At 6 a.m. on Sunday, November 22, Kalanianaʻole Highway closes from Sandy Beach Park to Lunalilo Home Road. For two hours the stretch of coast Hawaii Kai normally drives through belongs to people on foot, during the Ka Iwi Coast Run & Walk. That closure starts the season. Over the next four weeks Hawaii Kai's holiday events move inland and then out onto the water, and each one is run by a group based in the neighborhood.
Lunalilo Home Road Hosts Two Events in Six Days
The Ka Iwi Coast Run & Walk covers four miles, from Awāwāmalu at Sandy Beach to Hui Nalu Canoe Club on Maunalua Bay, and starts at about 6:45 a.m. The organizer's page shows the 2026 field as sold out, so most people in the neighborhood will feel this one as a road closure. The City lists the 6 to 8 a.m. closure on its Koko Head Shooting Complex page because it affects access and the range's first session that morning. If you have an early Sunday tee time, a dawn surf session at Sandy's or a range booking, plan around those two hours.
The closure ends at Lunalilo Home Road. Six days later, on Saturday, November 28, the Hawaii Kai Holiday Parade takes over that same road. It steps off at 10 a.m. from the corner of Lunalilo Home Road and Hawaii Kai Drive, by the HK Skate Park, and marches down Lunalilo Home Road to Koko Marina Center. The Hawaii Kai Lions Club coordinates the parade and Koko Marina Center sponsors it. The center lists it as an hour-long event, 10 to 11 a.m.
When the parade reaches the center, the Christmas Carnival begins in the Marina Courtyard and runs 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Photos with Santa Claus
- Christmas crafts and giveaways
- Balloon art and carnival games
- Cookie decorating with New Hope Church
The toy drive is built into the games. Bring a new, unwrapped toy and you get 10 tickets, each good for one game. The center also thanks Helping Hands Hawaii and New Hope Hawaii Kai as sponsors. Between the toys and the cookie table, the morning gives a family a reason to stay past the last float.
The Saturdays, Lined Up
From publish day to the boat parade, Hawaii Kai has something on the calendar every weekend. Most of it happens within a short walk of the water.
| Date | Event | Where | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, Nov 21 | 808 Craft & Gift Fair | Koko Marina Center | 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. |
| Sun, Nov 22 | Ka Iwi Coast Run & Walk, highway closed | Sandy Beach Park to Lunalilo Home Rd | 6 to 8 a.m. |
| Sat, Nov 28 | Hawaii Kai Holiday Parade, then Christmas Carnival | Lunalilo Home Rd to Koko Marina Center | 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec 5 | Eastside Underground night market | Koko Marina Center | 4 to 8 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec 19 | 808 Craft & Gift Fair | Koko Marina Center | 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec 19 | Christmas Boat Parade | Hawaii Kai Marina | Started at sunset in 2025 |
The run comes the morning after a craft fair, and the season ends with a craft fair and the boat parade on the same Saturday. Neither of those overlaps was planned as a pair. They line up because Koko Marina Center keeps its markets on a fixed monthly rhythm, and the holiday events fall on top of it.
The Courtyard Between the Parades
That monthly rhythm is what fills the weekends between the two parades. Koko Marina Center holds its 808 Craft & Gift Fair on the third Saturday of each month, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with more than 70 local vendors. In this stretch that means November 21 and December 19. For gifts made in Hawaii and bought in 96825, those are the two dates to mark.
The Eastside Underground vintage night market runs on first Saturdays, 4 to 8 p.m. December 5 is the only date that falls inside the season. It's also the season's one evening market before the boat parade.
That same Saturday, the Blood Bank of Hawaiʻi bloodmobile parks in the Walgreens lot at Koko Marina Center. Donations are by appointment. A daytime donation and a night at the market can fit into the same trip to the center.
December 19 Follows Last Year's Pattern
The season ends on the water. The Hawaii Kai Marina Community Association is the nonprofit that manages the marina. It handles vessel registration, dock guidelines and water-quality work, and it is the annual sponsor of the Christmas Boat Parade. Its 2026 save-the-date reads December 19, 2026. It's the same group that runs Fuel Days and sets marina dues, which were $600 for 2026. That makes the boat parade a show put on by the people whose boats are in it.
Last year's parade gives a good sense of how the evening goes. On December 13, 2025, Hawaiʻi Pacific University's event calendar listed a free event at Hawaiʻi Kai Marina from 6 to 8 p.m. It said the parade starts at sunset, described the lighted boats and invited spectators to vote for their favorites. Hawaii Kai Towne Center promoted the same night as its Festival of Lights Boat Parade, with a 4 to 7 p.m. event window and decorated boats competing to be the "merriest on the water." HKMCA has the 2025 winners list and a video of the 2025 parade on its site, and it posts marina news on Instagram at @hkmca_hawaii.
In 2025, TEX 808 at 377 Keahole Street hosted a waterfront viewing from 5 to 9 p.m. and invited guests to cheer the boats from its Hawaii Kai location. Today the smokehouse takes waterfront reservations on its site. Over at Koko Marina, Heavenly Hawaii Kai describes itself as marina-front with views of the water and takes reservations online. For a table near the water on December 19, either one is a reasonable first call. It's also a Saturday when the craft fair will have had Koko Marina Center busy since 10 a.m.
When Guests Ask About Hanauma Bay
The holidays bring visitors, and the neighborhood's best-known attraction runs on its own calendar. Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve is open Wednesday through Sunday. Entry runs 6:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the beach clears at 3:30 p.m. and visitors must be out by 4 p.m. It's closed every Monday and Tuesday, and also on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. This year both holidays land on a Friday, a day the preserve would normally be open, so a guest planning a Christmas morning snorkel will need a different plan.
Entry rules are different for the people hosting and the people visiting. According to the City's Hanauma Bay page, Hawaiʻi residents with a valid photo ID get in free without a reservation and pay $1 to park. Nonresidents pay $25 plus an online fee, $3 to park, and reserve admission two days ahead through the City's online system. The Roberts Hawaiʻi transportation package can be booked a month out. Booking two days ahead works fine when a guest decides on a whim. Over a holiday week when every day already has plans, the month-ahead option may be the safer bet.
For a visitor's first evening in Hawaii Kai, December 19 has plenty going on: the craft fair from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., then the boat parade on the marina, which started at sunset last year.
If you're hosting this season and the conversation over dinner turns to what life on the marina is really like, Melvin Leon Guerrero is happy to share what we know about Hawaii Kai's waterfront streets, the boat parade included. Let's Connect.
