The tropical neighborhood of Kaneohe is located on the windward shores of Oahu, nestled between the breathtaking Koolau mountain range and the clear turquoise waters of the Pacific. Not only do the residents of this lush urban paradise take pleasure in the beautiful landscape surrounding them, but Kaneohe also has a direct link to town via the H3 – making the daily commute for town workers relatively easy.

Kaneohe has a long, rich history of farming and agriculture because of the regular rainfall that is common for this area. Generations ago, Kaneohe consisted of rice paddies and grazing lands - the streams were filled with crawfish and Kaneohe Bay was filled with clams, oysters, Hawaiian spiny lobsters, crab, and a wide variety of fishes.

Over time the area has grown away from its farming origins, becoming more modern and developed with a large community college, big box stores, shopping centers and the large Windward Mall. Despite its growth, Kaneohe is still a delightfully rural community with splendid, natural beauty and cooling tradewinds. Natural delicacies such as mango, mountain apple, breadfruit, star fruit, guava and banana, flourish and remain abundant.

With a population of almost 35,000 people, Kaneohe is the second largest community on the windward side of Oahu – second only to its southern neighbor, Kailua. “It's a great neighborhood if you like the mountain ranges for their inspiration or Kaneohe Bay for its various water activities,” explains Carmen Gonzalez, REALTOR-ASSOCIATE®, SRES with Prudential Locations. “You can fish, kayak, snorkel, sail and more, but it still has the energy and feel of old Hawaii.” 

Real Estate in Kaneohe

A handful of neighborhoods make up the large community of Kaneohe. Kahaluu is rural Hawaiian living at its finest: larger homes with larger lots, lush tropical trees and easy access to tropical hikes with rewarding bay and coastal views.

Heeia, which includes Haiku Valley and Heeia Kea, offers family-oriented neighborhoods with homes and apartments that reflect a sense of community. Heeia State Park on Kealohi Point is a small park covering about 18 acres, but it also contains the Heeia Fishpond, once used to raise mullet for Hawaiian royalty.

For those looking to get away from it all, Ahuimanu may be the neighborhood for you. Nestled inland, beneath the windward pali of the lush, tropical, Koolau mountain range, this largely residential and undeveloped area offers larger, rural-inspired homes and Hawaiian-style country living. The famous Byodo-In Temple is nestled in the stunning valley of Ahuimanu.

Haiku offers a little bit of everything. A mature community with tropical condo complexes, single-family home neighborhoods and stunning estates with spectacular views of Kaneohe Bay.

For those preferring to be near the Kaneohe Bay Yacht Club and commercial activity, Kaneohe town has plenty of shopping and restaurants and has easy access to the Pali and Likelike. And if waterfront is what you want, there are large custom homes and estates along the ocean in Kaneohe Bay.

“Kaneohe is very close to Kaneohe Marine Corps Base (KMCB) which makes it a popular choice among the military too,” says Gonzalez. “The prices are more affordable than Kailua and the traffic situation isn't too severe.  It's a quick 30-minute commute to town via H3 if you work in town near the airport areas or the other military installations at Pearl Harbor and Hickham.”

When living in Kaneohe, military residents enjoy a quick drive to base as well as the Marine Corps Exchange, Kaneohe Bay (or MCX), where active and retired military can shop tax-free and often at a discounted rate. Can't decide between living on base or living in Kaneohe? Visit Forest City Military Communities  to see what is available on base and search for homes for sale in Kaneohe.  

A total of 12,669 homes and 3,486 condos have been built over the years in Kaneohe. The current median price of a single-family home is $730,000 and $440,000 for a condo.

Traffic in Kaneohe

There are three highways that connect the Windward side of the island to Honolulu. The Likelike Tunnel (aka Wilson tunnel) was completed in 1960, opening up access to and from the Windward side of the island. In 1967 the widening of Kamehameha Highway and the development of Kahekili Highway made accommodations for increased commuter usage. In 1998, the H3 was completed and connected the Windward side of the island to the Leeward side. “The H3 might have been one of the most expensive stretches of highway ever built in the USA,” explains Gonzalez, “but they knew what they were doing when they made the access easy for the growing community and military's needs.”

Weather in Kaneohe

Weather in Hawaii is very consistent: May – October is summer, or Kau, and November to April is winter, or Ho'oilo. The average daytime temperature in Kaneohe in summer is around 81.5°F, and the average daytime temperature in winter is around 72.3°F. 

Kaneohe is warmest in August and coldest in January. Kaneohe receives around 4 inches of rainfall per month in the summer and around 7.5 inches of rainfall per month in the winter, with the most precipitation occurring in November. The highest recorded temperature was 93°F in 1982, while the lowest recorded temperature was 43°F in 1986. 

