Sunrise At Lanikai Beach

Take a peek at Lanikai Beach in Hawaii at sunrise…there’s a reason that it’s ranked one of the top beaches in the world!

There is nothing I love more than a beautiful Hawaii sunrise and watching them from Lanikai Beach on the east side of Oahu is definitely a favorite spot.

Lanikai is on the opposite side of the island from where we live, so it requires waking up well before dawn to make the trek across the H3 in time, but it’s SO WORTH IT. Sunrise is between 5:45AM and 7AM, depending on the time of year, so plan accordingly and double check easily using this Hawaii sunrise and sunset chart.

Sunrise At Lanikai Beach

Mokulua Islands

The sun rises exactly between the Mokulua Islands this time of year, which makes for a cool photo, so I wanted to be sure to get some good drone shots of it before all the tourists come back.

Hawaii Sunrise

This particular spot is super popular with tourists, but since there aren’t too many of those in Hawaii right now, so Dane and I took a rare opportunity to get in a good sunrise with minimal people. In the height of tourism, expect a crowd and arrive as early as possible if there’s a specific spot you want to view the sunrise from, because real estate is at a premium.

Another point to make is that parking for Lanikai Beach can be tricky. It’s mostly street parking and it’s limited. Be respectful of residents who need to access their homes and do not block driveways or clearly marked areas that say NO PARKING.

This also probably goes without saying, but worth mentioning that tons of beautiful homes line the beach, so keep noise levels to a minimum, because for those people, Lanikai is home and getting woken up by loud talking or yelling is not ideal 🙂

In many of the below photos you’ll notice canoes on the beach. They’re fully operational and if you stick around long enough, you’ll see locals picking theirs up and taking it out for a paddle.