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Ala Wai Yacht Harbor

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Ala Wai Yacht Harbor

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• (0.13 km) Nanding's Bakery
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Yacht Life on Oahu – Where to Keep Your Boat?

• By Hawai'i Life

July 25, 2017

The Hawaiian Islands offer some of the best sailing in the world. As an avid skipper myself (and by avid I mean completely addicted to sailing), and being around boats my entire life, it was something that drew me to Oahu and made it my permanent home. Waikiki offers steady wind and a relatively calm bay for sailing and power boating all year. Diving, snorkeling, and swimming off your boat in the crystal-clear water is something everyone loves to do. It really is living the dream lifestyle! However, with the limited slips and moorings available on Oahu, let’s talk about where you can keep your boat when you live on Oahu.

Ala Wai Yacht Harbor

The largest and most well-known harbor is the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor located at 1651 Ala Moana Blvd, Honolulu, HI 96815. Even though the wait for a permeant slip can be 2 to several years, the harbor offers a temporary permit for 120 days a year. It is also relatively inexpensive depending on the size of your boat and can accommodate some pretty large vessels. For example, a 40-foot sail yacht would cost $15.63 per day. The representatives can easily quote you on any size boat via their direct phone line at: (808) 973-9727

Bondi Tram anchored for some swimming and diving in Waikiki

The Ala Wai Harbor is the end point of the world famous Transpac sailing race from Los Angeles to Honolulu, which takes place every two years. It was just completed this year with the last yacht arriving in Honolulu on July 21st, 2017. There is a large channel that is easy to maneuver and is close to everything Honolulu has to offer.

There are two private yacht clubs in Honolulu: the Waikiki Yacht Club and the Hawaii Yacht Club. Both offer permanent slips for all different sized yachts. These clubs are located right next to the Ala Wai Harbor. As a regular member of either club, the wait can be anywhere from 2 to 10 years, but temporary slips are available. Both clubs have restaurants, bars, and a lot of ocean activities to participate in such as canoe paddling, Cal 20 races, and sailing lessons. Hawaii Yacht club hosts the weekly Friday night “Beer Can” sail yacht races, with live music to follow at each club. I frequent at both clubs weekly, and they are highly enjoyable, filled with great people that love to spend time sailing or power boating.

50-foot temp slip in Ala Wai Yacht Harbor

Kewalo Harbor

Kewalo Harbor is another excellent option located at 1125 Ala Moana Blvd. B-1 Honolulu, HI 96814. Kewalo Harbor is in the Kaka’ako District of Honolulu where new and beautifully build condominiums are going up. See my other blog on “Living in Kaka’ako.”   Slips range from 40 to 100 feet. Both members and visitors have access to three loading docks, electricity, water, vehicle parking and restrooms. Living across the street in a condo and having your boat slip in Kewalos would be very convenient. Ward village offers a ton of shops and great restaurants to eat at after a day on the ocean. You would still go right out the large channel and head for diamond head to enjoy all Waikiki has to offer.

Diamond Head and the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor

Outside Honolulu

If you choose to circle the island and leave Honolulu, you have a few other options.  On the west side, there is Ko’olina Marina located at 92-100 Waipahe Pl, Kapolei, HI 96707. This is a live aboard marina that has access to water, electricity, cable television hookup, telephone, laundry and restroom facilities, picnic area with barbecue and gated entry to the Marina. There is a 160-foot floating fuel dock offering both diesel and gasoline with a pump out station. Guest rates are $2.50 per foot per day as well as a waiting list for permanent slips. Surrounded by hotels, golf courses, and restaurants, Ko’olina is a great place to park your yacht. The snorkeling on the west side is phenomenal, and dolphins are known to swim very close to shore every day giving you the opportunity to see these beautiful animals. There are a lot of properties to choose from if you are thinking of buying a home in Ko’olina. Townhouses on the golf courses, villas, condominiums and single family homes, most offering two or three bedrooms are all inside this gated community and minutes from the marina.

The small boat harbor on the North Shore is called Haleiwa Harbor. This is actually the toughest harbor to secure a long-term slip. The wait time is 8-20 years as it is the only safe harbor on the North Shore. During the summer months, many boaters sail up to Waimea Bay and anchor on the sand. They grill off their boats and sleep over for days at a time to just swim and kayak in the beautiful water. I have personally done this, and it is so relaxing, peaceful, and I highly recommend it to any cruiser. If you are staying for many days, it helps to have a small dingy to go into shore to get supplies or go to dinner in Haleiwa town.

