Up on the North East point of Oahu, there’s an island shaped like a goat. It’s a few hundred yards out and when the tides are low you can simply walk to the island from the beach (wear some old shoes if you do). If the tides are a bit higher, it’s much easier and safer to paddle out using a body board or surfboard. After a fun rock climbing session in Mokule’ia, we made our way out here to relax and share a few brews on the beach. Of course, there are plenty of other beautiful beaches to relax on but there’s something a bit more special about sitting on a beach on what feels like your own private island. Especially when that island is shaped like a goat.

See also:

• Getting there: Goat Island sits off the beach at Malaekahana Sate Recreational Area. See map.
• More about Goat Island on HawaiiWeb.

Sometimes I feel like I live in a Corona commercial. We spent last weekend at a beach house in Haleiwa, a town on Oahu’s North Shore, to celebrate Justin’s birthday. It wasn’t a house by the beach, it was a house on the beach and being there was beyond relaxing. For anyone looking to get away from town for the weekend, you can’t go wrong renting a house on this strand.

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This is the sky over Chun’s Reef, a surf break and beach named after former Kawailoa resident John Chun. If you’re driving up to Waimea from Honolulu, it’ll be the second beach you see off Kamehameha Hwy (the first is Lanikea, where the turtles are).

We were at a beach house for the weekend just up the strand from here and when the sun started setting I had to take a break from the Sunday Night Football game and check out the view. It was unreal.

See also:

• Chun’s Reef on a map
• Chun’s Reef page on the Hawaii Beach Safety website

Here’s another beach option for you if you’re up around the northeast side of Oahu. Kokololio Beach Park is just south of Laie Beach Park. The two are very similar but Kokololio is bigger. We checked it out yesterday as it was just up the street from the house some friends rented for the 4th of July weekend. The beach is great for swimming in the summer, there’s sandy bottom and it’s not at all crowded. See full post for more pictures.

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