Lanikai Beach, Beach in Kailua, United States.

Lanikai Beach is a half-mile stretch of white sand in Kailua with clear, shallow water suitable for swimming, snorkeling, and paddleboarding. The Mokulua Islands are visible from the shore, and the setting offers a view of these protected natural areas across the water.

Native Hawaiians knew the area as Kaʻōhao. In the 1920s the developer Charles Frazier, who owned 300 acres of beachfront property there, coined the name Lanikai. The name is often said to mean "heavenly sea", but in Hawaiian the qualifier lani follows the noun kai, so that reading is a grammatical error.

The name Lanikai was coined in the 1920s by developer Charles Frazier, though Hawaiians know the area as Kaʻōhao; the common translation "heavenly sea" is a grammatical error, since lani should follow kai. Photographers gather here because the Nā Mokulua islands lie offshore, and kayakers paddle to the larger northern one while the southern is a bird sanctuary.

The beach lacks designated parking, so visitors need to locate free public access points between residential properties and find spots there. The shallow water and generally calm conditions make it easy to enter, but it's wise to check local conditions before your visit.

The two offshore islands visible from the sand are Nā Mokulua, called "the mokes". Kayakers often paddle out to land on the larger northern island, but landing on the southern island is prohibited because it is a bird sanctuary. Occasionally the sun rises directly between the two islands.