Kailua Town's free Halloween Seek & Treat comes back on Friday, Oct. 23, and runs through Halloween. This year it runs nine days. That's shorter than in either of the past two years, and every day ends at 4 p.m. Halloween falls on a Saturday, and Da Dream Lab's Hauntopia shares most of the same days. That puts most of Kailua's Halloween on two weekends and in daylight.
You can plan around that. Here is how this year's hunt compares to the last two, and how the rest of Kailua's late-October calendar fits around it.
The hunt got shorter
This is the third year Kailua Town has run the hunt, and the format changes each time. In 2024 it was the "Hunt for the Hidden Password." Kids unscrambled letters and followed QR-code clues to a final stop, where a token got them a gachapon-style prize capsule, according to Kailua Town's 2024 announcement. In 2025 it was the "Hunt for Hidden Treasure." Families picked up a treasure map at Lau Hala Shops and turned it in at Oceans End on Kailua Road, with bigger prizes for more stamps, per the 2025 announcement.
This year's theme is "Monster Mayhem," and the schedule is tighter than before.
| Year | Theme | Dates | Daily hours | Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Hunt for the Hidden Password | Oct. 19–31 | 11 a.m.–4 p.m. | 13 |
| 2025 | Hunt for Hidden Treasure | Oct. 18–31 | 11 a.m.–6 p.m. | 14 |
| 2026 | Monster Mayhem | Oct. 23–31 | 10 a.m.–4 p.m. | 9 |
The 2026 hunt opens an hour earlier each day than last year's did, and it closes two hours earlier. It also starts five days later on the calendar. Last year you could pick from two full weeks of afternoons, some running until 6 p.m. This year it's nine days with a 4 p.m. cutoff, and three of those days are a Saturday or Sunday: Oct. 24, Oct. 25 and Halloween itself.
The dates on the organizer page don't quite agree with each other. The header on the Seek & Treat event page says Oct. 23 to Oct. 30. The event description and the how-to-play instructions both say Oct. 23–31, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. The detailed listing points to Halloween being included. If your family is counting on the 31st, check with Kailua Town before you go.
How the map works this year
The hunt still starts at Lau Hala Shops, but the finish line has moved. Here is the sequence from Kailua Town's listing:
- Pick up a mission map and instructions at the Lau Hala Shops entrance, below UFC Gym.
- Visit participating Kailua merchants to collect stamps and clues, and look for treats and surprises along the way.
- Look for the "runaway creature" the story is built around.
- Turn in the completed map at Classic Waves Boutique in Kailua Shopping Center, 600 Kailua Road, Suite 118. Anyone who collects all eight stamps gets a special prize.
The hunt is free, and costumes are encouraged "for monster hunters of all ages." Adults get a Seek & Treat Savings Pass worth 25% off regular-priced items at participating Kailua Town businesses, with restrictions printed on the pass. Alexander & Baldwin sponsors the event. Last year's announcement also offered adults a drawing for Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses valued at $300. This year's page lists the savings pass and doesn't mention a drawing.
The 2026 page also doesn't list the participating businesses. It says only that stamps come from "participating merchants." The map handed out at Lau Hala Shops is the only place to find them. Eight stamps across town takes a while, so start early in the day.
Hauntopia runs on the same days
If the hunt were the only event that week, weekday afternoons would be a fine fallback. But Hauntopia, the guided Halloween experience at Da Dream Lab, also opens on Friday, Oct. 23. It runs Oct. 23–25 and Oct. 28–31 at 905 Kalanianaʻole Highway, #3304.
This is Hauntopia's third year. Da Dream Lab puts it on with Kailua Dance Academy, Kailua Music School and other local businesses, and turns the space into a series of themed rooms with art, science, movement, music, games, trick-or-treating and photo spots. The organizers say returning families will find new themes and activities this year. Tours run 60 to 90 minutes with scheduled entry and are aimed mainly at kids ages 3 to 12. Honolulu Magazine's Halloween roundup lists the price at $20, with children 2 and under free.
Hauntopia skips Oct. 26 and 27, the Monday and Tuesday between the two weekends. Otherwise it runs on every day the hunt does, including both weekends. Daily session times weren't visible on the ticket listing, so pick a time slot first. Then fit the stamp hunt around it, since the hunt has no set time and only ends at 4 p.m.
The week, day by day
Laid out together, the calendar clusters around the weekends:
| Date | Day | Seek & Treat, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. | Hauntopia | Also on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 23 | Friday | Opens | Opens | |
| Oct. 24 | Saturday | Yes | Yes | |
| Oct. 25 | Sunday | Yes | Yes | |
| Oct. 26 | Monday | Yes | No | |
| Oct. 27 | Tuesday | Yes | No | |
| Oct. 28 | Wednesday | Yes | Yes | |
| Oct. 29 | Thursday | Yes | Yes | Kailua Farmers Market, 4–7 p.m. |
| Oct. 30 | Friday | Yes | Yes | Haunted house at Central Union Church Windward, 7–9 p.m. |
| Oct. 31 | Saturday | Yes, per event description | Yes |
On Thursday, the timing lines up. The hunt closes at 4 p.m., and the Kailua Farmers Market opens at Kailua Town Center at 4 p.m. and runs until 7, according to Kailua Today's weekly roundup. Kailua Today doesn't describe any Halloween program at the market. It's simply the regular Thursday market, and it opens just as the stamp hunt closes for the day.
Friday the 30th adds an evening option for older kids
Most of the week is aimed at younger kids, but one evening event has an older recommended age. Aloha State Daily reports that Central Union Church Windward will hold its first Biblical Haunted House on Friday, Oct. 30, from 7 to 9 p.m. at its Kailua campus, 38 Kāneʻohe Bay Drive. The walk-through has six Bible-inspired scenes and is recommended for ages 10 and up. Admission is $5, cash or Venmo, at the door, and younger children can enter free.
Hauntopia is built for ages 3 to 12 and is open in the daytime, and so is the stamp hunt. This is the only after-dark event on the Kailua calendar that week, and it's the only one with a 10-and-up recommendation.
Halloween on a Saturday
Oct. 31 falls on a Saturday this year, so the hunt's last day, Hauntopia's last day and Halloween itself all land on a day without school. If the event description's Oct. 31 date holds, you can do a full morning of stamps, a Hauntopia tour slot and still be home before dark.
Halloween night is less certain. Windward Mall has a trick-or-treat page online, but its calendar entry is dated 2022, so it doesn't confirm a 2026 event. We also didn't find a separate trick-or-treat night for Kailua Town businesses in this year's listings. Unless more evening events are announced, the confirmed Halloween events in Kailua this year are in the daytime.
After Halloween
On Sunday, Nov. 1, the Friends of Kailua High Run holds 5K and 10K races that start and finish at Kailua High School, and the event appears as approved on the City and County of Honolulu's 2026 event schedule. Thirteen days later, on Saturday, Nov. 14, Kailua Town's free Kanikapila brings Kalaʻe & Kalena Parrish to the Kailua parking garage behind Longs/CVS from 4 to 5:30 p.m., per the Kailua Town listing. Alexander & Baldwin, which sponsors the Halloween hunt, also sponsors the Kanikapila series.
We live and work in Kailua too, and we'll be out on the same weekends. If your monster hunters walk past our door on the way to Classic Waves, come say hello. And if you'd ever like to talk with a neighbor who follows this town closely, Homes of Hawai'i Real Estate is right here in Kailua.
