How to get to Lanikai Beach from Waikiki

ALOHA!

Lanikai Beach is one of the most iconic beaches of Oahu… and Hawaii!

It’s where you go to get the picture perfect image of the white sand beach, amazing turquoise-colored water, and the twin Mokulua Islands off in the distance.

If you want to see iconic Hawaii, then it’s worth it to go to Lanikai Beach.

 

Plenty of people go to Lanikai Beach from Waikiki, and you can go on your own. It’s on the east side of Oahu, and you’ll be going to Kailua to go to Lanikai Beach.

The cheapest way to get to Lanikai Beach without a car is by bus. But as it goes when taking the bus from Waikiki to the east side of the island, it does take time.

There are people who even take an uber to get to Lanikai Beach.

And while you’re in Lanikai, you might want to do the Lanikai pillbox hike.

If you’ll be renting a car and you drive to Lanikai, it’s important to know that parking is known to be difficult near the beach. There is no official “Lanikai Beach parking lot.” Instead, you’ll be looking for street parking… and that’s if you’re not there on a day in which there is no parking allowed around the Lanikai Beach access.

You might consider parking at the Kailua Beach parking lot instead, which would then mean a little extra walking with your beach gear.

 

As with most beaches on Oahu, Lanikai Beach is FREE.

But Lanikai Beach doesn’t have any beach facilities (no bathroom, no outdoor showers, etc), while Kailua Beach does. (Kailua Beach is free too.)

 

👆 Lanikai Beach will give you views of the iconic Mokulua islands! Here’s one of them.

 

 

Waikiki to the Lanikai Beach is a little less than 20 miles. By car, it takes about 35 minutes. It might be longer if there’s traffic.

Now, I’ll show you below the different ways you can get to Lanikai Beach from Waikiki!

 

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How to get to Lanikai Beach

Now, here is a little more about getting to Lanikai Beach from Waikiki, by ca, by bus, or by uber.

 

Driving (trailhead parking)

If you’ll be renting a car, then you can drive to Lanikai Beach.

There is no official parking for Lanikai Beach, and instead you’ll be looking for street parking in the Lanikai neighborhood.

There are days where no parking is allowed on the streets near the beach access.

There will soon be even less street parking for the beach, as there’s a street parking ban that’s set to go in effect. This seem to apply to some streets, not all.

For alternative “easier” parking, you can look for parking at the Kailua Beach parking lot that’s a few minutes drive away. It’s possible parking can get full at these parking lots. (And there is more than one parking lot. One small one closer to the Lanikai Beach side, and the other main parking lot.)

As you can expect, if you park at Kailua Beach to go to Lanikai Beach, it also does require extra walking, possibly 15 to 20 minutes with all your beach gear. There is an uphill you’ll need to walk up with that beach gear, but that’s also among the most scenic parts of the walk! You’ve got views overlooking Kailua Bay! (map)

There is also a local Lanikai bus that will allow you to get close to the beach without walking as much.

Sometimes the parking lot closest to Lanikai Beach does fill up as it’s rather small, so it might be difficult to find parking there too. You may have a better chance at finding parking at the main lot.

First you go and look for the Lanikai Beach access paths (map), and then assess the situation from there.

On google maps, the parking lot “near” Lanikai Beach is listed as “Lanikai Beach or Kailua Beach boat ramp” (map).

The main Kailua Beach parking lot is listed as “Kailua Beach parking” (map).

 

The best case scenario is that it’s a 40 minute drive from Waikiki to get to Lanikai Beach. But in reality, it may take a bit longer with traffic.

And you may want to make a few stops along the way!

You can take the coastal route so you can see the Halona Blowhole (reviews) and Waimanalo Beach (reviews).

Or you can take the mountain route and drive the Pali Highway (map) in order to stop at the popular Pali lookout (reviews).

If you want to make a few longer stops for mountain views before going to the beach, you can go to Byodo-in Temple or to Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden.

 

To rent a car to go to Lanikai Beach and more, search for the cheapest car rentals. The best prices will generally be from Honolulu Airport.

Take a look at expedia car rentals and discovercars.

 

 

Bus

I’ve taken the bus to get to Lanikai Beach.

As long as you’re okay with it taking extra time, patience, and walking, it’s totally fine!

There is a bus stop within a few minutes walk to Lanikai Beach.

But if you’re making the effort to go to Lanikai Beach from Waikiki, then you might want to go to Kailua Beach first! (Or, go after, and you can also go into town to Kailua.)

There’s a section of walking path between Kailua Beach and Lanikai Beach that you won’t want to miss. Coming from Kailua Beach, it’s the path leading up to the Lanikai Monument (map).

If you first go to Lanikai Beach, just make sure you’re standing at the right bus stop for the transfer. When I got to Kailua, I thought the next bus was at the same bus stop. But it turns out it was just straight ahead on the sidewalk. (I missed at least one bus.) So pay close attention to the bus stop locations on the map!

Overall, expect the time in transit from Waikiki to Lanikai Beach by bus to take just under 2 hours one way.

You’ll need to transfer twice if you want to take the bus all the way to Lanikai Beach. Google maps makes it easy to navigate by bus to Lanikai Beach! Just look for the public transit icon, pick a route you like, and do what it says! (map)

When you’re in planning phase, you may want to adjust your start time to see the morning and/or day time bus routes.

When you’re in Lanikai, you shouldn’t have a problem with data. But if you want to plan ahead, you can do a google maps bus route search for the way back to Waikiki. You can take screenshots of future bus timings for the way back.

 

👆 Google maps is the easy way to figure out how to get from Waikiki to Lanikai Beach by bus!

 

👆 There is a bus that will get you very close to Lanikai Beach! See more about taking the bus to Kailua and Lanikai.

 

 

Uber

There is uber in Waikiki. Being a 40 minute drive, it will be a bit more expensive.

You can check the cost of an uber even when you’re not in Hawaii by checking the uber app. You can set the starting point as any spot in Waikiki. It’s best to check on a weekday vs weekend around the actual time you think you’ll be going (Hawaii time!) to get the best idea if you’re checking prices out of curiosity.

At the minimum, you can expect to pay $40 for an uber from Waikiki, unless you go at a really off-peak time.

 

 

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