Senior Living in Kaneohe

Good Samaritan Society – Pohai Nani is a 16-acre resort-like retirement community overlooking the Pacific Ocean. They offer resort cottages, apartment homes, assisted living, long-term care, recreation facilities, meal plans and weekly housekeeping. 

Things to Do and See Around Kaneohe

Kaneohe is steep with Hawaiian tradition but also offers many other attractions and adventures. The Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden is a 400-acre garden at the base of the Koolau mountain range with plants from the Pacific area and around the world. You can have a picnic, spend the day exploring, go fishing or hiking, and camp overnight. 

The Byodo-In Temple, in the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park, is a non-practicing Buddhist temple and a smaller-scale replica of the 900-year old Byodo-In Temple in Uji, Japan.  The lush grounds are home to wild black swans, Japanese koi carp and include meditation niches, small waterfalls and a large reflecting pond. The TV shows Hawaii Five-O, Magnum P.I. and Lost have all incorporated the temple into their plot lines. 

Heeia State Park has awe-inspiring views of the Koolau Mountains, Kaneohe Bay, the sandbar and Heeia Fishpond. Situated on an elevated peninsular called Ka Lae O KeAlohi, which means “the point of shimmering light,” the non-profit organization Kamaaina Kids offers guided tours and interactive classes.

Heeia fish pond is a walled-style fishpond enclosing 88 acres located in Heeia State Park. Built about 600-800 years ago by local residents to raise mullet, today the fish pond is cared for by Paepae o Heeia, a private non-profit organization comprised of young Hawaiians. 

Kaneohe Bay has Oahu’s only barrier reef, which ensures there is no open ocean swell. Because of this, coral are able to grow more abundantly and in greater variety. Kaneohe Bay offers gorgeous white sand beaches and is an excellent place to enjoy the sun, swim, snorkel, fish, kayak and stand up paddle. The Kaneohe Bay sandbar, or ahu o laka, is situated in the middle of the bay and is accessible by boat or kayak from Heeia State Park, Heeia Pier or any local yacht club or marina.

Once a place for Hawaiian Alii, Coconut Island, or Moku O Loe Island, is a 28-acre (113,000 square meter) island in the middle of Kaneohe Bay --  and it is the real-life island in the opening scene of Gilligan’s Island. Today the island is owned by the state and is the facility for the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii. Unfortunately there’s no public access.

If golfing is your thing, Kaneohe is home to two public courses, the Pali Golf Course and Koolau Golf Club. There’s also Bay View Mini-Putt and Zip Line, offering 36 holes of miniature golf and a 400-foot dual zip line. 

Kaneohe area is home to both the Windward Community College, a two-year college campus of the University of Hawaii system offering classes for the arts, sciences, and Hawaiian studies, and Hawaii Pacific University Windward Campus, a 135-acre campus that is home to the College of Natural and Computational Sciences and College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

Paliku Theatre, located on the Windward Community College campus offers concerts, drama, musicals, dance programs, film festivals, lectures, and more. 

Residents of Kaneohe also have access to Koolau Center, a local shopping mall with a Times Supermarket, Consolidated Theatres (Stadium 10 Theatres), and plenty of other shops, services and restaurants. If you seek a more diversified shopping experience, Windward Mall is an enclosed shopping center with over 100 stores, including a unique mix of nationally recognized brands and Hawaii-based companies. From clothing and pets to jewelry, movies, music and automobiles, the Windward Mall has it all! 

Kualoa Regional Park is a picture-perfect picnic stop, and also one of the most photographed locations on the windward side of Oahu. Mokolii (also known as Chinaman’s Hat) lies about 600 yards offshore and is a popular kayaking, swimming, wading and stand-up paddle board destination. 

Kualoa was established in early Hawaii as a puuhonua, a sanctuary and place of refuge. Today this area is a 4000-acre working cattle ranch, farm and place of tranquility preserved and managed by a sixth-generation kamaaina family committed to preserving the natural beauty of the area. A paid-visitor attraction, Kualoa Ranch hosts horseback rides, private weddings and celebrations, farm-to-table dinner events, educational field trips and is home to one of Oahu’s most popular Hollywood movie backdrops. 

At Prudential Locations, #WeKnowNeighborhoods.

Kaneohe on the Map

Drive Times without Traffic: 

Waikiki: 30 minutes 

Downtown Honolulu: 25 minutes 

Diamond Head: 30 minutes 

Airport: 20 minutes