Another option is buying a property that comes with a boat slip. One of my favorite gated communities is the Makani Kai Marina located at 45-995 Wailele Rd, Kaneohe 96744. These condos offer large 2-3 bedroom units with Kaneohe Bay Views, large lanais, a pool, clubhouse and a private Marina. As the units are extremely rare and hardly come on the market, when they do, they range from $700k-$800k depending on the size and view and come with your own boat slip. Large slips are available in this marina and the world-class Kaneohe sandbar is easy to access from the channel.

Hawaii Kai Slips

Gateway Peninsula located in West Marina, Hawaii Kai, offers boat slips with their townhome units. 3 bedroom/2 baths range in the high $800k and offer access to Koko Marina and are located very close to Honolulu. You can take your powerboat to some of the great restaurants such as Kona brewing company or Assaggio’s Italian, or do your weekly shopping at Costco from the waterway. There are lots of single family home options on the waterway if you wish to have a power boat sitting outside your door. Size restrictions do matter, but it’s another great option for the avid power boater.

Racing in Honolulu

All in all, here on Oahu we have a great sailing and power yachting community. There is nothing better than a great day out on the ocean. Contact me if you have more questions about the boating life on Oahu , or if you plan to move to the islands with or without your yacht. Also, I must add, if you are wondering how to get your boat here, I deliver yachts from the mainland if you prefer to have her sailed over!

Posted on July 25, 2017 in Lifestyle , Oahu , Oceanfront , Beach Villas at Ko Olina , Big Island , boat , Condos , For Sale , Hawaii , Hawaii Yacht Club , ko'olina marina , sailing , Transpac , Waikiki , waikiki yacht club , yacht

Hawai'i Life

You can email me at companyblog@hawaiilife.com or via phone at (800) 370-3848 .

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My gosh Ashley you are so knowledgeable. I want to go sailing with you.

Leiola Augustine

July 31, 2017

What a well written article Ashely! You’ve got just enough information to keep the dream alive without overwhelming the reader. I’ll be sure to reference this article in the future. Costco via boat!?!?! Incredible…..

Fannie Cline

August 8, 2017

Great in-depth overview of options Ashley! Mahalo!

Yacht charter Monaco

August 23, 2017

Hey Ashley Bailey, Nice blog. The yachts are very beautiful nad the information you shared is very nice. If you want you can also visit Superyacht charter Monaco .

Alan McConnell

November 20, 2017

Great article, Ashley. I wish only to point out that Keehi Small Boat State) harbor and Keehi Sailing club (private) are at 4 Sand Island Access Road, near HNL airport. The former typically has temporary offshore mooring most of the time, and some temporary slips are sometimes available.

Waianae also has a recreational harbor in the north-west side of Oahu, as does Kailua to the east. If you’re active duty or retired military or DOT, Rainbow Marina may be a good choice.

You’re correct that permanent slips often have extraordinary waiting lists. Services available at most harbors are adequate, though state harbors tend to be “no frills”. Few harbors monitor marine channels, so be prepared for cell phone communications. Sailing conditions are great year around, but Fishing and Diving are better planned elsewhere. Especially the former. But if you’re in to surfing, beach bummin’, or any number of other ocean activities, Hawaii has them all.

Finally, don’t expect locals or the state or local government to extend much aid to sailors. For some reason, they seem to actively discourage pleasure boaters in the islands.

Aloha nui loa, Alan

Emily goodall

May 22, 2019

Please don’t mislead people about the yachting scene out here. I too have been a lifelong boater having spent many years circumnavigating the world. My home base has always been Hawaii and I can tell you from first-hand experience this is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a premier sailing location. First of all the channels between the islands are some of the roughest in the world, at times, and can be very dangerous for anyone who is not thoroughly experienced with rough-water sailing . . . In fact only the most experienced should consider venturing out into the channels. Secondly, there is little in the way of good viable anchorage’s here in Hawaii. Most of the anchorages here are exposed to t the open ocean and can sometimes be very dangerous. Sailors who anchor on their own ground tackle in offshore anchorage’s here have to be alert all the time for changing weather conditions. Thirdly, the small boat harbor situation in the state of Hawaii is in absolute chaos. The DLNR and DOBOR, the state agencies who are responsible for managing our Harbor have completely & utterly failed the boating community here. You can expect to wait, sometimes, up to 10 years to get a permanent mooring here in Hawaii. Boaters here pay heavily for the bungling of these State agencies. Sadly what could be a premier boating environment, turns out to be very disappointing.

