I will be in Oahu at the very beginning of November, and I’m trying to decide where to stay. I figure that anywhere is much the same for long bike rides and running, so I’m making my decision based on where the best swimming will be. I’ve heard that in winter the currents and waves on the north shore pick up and that the tiger sharks come close to the shore. I don’t particularly want to swim in a pool unless I have to. Waikiki and Ala Moana seem ok for OW swims but I’m not sure downtown Honolulu is the best place to have a vacation?
Kailua Beach and Lanikai Beach have some great swimming. It can be a little rough if it’s windy but not as bad as North Shore and I never saw any sharks. No hotels on the windward side but plenty of vacation rentals. Kailua also has a free 50m pool.
Ko Olina is not good for running or biking…or swimming really.
Waikiki is muy tourista (hotels, shopping, restaurants, hustle and bustle), but you can swim at Ala Moana easily (I’ve even done laps of Waikiki beach, and almost always see a couple of Honu). Waikiki is its own animal, and definitely feels like a tourist area (locals avoid it) vs. the downtown Honolulu (think South Beach vs. downtown Miami). It’s easy to bike away from the beach up into the hills, and run toward Diamond Head park. It depends what you want to do with your non training time. Waikiki is definitely not the same as a quiet North Shore cabin.
My favourite swimming hole in Honolulu is the protected cove in Ala Moana park. Google map it. It is between the harbour and the Ala Moana beach on the point. No swells or chop or sharks because of the barrier between it and the ocean. I do laps in it. Probably 300 yards per length.
Not sure of the date but they used to have an awesome November race called the turkey swim. Local, small, fun, and if you win your age group you used to get a discount on your thanksgiving turkey.
If you carefully jump off the wall at Waikiki, you can swim either left or right for 30-40 min. and return for an hour/longer swim. Exit is bit shallow, but not troubling. I have been traveling to Honolulu for so many years now, some consider me “kama aina” (local). Swim is gorgeous. Solo swimmers out there abound.
Like the map above from previous poster, you can swim 5 min. beyond the windsock then go right, and swim to the church and back. Aim at the twiin radio towers.
Breakfast bagel at Bogarts up Monsarrat past Paki. Strip mall .25 miles beyond Waikiki Elementary.
Aloha!
Yeap. Kaimana/San Souci Beach. Out past the wind sock and hang a right. This is the Waikiki Rough Water swim course (Labor Day every year). Don’t even think about sharks on Oahu. There hasn’t been a shark attack under normal conditions for years. (I seem to recall there was a bite several years ago on a surfer on the windward side. It was after heavy rains near stream mouth when the water was cloudy and the light was poor - early morning). There hasn’t been shark incident on South Shore - Waikiki for many, many years.
You don’t need to “jump off the wall” at the Natatorium or the Kapahulu Groin, just drop your gear at the life guard tower at Kaimana and walk out and swim through the channel.
Follow the crowd of other morning/afternoon swimmers.
Ala Moana inner channel is marked by 500 and 1000 meter buoys. Inside is swimmers, outside is for SUP. No sharks ever here. Cloudy water. Lots of other water users. Ala Moana life guard tower near bathrooms (Diamond Head end of park - near Magic Island) is place to leave your dry gear. Don’t ever bring your wallet loaded with cash and leave it on the beach while you go swimming.
Another option to consider is getting a vacation rental in Kailua and walk to Kailua-Lanikai for swimming. No sharks. Can be choppier. No big waves to contend with. Windier (it is, after all, the windward side). There are life guards and lots of tourists and water users.
Or I like to go to this little disused fish pond in Waimanalo when it’s high tide (shallow) because it’s near where I live and very good water and beautiful. It’s right behind the Shriners Beach Club (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=shriner’s+beach+club+waimanalo&ll=21.325908,-157.681146&spn=0.006086,0.011212&client=safari&oe=UTF-8&fb=1&gl=us&hq=shriner’s+beach+club&hnear=0x7c00137a6b155dc3:0x1a670223d1be9cc1,Waimanalo,+HI&cid=0,0,1993276755951046112&t=h&z=17&iwloc=A)
now that my trip is done I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the recommendations. All the Honolulu spots you guys mentioned are excellent. I did a few laps of the “wind sock” which I thought was a great spot. Ala Moana is the closest I’ve seen to something resembling a giant open water pool - it was as calm as a mirror and very protected. I didn’t get to Kailua because I found some good swimming on the north shore - Waimea bay, which is pretty treacherous in big surf, is a good spot to swim when conditions are calm. There are a few currents and the shorebreak can pick up quickly, but wave direction and swell have to be really perfect for there to be big waves at Waimea, so I was lucky to have calm waters the whole week. I did try swimming at Halweia beach park which looked calm and inviting, but when I was about 50 yards out it got pretty shallow, over rocks full of sea urchins. It must have been a funny sight seeing the “frantic stationary horizontal sculling” move I pulled holding as much breath as possible, just to avoid being stabbed by the spines while slowly reversing back to deeper water. That swim lasted all of 6 mins!
As for riding, the roads on the north shore and windward (east) side of the island are suitable. Naturally I had to do the original Ironman bike course, which I would not recommend if you are after a pleasant ride! The east shore is great, but the middle of the island (I went counter clockwise, so north to south) has bad road surface and crazy drivers. I got 3 flats from things I’ve never seen on roads before. I’m glad I did this ride (to have done it) but the rest of the week I rode the routes between Haleiwa and Kanehoe on the north + east, which I found to be fine. Running was awesome on the north shore so no complaints there.