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At low tide on a weekend, drive slowly on Kamehameha Highway just past He’eia Kea Boat Harbor. A little way offshore, you’ll see watercraft of every description clustered around seemingly nothing at all. In fact, just above sea level is a sandbar, and locals like to fetch up here, light the hibachi and hang out. Rent a canoe or kayak and join them.

This area is popular for surfing because if offers a range of challenges from easy and slow Canoes to the more frisky Queen’s, Paradise, and Populars areas. Locals who work in Waikīkī hit the waves before and after work.

A shallow coral reef extending out from the beach fronting Ke Nui Road throws up waves of tremendous power and steepness – so powerful that no one thought they could be ridden until the 1960s. Injuries from wiping out on the reef are numerous, but surfers can’t resist these monsters. “Banzai”, by the way, was the final cry of Japanese kamikaze pilots.

Just off the beach once known as Paumalū, the Banzai Pipeline is the name given to a spectacular winter surf break, the result of a shallow coral reef that serves as a sudden stopping point for deep water currents sweeping inland. The name Banzai comes from the battle cry of Japanese warriors, and was first applied to the waves here during the narration of the late 1950s film Surf Safari .

Open to the public on weekends and national holidays, this beach park within a military reservation is prized for its broad shelf of powder-fine white sand, turquoise waters and ironwood-shaded campgrounds. Perfect for novice surfers, but watch out for stinging Portuguese man o’war jellyfish.

Though located on a military installation that includes an army reserve camp, an area where Marines practice amphibious landings, this sprawling beach and campsite with ample parking is a public facility on weekends and holidays. Many consider it the best of the Waimānalo beaches; bodyboarding, boogieboarding, and surfing are prime. Camping here is by permit only.