the North Shore
Sunset Beach
A long golden beach famous for huge winter surf.
Why go
Watching professional surfers in winter, or an empty wide beach in summer.
The catch
Swimming here in winter is genuinely dangerous. In summer it calms right down.
- How long
- 1-2 hours
- With children
- With care
- Effort
- Easy
- Cost
- Free
- Parking
- Limited
Before you go
- Lifeguard: Daily 8am-6:30pm
Getting there
Driving times on real roads, from the same data the trip planner routes on — not straight-line distance.
| From Waikīkī | 1 hr 14 min | 41.9 miles |
|---|---|---|
| From HNL airport | 1 hr 16 min | 38.4 miles |
| From Turtle Bay | 12 min | 4.9 miles |
| From Hale‘iwa | 18 min | 7.4 miles |
Add traffic. These are free-flowing times, and the H1 through town at eight in the morning is not free-flowing.
Hours, fees and access rules have not been checked against a primary source for this entry yet. Confirm before you build a day around it.
See it on the map Build a trip around it
What else is close
Nearest by road, which is not the same as nearest on a map — and not the same as sharing a region either.
- Shark's Cove5 min awayA rocky cove with the clearest snorkelling on the North Shore. No sharks.
- Waimea Bay8 min awayA wide, deep bay. Flat and swimmable in summer, enormous waves in winter.
- Waimea Valley10 min awayA flat walk through a garden to a waterfall you can swim under.
- Kuilima Cove12 min awayA small reef-ringed cove at the island's north tip, calm when the rest of the North Shore is not.
- Pu'u O Mahuka Heiau12 min awayThe largest heiau on Oahu, on the bluff above Waimea Bay.
- Laniakea Beach14 min awayA small beach where green sea turtles come up to rest on the sand.