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Hawaii · Oahu Windward Coast · Honolulu County

Waimanalo

also known as Bellows Beach, Sherwood's Beach, Waimanalo Beach Park, Waimanalo Bay

advanced onlyonshoremedium crowds
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Nearby Kailua Beach 6 km · Kahala 11 km · Diamond Head 14 km · Kaneohe Sandbar 18 km · Hukilau Beach 42 km · straight-line distance

SeasonJun to Septhe months riders and schools nameHow windyno knot figure publishedtrade, onshoreLaunchmediumaccess rules on record, belowWatersea27°C in summer · 13 things riders flagLevelIntermediate to advancedwith a caveat, in the Level sectionSchools4named at this spotFrom the airportno transfer time publishedInouye International Airport (HNL)

When it fills in

No onset time is published for this spot.

Waimanalo is the quiet windward alternative to Kailua, and quiet is most of the point. Conditions resemble Kailua but lighter, and the trade comes in more directly onshore, which makes the outer reef a long slog to reach.
Riders park and set up at Bellows Beach or Sherwood's Beach rather than stepping onto a launch the way you can at Kailua. Waimanalo Beach Park itself is a long sandy public beach with lifeguards and facilities, used mostly by local families, so weekends and holidays are busy.
Summer is the season, broadly June through September inside Hawaii's May to October summer, on NE/E trades. Water sits around 27 C in summer and 24 C in winter, so a rash guard here is for sun and wind rather than warmth.
Bellows carries its own base access and safety rules, and no kite corridor or kite-specific rule has been found for Waimanalo, so ask locally before you rig. If you cannot hold upwind in an onshore breeze, this is not your beach.

The wind

locals call it trade winds

Direction

beachwater
onshoreNE/E trades

Kite sizes

Character

trade

Trade-wind exposed but often lighter than Kailua; direct onshore angle makes getting to the outer reef slower.
Hawaii's climate runs on persistent northeasterly trade winds, with summer from May to October. On this side of Oahu the wind is best in summer, and Waimanalo sits on the lighter side compared with Kailua.

Thermal or synoptic

trade wind

Strength

No knot figure is published for this spot.

The quiver, in words

Bring larger kites; no rider-weight-specific size range is published.

Forecast

Month by month

  1. Jan49
  2. Feb73
  3. Mar68
  4. Apr87
  5. May75
  6. Jun, riders' month92
  7. Jul, riders' month99
  8. Aug, riders' month91
  9. Sep, riders' month81
  10. Oct65
  11. Nov79
  12. Dec66

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.

  1. 11Jan25°
  2. 14Feb25°
  3. 13Mar25°
  4. 15Apr25°
  5. 14May25°
  6. 14Jun26°
  7. 15Jul26°
  8. 14Aug27°
  9. 13Sep27°
  10. 12Oct27°
  11. 14Nov26°
  12. 13Dec26°

avg knots per month · water °C below · season highlighted

MonthForce 4+KnotsFromAirWater
Jan49%10.9 ktENE22.5°C25.1°C
Feb73%14.4 ktENE22.5°C24.5°C
Mar68%13.2 ktENE22.9°C24.5°C
Apr87%15.1 ktENE23.1°C24.8°C
May75%13.8 ktENE23.7°C25°C
Jun92%14.2 ktENE24.5°C25.8°C
Jul99%15.1 ktENE25°C26.3°C
Aug91%14 ktENE25.6°C26.5°C
Sep81%13.1 ktENE25.7°C26.9°C
Oct65%11.7 ktENE25.4°C27°C
Nov79%14.3 ktENE24.4°C26.1°C
Dec66%12.8 ktENE23.2°C25.6°C
modelled

A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.

Modelled from weather reanalysis on a 10–25 km grid (2022-2024), not a ground station: reliable for trade and synoptic winds, understates thermal sea breezes and valley winds. The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.

ERA5 reanalysis grid point (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical weather API — ECMWF ERA5/ERA5-Land reanalysis, not a ground station · 2022-2024

The water

Type

sea

Standing depth

No measured figure. Three miles of sloping white sand with the waves breaking close in, so the standing band is narrow and the shorebreak lands on it; past that the bottom drops to swimming depth quickly, and in a straight onshore wind the outer reef is a long way further out.

Tides

No kite-specific tidal rule is on record. Wind, shorebreak and current can change the conditions, and in onshore wind the outer reef takes time to reach.

Temperature

27°C summer · 24°C winter

Wetsuit

Boardshorts or swimwear. A rash guard does more for sun and wind exposure than for warmth: average Oahu sea-surface temperature is around 27 C in summer and 24 C in winter.

Currents

Variable beach current and rip-current risk are reported for Waimanalo and Bellows. No kite-specific current pattern is published.

