Diamond Head Trail
Shopping and eating in the city of Waikiki is great, but something even better to do in Waikiki is hike!
The Diamond Head Trail is one of the most popular places to hike in Hawaii! But there is not a lot of shade on this trail and it's pretty long so make sure you eat beforehand! Especially if you hike it in the early afternoon when it is really hot 🌞 Above is a breakfast sandwich I got from my hotel and it was delicious! It is an egg, mushroom, and cheese sandwich. 🥪
The hike took about an hour but the views were completely worth it! Also, I got to learn a lot about the history of Diamond Head so under each picture will a fun fact about this "crater". 🗻
1. The Diamond Head Crater actually was originally a military base. It was perfect because of the elevation and other natural barriers.
2. A warning about Diamond Head, there are a lot of stairs. To be exact there are 99 steps throughout the whole trail! Make sure you are wearing appropriate hiking shoes! 👟
3. The reason why this monument is called Diamond Head is because of how the crater sparkled to explorers. But what they actually found was calcite crystal. 💎
4. The crater was formed by a dead volcano! The volcano has been inactive for about 150,000 years. 🌋
Hiking Diamond Head is definitely at the top of my list of my favorite things to do in Hawaii! The views are incredible and there is a truck right in the parking lot of the trail where you can get smoothies, pineapples, and shaved ice! The mango smoothie was perfect 😍
Manoa Falls
Manoa Falls was a much more adventurous hike. It was mostly because of how muddy it was so everything was incredibly slippery! You need to be a lot more careful and wear protective water shoes.
But definitely stop to take a picture by this cool nature structure!!
The end of Manoa Falls is a waterfall will a small pool but it is very discouraged to actually swim in it. But I put my foot in and the water is freezing cold! ❄️
Now for some more things I learned about this hike! Parts of the Manoa Valley (and other valleys in Oahu) were used to film Jurassic Park!
The Manoa Valley contains about 5,000 species of plants including guava and ginger plants! 🍊
Honestly even though Manoa Falls was a much more difficult and muddy hike, the views are so incredible! None of my pictures can even come close to doing it justice. 😍📷 There is a convenience store and a small restaurant at the beginning of this hike too! Once again, if you are ever in Hawaii, hike Diamond Head or Manoa Falls! 🌊