Hawaii Travel｜Makapuu Beach Park, the Easternmost Beach Park on Oahu

by: Ctrip Local Guide - Hawaii Zhao Youli

Makapuu Beach Park is the easternmost beach park on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Due to consistently strong winds and waves year-round, it is also a popular surfing spot. 'Makapuu' means 'protruding eyes' in Hawaiian. The park offers parking, restrooms, changing rooms, picnic tables, and shower facilities. The main beach has lifeguards, but visitors are not allowed to swim there. Besides the main beach beneath the right cliff, there are two smaller beaches on the left called Kaupo Beach, along with a rocky reef area. These two smaller beaches are easily overlooked and have no lifeguards on duty, so caution is needed there. In particular, the middle small beach has very strong winds and waves, and the water is very deep—do not swim there. The park has sparse shade, with only a few scattered shrubs and a couple of coconut trees. Tidal pools have formed among the extensive rocky reef areas, making for great photos, but you have to endure some physical discomfort and be careful— the rocks are very sharp and easy to get injured on.

Not far from the park, there are two uninhabited small islands offshore. The smaller one is called Kaohikaipu Island, and the larger one is Manana Island, also known as Rabbit Island, because its shape resembles a rabbit's head. Speaking of which, I miss the rabbit heads from Chengdu dearly. At the end of the 19th century, rabbits were indeed introduced to the island, but they caused significant ecological damage and were later eradicated. Both islands are among the more recent extinct volcanoes on Oahu. They are now seabird sanctuaries, home to over a hundred thousand seabirds and many Hawaiian monk seals. Without permission from the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, landing on the islands is prohibited.

In the area, you can also see some unique coastal plants, such as the coastal sandalwood (Santalum ellipticum), from the Santalaceae family and Santalum genus. This sandalwood was one of the types exported to China in the early 19th century. The Hawaii Marine Biological Park is also located next to Makapuu Beach Park. The male lead in the movie '50 First Dates' worked at this marine park.

Below are photos previously taken at Makapuu Beach Park.

Do not steal images, text, or rewrite content. Reproduction requires permission and attribution! I am not a botany professional; I may have misidentified the plants in the photos. Please excuse any errors and feel free to correct me! Thank you!