Oahu Trip | Day 7: Hiking Makapuu Lighthouse

We got up and decided to eat breakfast in our room instead of our original plan of eating at the famed Wailana Coffee House.  We just didn’t feel up for a big breakfast.  So we had papaya, clementines, and I ate my pineapple cheese pie from Ted's Bakery.  Todd had popcorn.

By the time we finished and sat around, it was 11am.  We were going to go running around Kapiolani Park, but decided against it when we decided to hike the Makapuu Point Trail to the lighthouse instead of going to Lanikai Beach.  We drove to Diamond Head Market & Grill for takeout lunch. 

I got a Teriyaki Burger.

Todd got a Teriyaki Beef Sandwich. 

We shared some fries and a diet Coke.  We drove back to Kapiolani Park and found parking and a picnic bench under a Monkeypod tree. 



The food was pretty good, but not great.  We enjoyed our picnic lunch, even though we were surrounded by pigeons!

After lunch, we drove past Diamond Head, past Hanauma Bay, and stopped at several scenic points to look at the awesome ocean and take photos. 












We also stopped at Koko Marina Center (where Kona Brewing Co is) to look for a restroom. 

There was a Bubbies Ice Cream there and we couldn't help but stop for a mochi ice cream each.  I got Azuki bean ice cream and Todd got strawberry chocolate. 




Then we drove on.  We got to the parking lot at Makapuu fairly soon after that. 

There was a map of the trail, along with some facts.

The start of the trail. 
There were several points along the way where the view was breath-taking.  We stopped to take photos many times. 

View to the right of the trail.

At times the trail had a pretty steep grade.

Awesome views from a lookout point.



The view when we turned back towards the parking lot!

The sky and ocean really were that blue!

A view point for humpback whales, but we didn’t see any.


We made it to the lighthouse! 
However, there still was some ways to go to get to the highest point of the trail.

We finally made it up to the summit lookout point about 45 minutes after we began.  The hike was so worth it!  The panoramic views were spectacular.  We were slightly tired and sweaty when we made it up there, but the payoff was worth it!  The views were stunning.



We asked a couple to take our photo, and we took theirs for them.

The lighthouse from the view point.

Zoomed up view of the road below.

After looking around at the summit for a while, we headed down the trail for the return hike to the parking lot.



The hike back down took only about 25 minutes.


We drove back to the hotel to rest a little bit after that.  Then we took a walk to the Halekulani Hotel so we could have their famous coconut cake at the House Without A Key restaurant. 



The hotel was right on Waikiki Beach with a view of Diamond Head. 

The coconut cake was awesome!  We had Japanese green tea with it.  

After the cake, we took a walk along Waikiki Beach and took some photos.
It was nearing sunset and the lighting was golden and gorgeous.















We stopped in at Hilton Hawaiian Village (where we stayed in Dec 2000 when I ran the Honolulu Marathon) to look at their beautiful gardens.

And their koi fish pond.


Then we walked back to our condo.  I was tired of walking by then and my legs were tired!  We called our takeout dinner order into Gina's Bar BQ and went to pick it up. 

It was such a great choice by Todd because it was delicious!  We had BBQ beef, BBQ chicken, watercress greens, seaweed with radish, kim chee, and daego. 



Yum!  The servings were huge so we didn't finish.

After dinner, we took showers and packed and watched TV. It was a great day, but it was our last full day on Oahu!