Kailua, Hawaii
The shorefront town of KAILUA stretches along Kailua Bay roughly four miles down from the Nu'uanu Pali lookout, and four miles north from Waimanolo. Now little more than an exclusive suburb of Honolulu, it was once a favorite dwelling place for the chiefs of Oahu, surrounded by wetlands and rich soil ideal for growing taro. Exploring the little side streets that lead off Kalaheo Avenue as it parallels the bay may fuel your fantasies of relocating to Hawaii, but inquiring about real estate prices will bring you back to reality, and any time you have here is best spent on the beach.
Kailua Beach County Park, which fills the colossal main curve of the bay, is utterly gorgeous and makes an ideal family swimming spot year-round. The soft wide sands slope down into turquoise waters much used by windsurfers; it's normally possible to rent windsurfing equipment, as well as kayaks, from vans and stalls along the park approach road or on the beach itself. Just be sure to keep away from the area around the Ka'elepulu Canal, which is often turned into a lagoon by a sandbar across its mouth, and always unpleasantly polluted.
Head north from here, and once past the park you're on Kailua Beach, where the waves hit a little harder, so there's less sand, but swimming conditions are generally safe. On the other hand, walking south beyond Alala Point brings you within a few hundred yards to the less crowded Lanikai Beach, which is very similar to the park.
Lanikai consists of just a few short streets of priceless homes, all but cut off from the rest of Kailua by Ka'iwa Ridge. The coastal road beyond the beach park becomes a one-way loop immediately south of the ridge, forcing you to turn slightly inland on A'alapapa Road. Take the second right here (Ka'elepulu Street), park near the gate of the Mid-Pacific Country Club, and you'll see the Ka'iwa Ridge Trail leading away to the left. Just a few minutes' steep climbing is rewarded with superb views up and down the coast and out to the tiny islands in the bay.
Almost the only remaining vestige of Kailua's past is Ulupo Heiau, an ancient temple whose construction was attributed to the legendary menehune and which later became a luakini, dedicated to human sacrifice. This long, low platform of rounded lava boulders looks out across the Kawainui Marsh from a hillock just to the left of Kailua Road. To get there, take Uluo'a Road, the first left turn after Kailua Road breaks away from Kalaniana'ole Highway, and then turn right.