There’s an arch on the windward facing side of Koko Crater in southeast Oahu. It’s super easy to get to.

It’s a great place to check out and take pictures if you’re around the Hawaii Kai area or on the way to Sandy Beach.

Most people know Koko Crater for the tramway trail that goes straight up the face of it. People hike up it regularly to get a work out. I try to go once a week or so to get some cardio exercise.

You can hike up the tramway and then down the crater rim to the arch if you like. But a faster way to get there is to park at the Halona Blowhole Lookout and hike up to it.

Halona Blowhole Lookout is also where you park to go to Cockroach Cove (a.k.a. Eternity Beach).

This lookout offers some ridiculous views. During winter months you can typically see whales from here.

After you park you’ll walk along the road for bit. Stay on this side of the guard rail.

You want to make your way toward the Japanese fishing shrine. It’s that circular rock wall with the large stone in the middle.

But don’t go all the way to the shrine. Cross the street at the end of the railing. Hop the railing and descend to the right into the ravine.

Walk along the rock for a couple hundred feet and then make your way up the to ridge.

As soon as you see a way up the ridge that you are comfortable with, make your way up.

There’s no real trail to follow at this point.

But the sooner you get up to the ridge the sooner you’ll see these views.

It’s nicer to have views of the coastline than to be stuck in that ravine.

Look up at Koko Crater and you can see the arch. You might have to look closely as it sort of blends in.

The trail is well defined here though and you can’t miss it.

Once you reach the arch you can walk over it or under it. We started by going under. The dirt is all loose gravel here you so you’ll want to be wearing shoes with good grip. We went down the right side of the arch.

From here you can explore the area a bit.

It’s best to come here with a few people so you can have someone stay at the arch while you traverse the slope to get to this vantage point. On this day I came with Christina and Jake (Instagram: jake_of_all_trades).

If you’re going to go up the top of the arch you definitely want to be wearing some grippy shoes. The top is very steep and slippery.

I would advise against hiking up it in slippers. Sometimes there’s a rope up there but don’t count on it.

If you wanted to you can hike all the way up the rim of Koko Crater and then up to the top of the stairs. On this day we just wanted to take some photos and talk story at the arch.

Jake tried coming down this side of the arch and found that it was much more slippery (on account of the loose gravel) than the other side.

He went back up to find a comfortable place to sit.

Christina and I joined him back under the arch. We hung out for a bit happy to be away from any crowds. It’s a little tough to find a comfortable place to sit up here though as the slope is at an extreme angle.

Looking south we could see a bit of Hanauma Bay and Koko Head.

Eventually we went down the same way we came up.

Watch your footing here, the gravel is super loose.

We made our way up the left side of the arch.

The grade is super steep here too but the ground is course and easy for your shoes to grip on to.

At the bottom we made our way back into that ravine and back to the street.

It takes just 10-15 minutes to get to the arch from the parking lot. Once you’re done there are plenty of things nearby that you can do.

The closest “attraction” would be Cockroach Cove.

Other activities nearby:

• Hike the Koko Crater tramway.
• Go to Sandy Beach.
• Visit Portlock Point or China Wall.
• Hike down to the Makapu’u Tide Pools.
• Go to Pele’s Chair and Alan Davis Beach.

See also:

• Directions to the Halona Blowhole Lookout on Google Maps.
• Jake Marote’s incredible Instagram feed: jake_of_all_trades.
• Another story about the arch on HawaiianForest.com: HTMC and the Arch at Koko Crater.

I’ve posted about the cliffs on this side of the island before in a post called “Oahu’s Unreal Coastline.” On this day’s outing, we went to check out another section of the coastline. The cliffs are easy to access as they are just a 40 minute hike away from a major road.

The strong wind and constant waves have created a landscape full of beautiful textures.

One of the highlights of the area is this little rock bridge.

This wind eroded rock is another highlight.

We walked around and explored the coastline.

WARNING: Please note that it is extremely dangerous to stand on rocks along any coastline in Hawaii. Rogue waves can crash on the shore and sweep you away. Do not attempt what you see in the photos on this website.

This section of the coast formed a bowl. The water would rush in sideways, swirl around and suck out exposing the rock and coral.

To the right in this photo, you can see a small cove.

These little guys were all over the place. They are hard to the touch.

I haven’t heard and couldn’t find any background information on this rock bridge. It appears to have been formed by erosion.

There’s a big crack in the middle of it so I would not recommend standing on it. If you do, you are doing so at your own risk. So, please do not stand on it.

If the bridge were to collapse, you would fall into this swirling death hole.

Of course, some are willing to test their luck.

After we finished checking out the bridge we walked along the cliffs a bit more.

The wind shaped ridges make some excellent benches so we sat for a while and had some snacks.

While we were walking back to the trail a truck had appeared on the cliffs.

We headed back to the car and called it a day. But I would return about a week later to take some more photos.

On my second outing to the rock bridge and cliffs I invited some Hawaii photographer friends. I wanted to come back and get some different shots of the rock bridge and I figured it would be fun to go with a small group.

Partly cloudy seems to be the best lighting conditions for this area.

