Kokohead Hike (Hanauma Bay)

 Hanauma Bay – March 24, 2012

Kokohead overlooking Hanauma Bay

I always wanted to do this short easy hike. If you live on Oahu, no matter where you go (doctor’s office, office building, restaurants, stores, etc), you tend to notice the artwork on the wall.  From time to time, you see pictures of Hanauma Bay. The pictures are beautiful! For a while now, I’ve been wondering how photographers get that vantage point of the bay. This search went on for a while. I even tried to find the access point to the hike or road. With no success, I started to give up. But I’m not one to quit without trying and on a hike one day with Steve, I found my answer. He gave me simple directions to the access point which would take us to a ridge to get up to the vantage point. After some research, the ridge is on Kokohead, not to be confused with Koko Head Crater. Both are adjacent to one another.

Most everyone on Oahu know where Hanauma Bay is, but most everyone doesn’t know that Kokohead forms a curvature land formation that creates the crescent shape of the bay. They may know, but haven't made that connection or would even care. 

Since I got all the information I needed, it was time to go. We made the decision to go at 8:30 am today. It took 45 minutes to get to Hawaii Kai. As we neared the parking lot, we saw that the parking lot wasn’t full. It tends not to be full because of the economy and the $7.50 admission price. To park is a $1. We parked near a set of stairs which led us to the access point and the ridge started. There is a  wide road that goes up the ridge. It is a fast walk, maybe 20 minutes, with gentle huffing and puffing. As we neared the top, the ridge was windswept with a steep drop to the left side. I feared for my kids. But they are good hikers for their age and understand the danger. Well, the vantage point did not match what my dreams envisioned and pictures I’ve seen in the past. Although the picture at the top is nice, it does not rival some of the artwork you see. We took a few pictures, and then walked down to the beach.

Up the Kokohead Access Road

The beach makes a killing with the admission, $7.50 per person, 12 and under are free, and Ka’ma’aina are free. We waited in line for the movie. Since Hanauma Bay is a nature preserve, the state wants to educate people about taking care of the aina. The bottom line message was, “keep your hands to yourself”. After watching the video, we walked down the hill to the bay. If you want, they offer a shuttle which cost $0.75 to go down and $1.00 to go up. Going up is always harder, that is why they charge extra. It was windy down by the beach; I didn’t feel like going into the water because I was cold, so I baked in the sun.

Beach

There were a lot of tourist, and not too many locals. The kids had fun playing on the sand. After 1 hour, we made our way back up to the parking lot and left. We decided to eat at the Pa’ina Café in Koko Marina Shopping Center. There claim is they use fresh local ingredients in their food. I wanted a poke bowl, but decided to stay away from the rice. I chose the Pastrami; it was average, not as good as Subway’s pastrami. Should have got the poke bowl!  Of course, since we were here, we ate a shave ice at Kokonuts. Nothing beats a shave ice.