Hawaii - Lighthouse Trail and Manoa Waterfall

September 14

It my was turn again to pick the activity yay! If you haven't noticed, mom and I started switching off picking the activities for the day. She tended to choose beach, shopping, or organized activities, and I wanted to do a hike. I searched high and low for a good hike that mom and I could do, and after much convincing, she compromised and agreed to do one for the day. I selected on the easiest I knew about, the Lighthouse trail. We got a late start to our journey south of island, so we struggled with parking, but when a spot freed up, and mom let me go behind the wheel of our rental for the first time so I could whip out my parallel parking skills so we could get hiking! Our goal for the day was to check out the tidepools that were just off this lighthouse trail.

We made our way down the trail and when it got to a split, we asked a girl if the tidepools were down the lower trail, her response a yes, and we followed it, that was our first mistake. Because, we were not headed towards the tidepools, but instead through a 15 minute desert walk to a hidden beach instead. There were people swimming, snorkeling, hanging out on the beach, and us - mid adventure. We saw some of the bluest water, and cools cliffs, and found some shade to cool down after our walk over here. I was on the hunt for the tidepools, and soon realized that we were not there.

It was a lovely beach but the heat was overwhelming and we haven't even seen what we came here to do. This spot was gorgeous, but I was anxious to see the lighthouse and tidepools as well. So, although we had an hour long detour, I encouraged her to find a hidden reserve of energy and make it to at least the tidepools which was about halfway up the hike.

So, we mustered up the strength, returned to the trailhead, and made our way on the right path to the lighthouse. This hike had a great trail, paved with a slight incline, but it's main downfall was the lack of shade. It was midday, with the sun's bright strength pouring down on us, so as sweat dripped from our hairline to brow, we put one foot in front of the other to see what we came here for. About 30 minutes later, a little past halfway in the hike, we made it to where the path veers off to go down to the tidepools. Sadly, these pools were not right off the trail, but another 10 minute hike down to the water, and me being proud of mom for making it this far with me, I agreed to relish in the tidepools with a view of them from the top. I would have loved to gone down and swam in them, but I was also hungry so I agreed to head back down and find a nearby food spot. Plus, with hopes of moving to Hawaii one day, this would be something I could save and do then.

We found a lunch spot near the area, it was a higher end restaurant place, serving the best meal platters. Mom got a big plate of eggs and shoveled me all of her veggies which was so kind of her because my salad and acai bowl needed a bit more sustenance. It was in such a beautiful area that we hadn’t yet explored, Kai Hawaii, and the restaurant was on a bay, which made for a lovely meal and view. We also drove past Hanauma Bay but didn’t make a stop because it’s was closed. 

We wanted to do more with our day than just this hike, and I realized a waterfall I wanted to see was only 20 minutes away, it seemed perfect. I asked mom if we could at least give it a go and could always bail if we are too tired or don’t like it. Plus, the heat was starting to cool down, meaning this would be more enjoyable, temperature wise. So to Manoa Falls we went.

This was one of the few things we did that we found on our own, whereas most of our activities have been recommendations from my friend that's from Hawaii. It was kind of fun finding this on our own and it was absolutely beautiful. It cooled off a ton, making the hike easier, but in trade, we got bugs. We walked through a literal jungle, it was so cool. Right at the beginning of the trail, there was this open area where the nature sprawled, and it was breathtaking. It felt like we were in a movie, a scene in Avatar. Both mom and I were in awe with this stop along our way to the waterfall. As we trekked on, there was a bit of an incline, nature's staircase, to make our way to the waterfall. It was a lovely waterfall. I thought we would be seeing these on the daily, so the fact this was our only one the whole trip I was very happy we did it.

Mom was also very happy we did this and she felt so accomplished not only having done one but two hikes today and finishing both. I was also proud of her and this was such a good day seeing so much and that made me happy. We called it after that, heading back for the day and feeling so content with all we did and see. Another great day in Hawaii.