No bikes allowed on the Manoa Falls Trail, shame it would make a fab downhill run!

A couple of bus rides from Waikiki and a little walking takes you around an hour to reach the Manoa Falls Trail. You’ll never get bored of the volcanic ridge backdrops on Oahu, so the journey passes all too quickly.

The bus drops you off in a small village, hike a little further and you’ll come to an ex-bird sanctuary on your right. It is now a snack shop. The place has been run by the same family for decades and they hope to reopen as a bird sanctuary one day. A short way past this is the entrance to the Manoa Falls Trail.

The trail to the falls is all up-hill. The surfaces vary, but are mainly earth and rock. They’re mostly naturally formed, being quite uneven, with small boulders to step on at times. There are a few sets of earth-shoring beams creating steps here and there. Flipflops wouldn’t really be suitable for the hike but trainers are fine, in the dry. I haven’t been when it’s wet but can imagine it’s a completely different story then. I think it would be incredibly slippery.

There’s some rain forest foliage: bamboo, palms and trees on the hike, along with some burbling from a few streams along the way. Plenty of photo opportunities.

It’s neither a long nor difficult climb, although a lady I met had had knee replacements and I think she found it a little on the heavy-going side, but managed it nonetheless.