a good bet.
The Makiki Pool (2-3 miles away) is open 11:30-1 (M-Th) and 3:30-5 (M-Fr) and 1-4 (Sat/Sun). Nice short course pool with lane lines. You can google makiki pool and get the phone # to confirm the hours and find a map to get there. It’s a public pool so it’s free to use.
UH has masters 5:45-7AM and 5:30-7PM M-Fr. Not a lot of people swimming this time of the year so you can do the board workout or your own with little problem. They have a drop in fee. Must be a USMS member to swim with them. It’s expensive to park on campus and depending on when you go you can usually find parking on the street off campus and walk 5 min to the pool.
There’s a 25yd pool at the YWCA Lanakila downtown that has lots of lap hours. I think they have a drop in/daily rate, but it’s been years since I’ve been there.
There are 3-4 other pools w/in about 5 miles of Ala Moana Mall area, but they don’t really offer different hours from what I’ve listed.
Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.
Swimming at Ala Moana is always an option, but even swimming at Waikiki beach isn’t too bad for a few days. I’ve done laps from the kiddie pool area to the Hilton and while you need to dodge the surfing lessons and the outriggers, you do encounter honu fairly often.
Wow, thanks so much. Looks like several options are available and thanks for the heads up on the jellyfish.
As others have said- UHH. Great facility, super easy and convenient workout times.
Have Fun!
i use to go to the kaimuki pool as a kid… they should still be open
There is a 50m pool at Manoa district park. It’s open around 11-1 and mwf from 6:30-8:30.
You can catch the #6 bus from the shopping center to the park.
Another option is swimming in the lagoon @ the Hilton Hawaiian Village. I used to run down there and swim wide circles around the center island…kinda fun and its quiet there early in the morning.
Another cool workout is to go in the morning to Ko’ Olina and swim the lagoons. Running in between each one.
But, by fair the best swim is at Waimea Bay when it is flat. Again you can swim across the bay and run back on the beach.
Thats the best part about Oahu, so many fun options you never get bored and will never want to swim in a lap pool again.
YMCA on Atkinson is the closest.
Palolo is a 50m and nice.
KW
Seriously, hit the Pacific!
There is a 50m pool at Manoa district park. It’s open around 11-1 and mwf from 6:30-8:30.
i second this. i loved using this pool: length, times, parking, free. it was perfect for my needs and desires when i was there.
peggy
I personally prefer Palolo Park pool to Manoa Park pool. Manoa makes you circle swim along lines on the bottom of the pool. Palolo lets you swim wherever (they don’t delimit lanes). The downside to Palolo is there is only a few hours a day when they are long course, otherwise you have to swim short course. Manoa is long course all the time.
the manoa pool is whacked! the up one lane down the other works okay if there aren’t many people and other are paying attention to who’s swimming around them, but that rarely happens. Even though it has great hours for lap swimming, I avoid it.
Even though it’s short course, the Makiki Pool is still the best public pool in the area. Salt water and lane lines.
But the Manoa pool has spectacular scenery. Something about looking at the mountains is pretty cool when you breath. Sometimes there are some really fast guys there. Uof H masters is probably the best pool/workout in town.