Manoa Falls is one of the more popular waterfalls in Hawaii due to its close proximity to Waikiki Beach and is a relatively easy trail. It is about a 1 to 2 hour hike through a luscious forest (1.6 miles roundtrip) leading to a beautiful waterfall at the end.
Contents
Hours
This hike is open everyday from 8AM to 7PM. However, if there has been rain and flooding, the trail might be closed. Make sure to check their website for the latest updates.
Directions
Admission
There is no admission fee to enter the Manoa Falls trail.
Parking
There is a parking lot at the beginning of the trail next to a small shop. You pay the attendant inside the shop a fee of $5.
Restrooms
In the small shop there are also restrooms that you can use before you start your hike.
Distance
Manoa Falls is about a 1.6 mile hike and can take up to 2 hours depending how in shape you are and how much time you spend at the waterfall.
Difficulty
This trail is relatively easy and is a good hike for people of all ages. It can be difficult if you are not used to hiking though. It is a paved trail and well kept. There are some parts that have uneven flooring with rocks and steps. It is not wheelchair accessible.
Manoa Falls
We started the hike a little late in the day so that we could see the waterfall at sunset. Because we were on kind of a time constraint, we were walking at a faster pace than normal.
TIPS:
Wear appropriate shoes. Sometimes the trail can be slippery and muddy. You will also walk over some rocks. We saw people doing the hike in sandals but we wouldn’t recommend it. There are a lot of bugs so you definitely need to bring bug repellant with you! Don’t worry. If you forgot to get some, like we did, you can buy some at the small shop at the parking lot. They sell other necessities and food in the shop as well.
The Hike
There are a lot of nice spots on the hike where you can stop and take some photos. Fun fact – some scenes from Jurassic Park and Lost were filmed here!
At the first big opening, Brea was able to fly her drone. The tall trees here provided a beautiful aerial view.
One of the other spots that we stopped at was at a small opening with some big branches connected to a giant tree. Our friend climbed some of the branches and we took pictures of him.
Tip: Remember hiking etiquette to stay on a side (mostly the right hand side since we drive on that side) and give way to other hikers if you are slow.
As we kept walking further and further into the forest, there was less and less light. This was both due to the fact that the sun was setting and that there were more trees now to provide shade. We picked up our pace a little when we noticed there was less light since we didn’t want to hike in the dark.
There’s also a bamboo forest along the path to take pictures with. We stopped for a brief second, but there wasn’t enough light to take pictures. We don’t use flash photography.
When the ground started to get more slippery because of the water, we knew we were almost there!
The Waterfall
When we finally got to the waterfall, there were only a couple of people taking pictures. We found a ledge close to the waterfall on the left and took some photos here. Be careful if you climb on the rocks because you might slip.
These signs are posted but people cross them all the time to get closer to the falls. People also swim at the waterfall hole. We saw some families walk by us along the way with their children wet from swimming.
At some point, we were the only ones left because everyone started their trek back to their car already. Brea was able to get right in the middle of the falls and we got this picture with the captivating waterfall in the background.
Brea was also able to fly her drone close to the waterfall! She was getting some GPS errors and wasn’t able to fly as freely as she wanted to. It also started sprinkling.
It was getting pretty dark by the time we decided to hike back. We walked at an even faster pace than when we started because we really didn’t want to hike in the dark (well at least I didn’t want to). I’m glad that our friend brought one of his headlamps so we used that for some light. We also used the flashlight on our iPhones. The iPhone light was not good enough for a hike like this. The light did not travel far enough to see the person in front of you.
This is the time where the bug repellent came in handy because if we stopped walking for even a second, a swarm of mosquitos would surround us so we had to keep walking. Our friend even jumped and got startled because there was a big frog in front of us so be vigilant if you are doing this hike at night. Finally, we made it back to our car, safe and sound from those persistent mosquitos.
The Manoa Falls hike was one of the last activities that we did during our trip to Hawaii and it was a great way to end our adventurous weekend! This attraction is definitely something you should add to your itinerary – it was an easy enough hike with a great view at the end.
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