Best Cabin Camping near Makakilo, HI

There is actually both a civilian and military campground. The civilian side is for the true camping enthusiast. The military side has both campgrounds and cabins, with a mini golf course and a mini-mart. The cabins have partial ktchen necessities, 2-3 bedrooms 1 bath. You must be active or retired to enter and reserve these military sites.

I camped here in January 2021 during peak Covid closures when the campground was not yet re-opened for group camping. 

In 'normal' times this campground is mostly used for events and it's well set up for that. If you're independently camping, I recommend calling ahead and reserving one of the sites on the beach.  The sites are huge.

During covid they were only using every other site, and had installed a shower and sink at each one. The bathrooms are a walk away inside a yurt. We were assigned a bathroom for just our site and given a key for it. 

The property has a gate with a code that you can go in and out as you please, and the staff were really helpful and kind.

There is one large fire pit area to share, and we had a table at our site. You are not able to drive in your car, but it's only  a short walk, even to the furthest away sites.

We had the whole property to ourselves one night - but if you're visiting when events are operational, this might not be the case, so I recommend checking how busy they are when you call to reserve. 

They also have tent 'cabins' right on the beach which were pretty nice (but you still bring your own mats and bags).

For me, the greatest thing about this site is that it is located on the NW side of Oahu. In January, the winds were strongest from the East and we had to vacate our other campground when winds were up to 20MPH off the ocean.  This side of the island gave us a break from the wind.

It's a very short walk to "Lost Survivors Beach" (where they filmed the pilot of Lost) and a short and beautiful  drive to the state park and hike where the road deadends just a few miles past the campground.  For supplies, it's about 15 minutes back to Haliewa where there are tons of restaurants, food cards, groceries and a Longs Drug.

This website is in error. There are no dogs allowed on ANY Hawaii State Campground!!! Don't know if you know this or not. So if you have a dog in Hawaii, you cannot bring your loved one(s) camping anywhere. Too bad.

This campground is very close to the highest concentration of rock climbs in all of Hawaii! The Mokule'ia wall has over 60 climbs ranging from beginner to expert and includes trad, sport, and toprope routes. One of the other things we loved about this site is the proximity to Ka'ena Point! It feels like you're standing out in the ocean without anything around it's such a small point! One of favorite places we hung out at during our trip to Hawaii

ive come here for a few years for Village Music Circle's annual Drum Circle Facilitation Training (23 years now).

The staff are super friendly and food is good.

They have a ropes course and it is across the street from a skydiving place.

First let's talk the Smith Sunglasses. These were sent to me as a winner of one of the dyrt contests and I couldn't be happier. I never looked seriously at Smith sunglasses before and stuck with the other name brands (RB, Oak..etc) and I don't know if I will go back. I received the Smith Clark with brown polarized lenses and this is my favorite overall pair of sunglasses I own. The lenses are super clear and the world looks amazing. The other great thing is they are stylish, but hold to your face well enough to do activities in them. I could run around, sweat, paddle, and they never slipped off my face. These are awesome. The only downside is when i went to clean them, I think I had sand on my lens rag and I put a nice swirl in the left lens. Dissapointing, but probably my fault.

Bellows beach is also a great place to spend the day or night. The beach is huge and neighbors another popular beach (Waimanalo) which is great as well. Bellows is sometimes closed for military training etc so if it is, just go next door. There is plenty of space for even the largest crowd on the beach, and there is a nice forested area behind the beach to cool off in the shade. The bathrooms are pretty good too if needed. This beach is a great boogie boarding site and some people were even surfing. Great place! On a Tuesday there were 4 people taking wedding photos, so you know it's beautiful.

Oahu's famous east coast is lined with beautiful white sandy beaches, and Bellows is somewhat of a hidden gem. Why? Because you need to have military access to enjoy this beautiful beach park. Go for a short drive from Waikiki along the scenic southeast coast and keep going past Makapuu Lighthouse bend, and you'll see some of the most sea-green bluest waters ever. Keep going past Waimanalo Beach Park and you'll be at the entrance of Bellows. You can keep going on the long driveway in, but you'll need military access or sponsorship to get in.