Honolulu’s Magnificent Le’Ahi (Diamond Head Crater)

     On the Southern shore of Oahu, rising up about 780 feet from the neighborhood of Kaimuki and visible from most of Waikiki, is Diamond Head National Monument. The Hawaiin name is Le’Ahi and is a compound word formed from Lea (forehead) and Ahi (tuna) as ancient Hawaiians said the formation looks like the forehead of a tuna. The English name is Diamond Head so named after Western explorers mistook the calcite crystals in the slope of the crater for diamonds. 

The view from Kapahulu Ave of Diamond Head 

For those of you who want a more technical description of how it was formed for those times you’re sitting on one of Waikiki’s sailboats sailing by the monument and want to impress your friends, remember this. Diamond Head is a geologic feature called a tuff cone, and is the result of an eruption about 300,000 years ago. Tuff comes from an interaction between lava and water which causes lava to fragment into very fine grains of ash. It falls around the vent and forms a cone. The ash eventually weathers into a rock called tuff. 

    If you want to enjoy Diamond Head while sipping a maitai or margarita, the best place to do it is from The Deck on the 3rd floor of the Queen Kapiolani Hotel or from the Hula bar which is one of the friendliest bars in Waikiki.

An impressive view of this busy Oahu neighborhood 

In the winter you may spot breaching humpback whal

The bunker lookouts are an impressive feature of the summit 

     More than 3k visitors daily decide to drink water instead to stay hydrated during the climb up the crater wall along a 1.6 mile round trip hike to the summit and back.  The trail up Diamond Head was built in 1908 as part of the U.S. Army Coastal Defense system. The views are well worth the sometimes wet crowded conditions. It is best to avoid this hike during or after a lot of a rain as the sometimes steep trail gets slippery and railings are only installed along one side of the trail which sometimes has two way foot traffic. The footpath involves numerous switchbacks and a 225 foot lit tunnel and some steep climbs. After the tunnel you can avoid a steep flight of 99 stairs by turning left instead and following the rim trail up for a less strenuous ascent. 

     The view from the summit is unbeatable. Plan to spend some time here soaking in the ocean views, snapping some pics or looking out along the water for breaching humpback whales. 

     Diamond Head actually houses the first military fort on the island called Fort Ruger, still in use today. The military features built into the mountain make it even more enjoyable. You can descend a spiral staircase from the top to old bunkers built on the summit in 1915. The bunkers and circular lookouts cut out of the mountainside are part of the fire control station (that’s artillery fire control NOT forest fire control!)  built in the early 1900’s which housed instruments and plotting rooms to direct artillery fire from several batteries (a total of 5 batteries were built at Diamond Head Crater). As is the case with many American defenses they were never actually fired in wartime.

     When you are finished hiking don’t forget a “I hiked Le’Ahi tshirt at the visitors kiosk! 
Diamond Head is not far from the center or Waikiki.The bus drops you off about a mile before the trail head and if you take the bus you have to walk along a narrow foot trail in the Kapahulu tunnel along with two lanes of traffic to get to the trailhead. In my opinion, avoid this tunnel. This is a good time to take an Uber or rent a car for the experience to be more enjoyable.

Using the panoramic setting for pictures is perfect up near the summit