September 9, 2019

Hello! I am trying to sail to Hawaii and live somewhere around the north shore , is this possible ? Would like to be in a mooring field, or what’s best ?

Alex Gojile

June 23, 2020

Good article Can we get an update version?

Joe Kennedy

January 6, 2022

Great article Ashley!

I would love to live on a 35-38′ power yacht in Hawaii and am open to both renting or buying.

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Living On A Boat Is Hard In Hawaii. Finding Rental Relief Is Impossible

William Strickland has lived in cramped quarters in his Catalina 30 sailboat in the Ala Wai Boat Harbor for the last 18 years while working at the USS Arizona Memorial to support himself and his family on the mainland.

When the state harbors division increased its monthly mooring fees in 2019 , he worried that he would be priced out of the harbor. That fear heightened the following year when he lost his job due to the Covid-19 pandemic that devastated the economy beginning in March 2020.

Now he says he really can’t afford to live on his boat but also can’t access the federal aid that has helped so many renters on land who found themselves in a similar predicament.

He’s $7,500 behind on paying the harbor monthly fees to live on his boat, plus late fees, mooring fees and utilities. When he applied for the Rental and Utility Relief Program , he said he didn’t qualify because he wasn’t considered a renter. 

On Monday, he gave up his liveaboard status that allowed him to live on his boat seven days a week, and currently he sleeps in his car. At the end of the year, he plans to give up his boat entirely.

“I don’t want to give up my boat because this is all I got, and I would be homeless without my boat,” Strickland said, but he also said he can’t afford to live on land because of Hawaii’s high cost of living. 

Strickland said he pays $1,050 a month, which  includes dock fees, a liveaboard permit, parking and utilities, versus $1,750 for the average one-bedroom apartment in Honolulu . Strickland works whatever side jobs he can get to make ends meet.

“By no means is anybody rich here,” he said. “People that have the money, they don’t live on their boats – the nice boats. People that live on their boats don’t have money. That’s just how it goes.”

The pandemic affected many who rely on affordable housing and rental assistance, including those who live on their boats. 

Like Strickland, other boaters have said they didn’t qualify for rent relief and may also be forced to move out of the harbor, while some have said they didn’t know they could apply in the first place.

Hawaii counties raced to distribute millions of dollars in rental and utility assistance over the past two years, but under the program’s qualifications , there is a gray area for boaters.

Patrick Williams, communications manager at Honolulu’s Office of Economic Revitalization, said that people who rent their boat and live on it can qualify, but if they own their boat, they don’t.

“An eligible household that rents a boat and lives on it can qualify for mooring fees from the Rental and Utility Relief Program,” Williams said in an email. “A household that owns a boat is considered a homeowner and is not eligible, just as a family that owns a house on land is a homeowner and not eligible.”

“We know that owning a home is a major expense but homeowners cannot qualify for the program,” Williams continued. “The program is federally funded and follows federal regulations to support renters.”

Williams said the program has received one application from a boater and it was denied.

However, a person who rents a boat cannot live in state harbors, according to the Department of Land and Natural Resources. They have to own their boat in order to obtain a permit that allows them to live in the harbor.

“DOBOR rules do not allow for any vessels to be rented out to anyone else,” DLNR spokesperson Giovanni Parks said in an email.

Fernando Cosio, staff attorney at Medical-Legal Partnership for Children in Hawaii , hasn’t had a client who is a boater yet, but said it’s difficult for people who rent a house on land to get rental assistance.

“I can just imagine for those people who are boaters, you know, good luck. If our experience is any example, it’s very difficult,” Cosio said.

There are 17 state harbors managed by the DLNR’s Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation. Ala Wai and Keehi Lagoon are the only state harbors that allow people to live on their boats. According to DLNR, the Ala Wai Boat Harbor may have up to 129 people living on their boats and 35 can live aboard at Keehi Lagoon Harbor.

For years, boaters paid by the length of their vessel, but the rules changed in November 2019. Boaters now pay either by the length of their boats or the docks, whichever is longer. 

