Visiting Honolulu next month

If you go to sharks cove parking is a *****. Also be very careful as it is rocky to get there and the rocks are slippery.

I lived in Kailua for a little while beachside with a private beach access. The beach there I do enjoy and as far as I know there is only one beach. I suspect there may be names for different areas. You can walk from end to end.

Nice sand. Low waves. Not over crowded. Not rocky. Gentle slope in the water before the elevation drops off.

Kailuana is the popular street for parking then walk to the public beach access on the north end.

Heads up on parking. Curbs are not generally painted. Stay away from driveways and fire hydrants. And corners I THINK hydrants are 15’ and driveways are 10’ clear.

 

Just came back from Oahu a few weeks ago with the family. Been there a few times but last was about 10 years ago. Stayed at Hilton Hawaiian Village as well. Yes, rooms may be a touch dated, but like you mentioned, you're just sleeping there. Walking distance to Ala Moana Shopping if you're feeling spendy.
Shark's Cove parking is a pain. Very rocky, so bring water shoes. Since you'll be up in the North Shore, quick stop at Dole Plantation is a good tourist stop. Giovanni's Shrimp truck is overrated, but again, a must for a tourist. Matsumoto's Shave Ice is down the road from the food trucks and is by far the best (made the mistake of getting it from a small shop in the same town and it was terrible).

Diamond Head hike is pretty quick. Think about an hour total, going up/down and stopping for some pics.

The one thing I was hankering for the last 10 years was Leonard's malasadas. Basically a deep fried, cream filled Portugese donut. Got a dozen as soon as we arrived, and probably a total of another 2 dozen for the 10 days were were there. Haven't found anything on the mainland that comes even close.

Side note: we were there when the big earthquake off Russia triggered a tsumami warning. All of Hawaii was basically shut down, restaurants closed early except for McDonalds, traffic madness with people scrambling to get home or off the island. Unfortunately wasted a day having to hunker down in our room, but fortunately it turned out to be a big nothing burger.