Malaekahana State Recreation Area, Laie

One of my favorite hidden gems. The beach is seldom busy and beautiful. You can actually walk to the bird sanctuary island across the bay. Quite a lot of parking, bathrooms are nice and clean very comparable to others up and down the east side. Great spot for a family camp or day picnic. I’ve brought visiting friends here and they love the quiet and wonderful beach.

Mālaekahana State Recreation Area is an excellent location with good facilities and great beaches. We spent 3 days there recently with a couple of young children. All beaches are fine, white sand. As to surf, the beaches range from the tame and sandy up to the breakers (La'ie Bay on the South side of Area B of the campground) to the rock and coral reef under water at the shore in front of Goat Island (just across from the North side of Area A of the campground). To the North of Goat Island there is a bay with a somewhat pebbly floor and a stone structure the children liked to call a "submerged castle". When the children were not playing in the surf or exploring the rocky parts of the shore, they were "hunting" feral chickens roaming around the campground. Other reviewers point out that you can "walk" to Goat Island at low tide: that's correct, but plan on walking in water at times that is waist-to-chest-deep. Particularly with the cross-current, after the first third, this is a walk limited to adults with bathing suits and good reef shoes. The two camping areas A & B are quite isolated, not overcrowded and well-maintained. In July 2022 people were friendly and quiet, and we had no problem at all with theft (as mentioned in another review). Although you feel like you are out in the wild, on the road used to get there (Route 83), there is a large shopping center in La'ie about one mile South of the Park entrance. Between the Foodland grocery and the Ace Hardware located there, we could find just about anything we might have forgotten or needed during a stay. Bathrooms were fine for a campground. The toilets for Area A had doors on the stalls, but those in Area B did not. All toilets had paper. The indoor showers were OK, although their floors become very sandy from use as evening approached. Park staff clean the bathrooms daily around 7:00 am. A number of water stations, each with 4 sinks and faucets are located throughout both camping areas A and B. Other reviewers have noted that park staff did not check their permits. That was true for us. However, park staff was present on and off during the day and could have checked permits at any time. Given the very reasonable price ($20/day) of a camping permit for up to 10 people, I see no reason for anyone to try to stay without paying. Everyone seemed to leave their site clean and on time. We came back to Honolulu very relaxed and with the feeling we'd been far off the grid. We also met some new friends. The kids loved exploring this patch of wild Oahu.