Eternity Beach and Halona Blowhole

Oahu, HI Print   Leave a comment

Description

Eternity Beach is a cove of pale yellow sand and blue-green water, accessed from the road by a steep, slippery path. There are no lifeguards, plus signs warning you not to go beyond this point, so you go at your own risk. Swimming at Eternity Beach can make you feel like an animal in a zoo enclosure because tour buses stop to see the blowhole and tourists peer down at you. But if you can ignore that, you can have a fantastic swim in the rough, churning waters. Black rock cliffs loom above you as you swim, and large waves swish you toward the sand. It's a wildly bouncy and refreshing swim! There isn't much space to swim- you have to squeeze between a cave and some rocks (careful of your knees!), on the spot where they kissed in the movie "From Here To Eternity." Watch the movie- it's an amazing love scene!
Kids can play in the tidepools on the east side of the beach. There's not much shade, except up against the rock cliff at certain times of day. Before you visit Hawaii, get this adorable book for your kids so that the Hawaiian sea life comes to life in their minds!
Photographers will love Eternity Beach because of the ocean's two distinct shades here, bright blue-green in the cove and deep inky blue out at sea. It makes for a unique shot.
Halona Blowhole, on the other side of the parking lot, is a fun place to watch the ocean shoot up in a thin tall vertical spray through a blowhole. Lots of tourists leave cigarette butts which takes away from the beauty. Make sure you're not one of them! Also, never climb on the rocks here as there have been drownings when even strong military men are washed off the rocks.
Continue northeast up the coast and you will come to some incredible vistas and beaches: the dangerous shorebreak at yellow Sandy Beach; then a breathtaking view as you round the bend to Makapuu Beach; tiny, bouncy waves in the rockpools at Baby Makapuu Beach; then Waimanalo Beach, a white-sand beach with glorious gem-colored water.

Photo Gallery

The view as you enter the water at Eternity- magic!	Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in the 1953 movie that gives this beach it's name, "From Here to Eternity."	View of Sandy Beach from Halona Blowhole Lookout.
A blast of water spurts out at Halona Blowhole.	Halona Blowhole Lookout on a beautiful day.

Directions

There is a large parking lot with a sign "Halona Blowhole Lookout" just off of Kalanianaole Hwy, where many tour buses pull in. Eternity Beach is on the west end of the parking lot. The blowhole is on the east end. Views of Sandy Beach are on the east end. It is the first parking lot after Sandy Beach, if you are heading west. If you're heading east from Waikiki, there are several pull-offs between Hanauma Bay and Sandy Beach- it's the largest one and the last one before Sandy Beach.
There are no restrooms or showers.

This is an interactive map, you can zoom and move it.

Overall Visitor Rating:

sara 05/26/2012 11:12	Best beach ever. I used to jump off the rocks with my Dad,my best friend Kaylee and Granny. Really had a blast, notcrowded, very peaceful. One day I will go back!!! Aloha!!!
Doug & Irene 11/11/2011 23:55	Married here, December 20, 2002.
Schatzie 07/19/2010 06:18	This place is Heaven on Earth.
dan 02/26/2010 20:48	also called cockroach cove. my favourite place on the planet
Brenda 10/06/2009 14:50	Amazing....its great to see these pictures and see the beach again. Thanks!