Turkey Swim

A former boat channel cut through the reef at Ala Moana provides Honolulu with an open-water swimming lane. Here, the Turkey Swim brings ocean racers together each November for a 2,000-meter open water competition in the sea off Ala Moana Beach Park, on the south shore of Oahu in Hawaii. Organized by the Waikiki Swim Club, the event draws swimmers into a sheltered stretch of water. The host organization was founded in 1971 with the express goal of promoting safe and fun ocean swimming across the island. That welcoming spirit translates directly onto the sand, where race mornings feel both spirited and community-driven. Past editions of the race have delivered pristine water conditions and fiercely contested finishes right up to the shoreline. In true festive tradition, top finishers cross the timing mats to claim fresh holiday pies as their podium prize.

The dredged coral reef basin of Ala Moana

The name Ala Moana Beach Park translates appropriately to "path to the sea." The racecourse itself owes its existence to industrial dredging carried out across the coral reef in the late 1920s to carve an aquatic passage linking Kewalo Basin with Ala Wai Harbor. What was once engineered for vessels is today a dedicated swimming haven, forming a straight open-water channel 1,000 yards long. Temperatures in the tropical Pacific waters of Honolulu stay pleasantly warm across every season, remaining balmy even late in the autumn months. While the nearshore shallows along the middle and western stretches contain scattered underwater stones, the eastern end opens onto a soft, sandy sea bottom that allows for an effortless wade into the water. Once you kick out past the drop-off into the channel, the bottom falls away into a blue expanse.

From coastal marshes to the Ala Wai Harbor

The surrounding coastline looked entirely different before human intervention reshaped its waterways. Historically, the name Waikīkī referred to the natural freshwater springs and streams that fed extensive coastal wetlands, separating the oceanfront from the interior valleys of Oahu. Between 1921 and 1928, engineers excavated the Ala Wai Canal to drain these marshes and clear out mosquito breeding territory. The ground beneath Ala Moana Beach Park underwent an equally dramatic transformation. Throughout the 1920s, the low-lying swamp had been utilized as a municipal dumping ground. During the 1930s, the entire wetland was systematically filled and reclaimed using material dredged directly from the coral reef, laying the foundation for the manicured public parklands that border the race today.

The Ala Wai Harbor was established in 1935 after dredgers opened a deeper navigational route through the reef. A protective 1,460-foot breakwater was later constructed in 1967 to shelter hundreds of pleasure craft and yachts. The harbor grounds house the historic Hawaii Yacht Club, established in 1901, and serve as an active hub for ocean sports such as Hawaiian outrigger canoeing and surf ski paddling.

Waikīkī shoreline from wartime defenses to open waters

Throughout World War II, Ala Moana Beach Park was converted into a military battery and staging ground, complete with fortified positions and troop barracks. About two kilometers away, the beachfront outside the Royal Hawaiian Hotel was cordoned off with spools of concertina wire while military forces occupied the grounds. About three kilometers down the shoreline, the historic Moana Hotel welcomed visitors to wide oceanfront lānais designed specifically to showcase the sea. During the famed radio broadcasts of "Hawaii Calls," audio engineers positioned microphones right at the water's edge to capture the natural rhythm of waves breaking on the sand. In 1920, the Prince of Wales was known to leap into the surf from a private pier on the hotel property. In 2000, the waters off Waikīkī Beach were chosen to host the inaugural FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships, cementing Honolulu's status as a premier international destination for endurance swimmers.

Magic Island and the Ala Moana beachfront park

Magic Island is a thirty-acre peninsula created in 1962 by reclaiming a section of shallow reef. Today, the peninsula and the surrounding beach park are circled by a 2.5-mile paved loop path filled with runners, cyclists, and walkers taking in the coastal breeze. The artificial lagoon honoring legendary surfer and Olympic swimming gold medalist Duke Kahanamoku provides another calm corner, landscaped with palm trees, a small island, and a walking boardwalk. The tip of Magic Island offers an unobstructed vantage point for watching the sun sink over the open Pacific. On Friday evenings, crowds gather along the green lawns and shoreline to take in the fireworks spectacular launched across the water from the neighboring Hilton Hawaiian Village. Between its rich waterman heritage and the calm depths of its reef-cut channel, Ala Moana remains one of the finest natural aquatic arenas in Hawaii.