Hickam Beach and Picnic Area

Love taking the family to this beach. Weekends can get crowded but weekdays are not bad.

It’s one of the islands best kept secrets as far as beaches go, and unfortunately it’s only accessible by those with base privileges. It’s not that crowded, there is no shortage of parking, and best part of all — alcohol is not prohibited! Yup, no need to bring the red cups to this beach — just pack up your cooler, set up your beach chair and open a cold one, right on the sand. There are covered cabanas with BBQ grills (bring your own charcoal) available by reservation only. What a cool place to get together with friends and family for some fun in the sun and a BBQ right on the beach.

Our favorite beach to go to in the morning. Really close, clean and simply beautiful. Small beach and not the best one but it’s a nice place to spend quality time with my little one. We enjoy the sun, sand and view. Not too much waves which is what my son loves

Great beach, well taken care of, and well equipped (meaning shade, a life guard, cabanas, nearby beach front food and bar, rental items, and bathrooms/​showers nearby).
The only negative (or positive, depending on who you are) is that you can see and hear planes taking off constantly, so it may be more of an activity beach than a relaxing beach. The water here was super calm and an easy beach for novice swimmers or sport loving people (paddle board, kayak).
Also, I felt super safe leaving my items on the sand and heading into the water since it’s an air force base.

Beautiful beach.
Great views of both the ocean and the airport (seriously, you’re looking right at the runway).
There’s a nice area sectioned off for swimming and then a more open area for stand up paddleboard, boats, etc.
On one end is a small playground and Sam Choy’s restaurant, and the other side is kinda blocked, so it’s very secluded. If you’re on base, this is a great alternative to driving all the way to Waikiki and dealing with the crowds.

Beautiful area! Too bad the beach bar doesn’t stay open later.

The trail behind it is a great place for running in the morning. Great view with a cool wind breeze off the ocean. I only rated this 4 stars because you need military access/​ID. The beach is also a fun place to do some PT and activities such as kayaking and stand-​up paddle boarding.

Beautiful beach! Parking is a bit annoying after everyone is off work around 5−7pm but overall I loved watching the sunset! There’s Sam Choys Poke Grill & Bar that is always packed! They have great business there as I believe its the only restaurant next to this beach. They have a wash off area as well so you can wash off the salt water from bathing in the beach. Lots of picnic tables for those who brought there own food!

Good beach. There’s no equipment rentals during the weekdays so that blows, but the rest of the beach is nice.

We love this beach! It’s beautiful shoreline stretches accross a sandy beach… not at all rocky, maybe just a bit on one end where all the canoes and stand up boards are you can rent. The water is nice and clear, small waves but flat enough for great water play for kids. Life guard on duty. A variety of cabanas are available on the beach and in the park area you can rent out for parties or get-​togethers, bbq’s (A charcoal grill per cabana). There are a few tables and benches scattered throughout the park and they also allow you to set up tents. Restaurant Sam Choy’s island grille and dive bar is on property. Hickam beach is the center of a pier/​marina on one end and the airport landing and takeoff strip on the other… pretty cool to watch the planes fly by for the kids. It’s a great beach and it’s not overly crowded, even on holidays the crowd isn’t so bad. Lots of parking with 2 parking lots you can choose from. We tend to bring our kids here on certain holidays like 4^th of July, Labor Day and any good beach day when the sun is out and we just want to relax and enjoy the day with the kids, friends and family.

For a couple with NO kids, I do not recommend this place. There’s so many kids, so much noise and crying. It was over whelming. We will not be back. Great beach for families. But not couple or single people

I love this beach– never really crowded and you can watch the planes and jets take off!

I was driving aimlessly around Hickam one day and voila, I stumbled upon this beach which I love because you can watch planes take off from the reef runway. This beach is tucked near the end of Hickam Air Force Base and has really nice cabanas that you can rent and nice clean (well, clean for a beach) restrooms. They also have a lifeguard on duty, vending machines and a restaurant that’s in walking distance.
Though the facilities are clean, the beach itself is not the cleanest, largest or the nicest on the island. In fact, the beach itself is pretty small, there are a lot of rocks in the sand and the water isn’t as crystal clear as some beaches but I like going to this beach simply to watch the planes take off. I’ve had a thing for airplanes since I was a kid so I’m just drawn to this beach and find it relaxing to see the planes coming down the runway next to the beach and taking off. If you enjoy peaceful and quiet beaches or can’t tune sounds out, this is probably not the beach for you as the planes literally pass right next to the beach so you will constantly hear and airplane’s engines every so often.
The beach gets crowded but there are many parking stalls available and it also makes for a nice jogging spot because there are paved walkways before and after the beach and you can eventually jog to the golf course further down the road. You can access this beach if you’re in the military, a DOD employee or if someone with clearance can bring you on base as their guest.

