Little Bird Blog
Off The Beaten Path
Maunawili Falls is a waterfall hike on the windward side of Oahu, about 30 minutes from Waikiki. The trail winds through dense rainforest dripping with vines, crosses several streams, and ends at a tiered waterfall with a cool pool at the base. It’s muddy, it’s lush, and it’s one of the better family hikes on […]
Electric Beach sits on Oahu’s leeward coast near the Hawaii Electric power plant, about 45 minutes from Waikiki. The warm water discharge from the plant attracts a remarkable diversity of marine life: sea turtles, spotted eagle rays, eels, octopus, reef fish, and the occasional spinner dolphin. The water is impossibly blue, the coral gets better […]
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Flat Island, known in Hawaiian as Popoiʻa, is a small offshore islet about a half mile paddle from Kailua Beach Park on Oahuʼs windward coast. At low tide you can land on a narrow sandy beach, walk the limestone perimeter, and watch wedge-tailed shearwaters and Bulwerʼs petrels going about their business overhead. Sea turtles forage […]
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The Kaneohe Sandbar is a submerged sandbank in the middle of Kaneohe Bay on Oahu’s windward coast, about 45 minutes from Waikiki. At low tide it emerges from the water as a shallow, sandy stretch surrounded by every shade of blue and a full panorama of the Koolau Mountains. You can’t walk to it or […]
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The Ka Iwi Shoreline Trail runs along Oahu’s dramatic southeastern coast, through one of the last stretches of native coastal habitat on the island. This section, accessed from the Kaloko end near Sandy Beach, is quieter and wilder than the Makapuu Lighthouse side. The coastline is raw lava rock and reef, the wind is real, […]
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Alan Davis Beach sits at the end of a short dirt trail off the Makapuu Lighthouse trailhead, about 10 minutes from the parking lot on the southeastern tip of Oahu. The beach is tucked into a small rocky inlet, protected and shallow, with tidepools, basalt sand, and enough to explore that kids lose track of […]
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The Makapuu tide pools sit at the base of dramatic sea cliffs on the southeastern tip of Oahu, reached by a steep, rocky descent off the Makapuu Lighthouse Trail. They’re not a beginner detour — the trail is loose and uneven and the pools are dangerous when surf is up. But when conditions are right, […]
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The Makapuu Point Lighthouse Trail is a paved, 2-mile round trip hike on the southeastern tip of Oahu, about 30 minutes from Waikiki. The trail climbs gradually from a protected lower section, then rounds a corner and opens up to two coastlines, ocean air, and the kind of view that makes a short hike feel […]
Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden is a free, 400-acre botanical garden at the foot of the Ko’olau Mountains in Kaneohe, about 30 minutes from Waikiki. It’s open daily from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, admission is free, and parking is free. The garden has hiking trails, a lake with catch-and-release fishing on weekends, camping permits, bike-friendly paths, […]
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Kuliouou Ridge Trail is a 4.4-mile round trip hike in the southeast corner of Oahu, about 30 minutes from Waikiki. It starts in a quiet residential neighborhood and climbs through ironwood and guava forest to a wind-swept ridge with views of Hawaii Kai, Koko Head, and the Pacific. Most families take about 3 hours with […]
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Diamond Head (Lēʻahi) is the volcanic crater at the eastern end of Waikiki that appears in roughly every aerial photo of Honolulu. The hike to the summit is 1.6 miles round trip, moderately steep, and entirely worth it for the 360-degree views of Waikiki, the Pacific, and the Ko’olau Mountains. You’ll need a reservation. Go […]
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