As we hiked in I noticed there were little pukas (“puka” means “hole”) in the rock.

These guys are John Hook and Zak Noyle. If you haven’t already heard of him, Zak is a Hawaii born professional surf photographer. He currently works as a staff photographer for Surfer Magazine. If you’ve seen his profile video by Red Bull, you probably know this guy has a pretty fun job. John is taking portrait shots of Zak for his sponsorship profile.

As Zak was standing on the bridge (which I do not recommend you do), a huge wave hit the rocks and splashed all over him. The waves were much bigger on this day. Tom (myspacetom) was snapping away and got this crazy photo.

John decided to face the waves head on and take photos of them.

The reason I wanted to come back to these cliffs was to get this photo. I screwed on a neutral density filter to my lens and took some daytime long exposure photos.

The waves end up looking like clouds.

We then walked further down the coastline to check out the cliffs.

These cliffs were also majestic.

Each one of these naturally formed pedestals was screaming to be yoga-posed on.

Waves splashed up on the cliffs and as they drained, formed some nice textures.

One of the many nice things about adventuring with photographers is that you get to borrow their lenses. Dallas Nagata White let me borrow a telephoto lens to get this shot.

Then she walked to the edge of the cliff to pose for me and Tom.

We should have been concerned but Dallas looked pretty comfortable up there.

John ended up pretty close to the edge as well.

Walking back we passed through this field of trees. The white bark stood starkly against the lush green grass.

Check out the work of my companions on this day (all of whom are Hawaii photographers):

• Dallas Nagata White – www.dallasnagatawhite.com
• John Hook – www.johnhookphoto.com / handsomeunicorn.tumblr.com
• Jonas Maon – www.jonasmaon.com
• Samantha Hook – instagram.com/sticksxstonesjewelry
• Tom Anderson – instagram.com/myspacetom
• Zak Noyle – www.zaknoyle.com

See also:
I have two other stories that feature this strip of Oahu coastline.

• Oahu’s Unreal Coastline
• Hidden Cove

WARNING: Please note that it is extremely dangerous to stand on rocks along any coastline in Hawaii. Rogue waves can crash on the shore and sweep you away. Do not attempt what you see in the photos on this website.

This trail takes you through a forest that feels nothing like Hawaii.

You’ll hike along the ridge that overlooks Kuliouou Valley.

After just a few hours of hiking, you’ll be at the summit and treated to awesome views.

Of all the ridge hikes in this area (Aina Hina/Hawaii Kai) I like the view from the Kuliouou summit the best.

The Kuliouou Ridge Trail is still one of my favorite hikes on the island. It’s the trail that first got me interested in hiking in Hawaii. Now days, it’s the trail I recommend to new hikers or to friends visiting from the mainland.

Going at an easy pace the entire hike will take about 4 hours and you’ll cover about 5 miles.

I originally posted about the Kuliouou Ridge Trail almost 3 years ago so I wanted to do an updated post with more photos. Joining me on this hike would be Fernando Pacheco from Being808, a blog about healthy lifestyle in Hawaii. I took photos and he made a video featuring me as the host. (It was my first time hosting a hiking video, please be gentle.)

(I was not paid or compensated in any way to hike with Being808. We just teamed up on this to promote hiking in Hawaii as a way to be healthy and active.)

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I went on my first trail-clearing hike last weekend. (Hence, the weed wacker you see in the photo above.)

The hike took us into a remote part of Oahu.

At the end, a swimming hole.

* * *

Not only was this my first trail-clearing hike, this was my first time hiking with the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club (HTMC). The club has been around for over a hundred years and they organize a hike every weekend.

One of the benefits of hiking with the HTMC is that they can get access to a lot of trails that are typically off-limits or behind locked gates. The Kawai’iki Trail is one such trail. It takes you several miles deep into a valley on the West side of the Koolau mountains. All on restricted land.

On this day the HTMC’s goal was to clear the overgrown parts of the trail and mark it with ribbons for an upcoming hike on February 12.

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The Lanikai Pillboxes trail overlooks the Lanikai neighborhood and the “Moks”.

On the trail there’s a small crag that some people climb.(On Reanne’s back is a bouldering crash pad.)

The Lanikai Pillboxes hike (a.k.a, Ka’iwa Ridge Trail) is well known for being one of the easiest hikes on the island and one of the most scenic. That’s a rare combination. You can complete the hike in an hour or less if you wanted to. But once you see the sweeping views of Kailua and Lanikai from the ridge, you may want to spend more time on the trail.

Come at dawn or dusk for the best views.

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Up until last weekend I had never swam in a fresh water pool in Hawaii. I was always worried the water would leave me with that not-so-fresh feeling. By that I mean leptospirosis, a gnarly bacterial infection. Last Sunday was different though.

It was a sunny day but had been raining for a week before. Perfect conditions for checking out a waterfall. We did the short (3 mile round trip) hike to Waimano Falls and it was gushing. There are two pools you can swim in. The water was clear and moving fast so I figured all the funk had been washed away. After watching everyone else in the crew jump in the water, I did a quick check to make sure I didn’t have any cuts (i.e., entry points for bacteria) and took a swim. The water was cold but felt great.

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