There is a hiking trail to the top of Diamond Head, accessible from a parking lot not too far from the Saturday Market. Diamond Head itself sits on the edge of a large volcanic cone. The trail to the summit follows the steep interior slope of the crater wall, ascends over many switchbacks 560 feet over a distance of 0.8 mile. A part of the trail goes over uneven, rocky surfaces. So you can imagine our surprise and amusement when a group of young female tourists tried to negotiate this portion on high heels. We imagine they didn’t get very far. There are also steep stairs, one section of which climbs 74 steps and another, 99 steps.
Despite the moderate challenge, there were tons of people on the trail. At the very top, it wasn’t possible to mount the highest viewing platform (not very big) without waiting your turn. The view from up here was as you would expect—magnificent and breathtaking—where you can see shoreline from Koko Head to Wai’anae.
By the time we got back to the parking lot, the hot weather was enough for us to purchase some shave ice from the concession stand. So refreshing.
zoomeboshi 
Leave a Reply