Honolulu, HI

My wife and I and another couple live in Waikiki and decided to do two interesting things in one: we rented little scooter-bikes and drove them to Waialae Beach. I call them “scooter-bikes” for lack of a better term—they are motorized three-wheeled vehicles with seats for two people, including the driver, and a small trunk space in back. They are painted bright colors like yellow and red, and have orange bike flags attached to them for better visibility to traffic.

So we started in Waikiki on Kuhio Avenue at one of the many scooter rental places. Our rental plan was for three hours.

We head toward Diamond Head, and when we reached the end of Waikiki past the zoo and the aquarium, we headed up Diamond Head Road. This was a very scenic drive, with the wooded cliffs on the left and the Pacific Ocean stretching out to infinity on our right. We crested the hill by the Diamond Head Beach trail parking lot, and headed down toward the community of Waialae.

Once down the hill, it was a pleasant ride through wide, tree-lined streets until we reached Waialae Beach, about twenty minutes after we had left Waikiki. There is a beach park here with green grass, and a parking lot with a small foot bridge spanning a canal that leads to the beach. We parked our scooter-cars in the lot and crossed the bridge to the beach.

To the left, facing the water, is the Kahala Mandarin Hotel, and to the right is a mostly empty beach. There are (expensive) beach houses bordering the sand, but the beach itself is public, below the high tide mark.

Our group walked along the beach until we found a suitable spot for hanging out. We had brought a cooler with some food and drinks, and our snorkeling gear. The water is shallow here, unless you go past the outer reef, which isn’t recommended unless you are an experienced surfer. My wife and I had plenty of fun snorkeling in the shallows. We even saw a snowflake moray eel! Then we got out of the water and dried off in the sun. Not much shade here—no trees—only scrubby mangrove plants high up on the beach.

After a couple of hours it was time to head back to the parking lot so that we could return our scooter-cars in time. We had a fun ride back, and made it back with a few minutes to spare!

So, the next time you’re looking for something different to do, consider renting a scooter-car in Waikiki and going for a joyride to a beach a little off the beaten path!