Diamond Head

Five miles south of the lush rainforest I hiked through to Manoa Falls lies the dry, brown crater of Diamond Head. No pools to swim in there. The hike up Diamond Head is very popular, full of tourists unless you leave early in the morning, though you can also find locals who make a jog up the volcano a part of their daily workout. It's an easy hike--0.8 miles of trail to the top, I believe, and smooth enough that I did it in my flip-flops without trouble (my sneakers had been ruined on the Manoa Falls hike the previous weekend). The beginning of the hike is very hot and sunny during the day (another reason to leave early in the morning), but it's not long before you find yourself going up shady stairs and through some tunnels, and then you break out to cool wind and lovely views.

The hike was a little less exciting for me than the Manoa Falls hike because I'd done it many times before. I even already have one photo from the Diamond Head hike on an old blog post. But I did take a few pictures that may be worth sharing.

Remember that I can see Diamond Head from my house (visible all the way to the left of the view out the window)? That means I must be able to see my house from the top of Diamond Head! We had binoculars up at the top so we were able to see the house; maybe we should have taken a photo through the binoculars, because my camera zoom and resolution aren't quite good enough to make it all out. But I guarantee that my house is somewhere within that circle.


Here's one view over the crater, with the ocean (and bright morning sun) in the background.


A lighthouse, clear water, waves breaking over coral reefs, and the big ol' ocean stretching to the horizon.


Another view over the crater, looking towards the mountain ridge. For reference, Manoa is the valley between the last two ridges visible on the left; the Manoa Falls hike is in the back of that valley.