Koko Marina Center

People confuse this shopping center with the Hawaii Kai one across the Marina - this one has the theater, Zippy’s, Walgreens, Petco, Kona Brewing, etc. On the eastern side of the center, there’s a Taco Bell and Straub Clinic on the top floor of a two story parking garage. They recently started having a monthly sidewalk sale with vendors from around the island, and you find all kinds of cool food, jewelry, crafts, toys and more. The sale takes place on the 3rd Saturday or the month, from 10 am-3pm. There’s plenty of parking, even with the sidewalk sale taking up some areas of the parking garage. Aside from the sale, the center is home to terrific small businesses and services. Because of its proximity to Hanauma Bay, weekends get busy with tourists coming for meals at Moena Cafe, Teddy’s, Fat Boy’s, Kona Brewing and more. It’s a great neighborhood center for locals and a destination retail location for visitors.

There are local craft vendors every 3rd Saturday of the month. There are regular booths that I peruse for items. I go to pick up treats from Poi Dog treats and local hand crafted gifts for friends on the mainland. I find necklaces and earrings at Chelsea Lei made of wax(?) local flowers. I've been purchasing comfortable muumuu and tops from B.G. Russo for years. She had a new lovely ulu printed fabric today. So I purchased 2 muumuu. I always look for Kualapu'u Hot Soy sauce. My office staff and family like the chili kick in the shoyu. You can find Labubu and Lafufus too. During the holidays you will see lots of vendors with beautiful handcrafted items. Last Christmas I purchased lovely ornaments and vases from a Hawaii Kai pottery group. There are also lots of places to buy something to eat after all that shopping. I like Kim's Korean BBQ place. Their banchan selection is large and the food is tasty and reasonable. You’ll also find a Leonards malasadas truck so you don't have to fight the tourist crowd on Kapahulu. So make sure to take a trip out to Koko Marina on the 3rd Saturday of the month from 10 am to 2 pm.

They have farmer's markets occasionally and the parking lot fills up fast. Got lucky and scored a spot. Lots of options in this center to please any pallet. The Greek spot seemed the busiest in addition to Zippy's. Kona brewery resides here but they were having an employee Christmas party so we didn't get to see it. The ice cream spot looks good but no free samples.

I had a great time and it was a good view at the top, admittedly an exhausting hike. However it loses a star because the shake machine at the McDonald's at the top was broken. 😡

A nice marina with lots of eateries and shops. We visited and bought food from Teddy's Bigger Burger and Leonard's Bakery Wagon 3 after walking downhill from Hanauma Bay. There is also Zippy's restaurant, but we did not order any food. We waited at the bus stop to take The Bus 1L back to Waikiki. This bus stop is also the last or closest stop to Hanauma Bay, although you will need to walk uphill for about 23 minutes, as the bus no longer stops at Hanauma Bay.