The Legislature recently passed a measure that would increase the harbor fees based on fair market value. However, there was pushback from some in the boating community who said their fees have more than doubled already. 

The current slip fee, which increased in 2019, is $13 per foot at the Ala Wai Harbor and about $9 at other state harbors . The last time the fees went up was in 2011, increasing to $5.67 a foot from $5.25 a foot in 2006.

The fee hikes are intended to go toward DLNR’s delayed maintenance projects at the harbors.  

In 2018, the department estimated $310 million worth of capital improvements and maintenance costs are needed around the islands, and some $40.3 million of that work is needed at just the Ala Wai Harbor. The work includes dredging, water and sewer line replacements, boat launch ramp repairs, electrical work and replacement of some piers and docks. 

Sen. Sharon Moriwaki – who represents Waikiki, Ala Moana, Kakaako, Moiliili and McCully – hosted a  town hall meeting in June to address concerns from the boating community and to update them on DOBOR’s capital improvements. 

“Maintenance and capital improvement projects are ongoing,” DOBOR Administrator Ed Underwood said in an email.

“Currently, the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor has the new water line project underway (and) replacement of the finger piers on the 600 row will begin in the near future. The planning for the new paving project at the Keehi small boat harbor is being finalized and (repair and maintenance) is ongoing at facilities statewide.”

Boaters have long complained that there has yet to be improvements in the harbors. Some of the complaints this year have been about the Ala Wai Boat Harbor’s restrooms, where boaters have said there were no soap dispensers or toilet paper, and people were using drugs and defecating on the restroom floors and walls.

One of the most recent complaints from some of the boaters is the blue and yellow stickers posted on the dock boxes near the front of their boats. The DLNR implemented the stickers program in October to address issues with people who are illegally living on their boats without a liveaboard permit.

“People are continuously illegally living on their vessels without permission and it has become a very difficult situation to manage,” Underwood said. “The DLNR Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation stopped issuing new liveaboard permits three years ago and would prefer not to have liveaboards in the small boat harbors.”

DLNR officials said that living on boats doesn’t meet the purpose or scope of the state law that governs small boat harbors.

“Almost all people living on their vessels do not meet the purposes as stated in the Hawaii Revised Statutes,” DLNR spokesman AJ McWhorter said in an email. “Often, their vessels are not in good material and operating condition. They also do not navigate beyond the confines of the small boat harbor at least once every 90 days as required by law and the vessels are basically used as floating condos.”

Underwood also said those who are caught aboard their vessel after midnight without a sticker “would be subject to enforcement action which may include citations or loss of mooring privileges.”

When a boater is unable to pay the monthly fees, DOBOR will seize the vessel.

It’s unclear how many people have left the harbors since the fee hikes took effect and the pandemic hit. There are about 164 people who have these stickers to legally live on their boats.

Moriwaki said she’s checked with agencies providing housing relief and DOBOR, but there was no available assistance.

“We may need to expand the definition to help the liveaboards who cannot afford the increased habitation fees. Anyone facing this hardship due to Covid can and should be helped to keep them from becoming homeless,” Moriwaki said.

“The reality is that there are people who think that living on a boat is a luxury, and most people don’t live on their boats. It’s not seen as housing, but this is their house,” she added.

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About the Author

Cassie Ordonio was a reporter for Honolulu Civil Beat.

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Ala Wai Yacht Harbor

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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ALA WAI YACHT HARBOR: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

• Private Snorkeling and Wildlife on The Adventure Boat (From $1,177.40)
• Private Whale Watching Adventure (From $1,291.08)
• Guided Street Art Hoverboarding Tour of Kaka'ako, Magic Island, Ala Moana & More (From $306.94)
• Friday Night Waikiki Fireworks Catamaran Cruise (From $109.62)
• 30 Minutes SHARED Helicopter Tour in Honolulu (From $460.89)
• (6.53 km) Prince Waikiki
• (6.57 km) Paniolo at the Equus
• (6.55 km) The Equus
• (6.82 km) Shell Vacations Club Waikiki Marina Resort at the Ilikai
• (3.48 km) Best Western The Plaza Hotel
• (0.13 km) Nanding's Bakery
• (0.08 km) Island Style Barbecue
• (0.19 km) Ray's Cafe
• (0.18 km) Zippy's Restaurant - Mokauea St
• (0.19 km) Subway