One of my favorite beaches on the island and I run here almost every weekend from my house. You can rent stand up paddle boards, kayaks, cabanas. Sam Choy’s is next door and you can grab a drink and snacks and picnic it. The view of diamond head is breath taking. Also if your there long enough you will see all sorts of awesome ships/​boats etc.

This beach is nice & quiet, but there was quite a lot of coral. It may have been where we chose to lounge, but it was difficult to go further into the water. Regardless, a very beautiful beach!

This is the perfect beach for my family. It’s close, never crowded, lots of parking and calm waters.
We normally come here pretty early, before lunch, to avoid the hot sun. The beach is small, but it’s never crowded enough to be an issue. There are always lots of kids, and the calm waters is perfect for them. We try to come out here as often as possible. My son loves swimming out here.

This is a nice convenient beach for military. It’s a bit confusing to find the first time, but I just put in «Mamala Bay Drive» into the GPS and it got us there.
Good:
— Safe, calm and enclosed waters for kids
— Family friendly
— Grills and eating area
— Decent sized parking area
— Bathrooms available
— Board rentals
Bad:
— Crowded during weekend, and it’s a tiny patch of beach
— If you aren’t a kid person… there are a lotttt of them here
— Water isn’t too clear
— Sand is pebbly — I prefer powdery sand
I’m glad I came here to see what it’s like for myself, but I will probably continue to make the drive out to the beaches on the windward side.

This is designated specifically for the military folk (or those who know someone with military base privileges).
Great oceanic view! For plane watchers a perfect viewing of the variety of planes out there.
Slightly small, which is a plus and a minus. Good to keep the crowding down, bad because if you are a late comer good luck getting a decent spot on the beach.
There are some cabanas on the beach, signs state you should call to reserve them. Don’t know much about that process. There are a couple of water spigots nearby to rinse off the feet and what not, near the cabanas, but to shower off you have to leave the beach.
Waves are minimized with the reef far out. You still get affected with the tide so do not be fooled.
Sand is nice and soft — mixed in with small shell bits. As with any sand — too much sun, and yer tootsies do get charred so make sure you have some good sand slippers! ;)

I love this place, but I wish I could access it easier now that I’m not living with military peeps. I used to go here just about every weekend with the roommate to go kayaking and paddleboarding for CHEAP! The waters are (mostly) calm and the shore is never crowded like public beaches. I went paddleboarding for the first time here so it will always be one of my favorites.

I’ll be honest, I have a lot of love for this beach, but there is also quite a bit I don’t love.
First the love, because this beach is only accessible for DOD personnel, parking is a breeze. Sure beats waikiki and ala moana beach park, or north shore during the winter. Although the beach is technically public, the waters surrounding it aren’t and you can’t walk down the shoreline to reach it. I’ve heard that you can tell the gate guard that you just want to reach the beach and they can arrange it, but it sounds like way too much of a hassle considering there are so many other beaches on the island.
The beach though is very very small. I like to go to the beach in the early morning to relax and get away from everything. You can’t do that here since everyone just goes down the road from their house to take the kids out to play. I would compare it to ala moana beach in terms of crowds. It’s also very loud being next to the airport. It didn’t bother me too much, but definitely something to note.
They have plenty of cabanas that always seem to be empty with barbecue grills. I’m sure you can reserve them, but I’ve never had a problem walking up and using one. If you don’t want to cook your own food, Sam Choy’s borders the beach with very yummy local seafood.
You can’t beat the prices for kayak and stand up board rentals. you can log onto
to find the latest prices.
If you are having a party or a big family beach day, this place has all the amenities to please everyone. Otherwise, there are plenty of other beaches on the island to enjoy without all the family crowds.