25–27°C water
Long exposed windward beach with soft sand, trade-wind chop, shorebreak risk and outer-reef waves. Conditions are similar to Kailua but lighter, more directly onshore, and less popular.

Your level

not for beginners hereintermediateadvanced
Intermediate and advanced riders fit better here: the wind is more directly onshore, the spot is less established than Kailua, and the outer reef takes commitment to reach. Waimanalo is not on record as a beginner lesson beach.

The scene

What riders come here for

freeridewavequiet sessions
Quieter and less kite-popular than Kailua. A local family beach that fills up at weekends and on holidays.

Launch and rules

three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you

With a school or a boat

4 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: medium

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Kailua Beach, 6 km

Every spot within 40 km is on the map at the top of this page, with its distance under it.

Rescue

Waimanalo Beach and Waimanalo Bay both have manned towers, Monday to Sunday 08:00-18:30. Bellows Field Beach, the public county part, is covered at weekends only, same hours (2026). Inside Bellows AFS the installation runs its own lifeguards daily 10:00-17:00 from two towers, one behind the AAFES Express and one by the beach pavilion off Beachwalk Lane.
If there is no lifeguard in the tower, the number is 911. Nothing kite-specific: no rescue boat and no ski on standby.

Launch

Two public access points, each with a lifeguard tower, showers, restrooms and a pavilion. The southern one is Waimanalo Beach Park, across from Nakini Street. The northern one runs between Aloiloi Street and Tinker Road through ironwood forest to Waimanalo Bay State Recreation Area, known as Sherwood's, where camping needs a permit.Bellows is the third option and depends on your access to the installation. The beach itself is about three miles of sloping soft sand, the longest unbroken white-sand stretch on Oahu, with ironwoods and the Ko'olau behind it. Exact kite rigging zones are unconfirmed.

Space

medium

Hazards riders report 13

  • direct onshore wind
  • lighter wind
  • outer reef
  • lighter wind than Kailua
  • shorebreak
  • rip currents
  • Portuguese man o' war can occur on east Oahu
  • busy local-family beach on weekends and holidays
  • Bellows access can be restricted by military/base rules
  • powerful shorebreak on the sloping sand at times
  • riptides that move along the shoreline
  • main parking lots fill at weekends and spill into the neighbourhood streets
  • no marked kite corridor: the sand is shared with families and lifeguard access
Rules & access
2026: Bellows AFS publishes its own installation policies. Lifeguards on duty daily 10:00-17:00, no swimming after dark, heed the daily lifeguard warning signs, no landing or launching of privately owned motorized watercraft, no drones or personal aircraft, fishing only from the jetty beside Waimanalo Stream and the named cabin stretches, dogs outdoors sunrise to sunset, gatherings over 20 people need a facility rental. None of it names kiteboarding. Bellows Field Beach, the public county section, is lifeguarded at weekends only, while Waimanalo Beach and Waimanalo Bay are covered Monday to Sunday 08:00-18:30. No Waimanalo-specific kiteboarding rule or designated kite corridor is published.

Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.

Rider tips

  • Check that your Bellows access is legally open before you build a day around it.
  • Rig bigger than you would at the stronger Oahu trade spots; Waimanalo runs lighter than Kailua.
  • Treat the onshore angle conservatively: if you cannot hold upwind and clear the beach fast, do not launch.
  • Ask the lifeguards about the shorebreak, the current and Portuguese man o' war before you go in.
  • Keep the sand clear for families, walkers and lifeguard access.
  • Waimanalo Beach and Waimanalo Bay have towers seven days a week; Bellows Field Beach only at weekends. Plan the day around that.
  • If the tower is empty, the number is 911.
  • Weekdays are the quiet ones here; weekends belong to local families and their barbecues.

Getting there

Airport

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), Honolulu

Route

Drive from Honolulu or Waikiki across east Oahu, roughly 45 minutes from Waikiki, then pick the legal public access point for the day: Waimanalo Beach Park across from Nakini Street, the Aloiloi Street to Tinker Road access into Waimanalo Bay State Recreation Area, or Bellows if you are eligible to enter.The main lots fill at weekends and cars spill onto nearby streets, so come early.

Cost level

high

Staying

Stay in Kailua, Waimanalo, east Oahu rentals, or Honolulu/Waikiki; no kite-specific lodging at the launch is listed.

No-wind days

Beach walks, swimming or bodyboarding when the lifeguards call conditions suitable, kayaking and SUP in Kailua, Makapuu, hiking, Oahu sightseeing.

Photos

Waimanalo Beach Oahu (16088189670)
Edmund Garman from Salem, Oregon, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Last updated: August 2026