21. Downtown Kailua 22. Enchanted Lake 23. Olomana Golf Links As we enter Waimanalo, the Olomana Golf Links is on the left. Visitors to Oahu know other courses better, but Olomana is a true favorite of "kama'ainas" (residents, or "locals") on the windward side of the island. 24. Waimanalo The community of Waimanalo is fairly small. The business district is not much larger than what we see in the pictures here. The street intersection in the left photo is the main one in Waimanalo and the only one with a traffic signal. The shopping center in the middle picture is directly to the right of the intersection. The striped van, by the way, advertises hot malasadas and expresso. Behind the shopping center is a small banana patch (photo at the right). 25. Waimanalo Waterfront Waimanalo is a small sleepy community, but its waterfront easily rivals that of any other area on Oahu. The sand is clean, the waters are generally calm, and the beaches are long and seldom crowded. In addition to beaches, there are many oceanfront homes peacefully located away from the main north-south Kamahameha Highway. Two views of the beach at Waimanalo Bay Beach Park just below Bellows Air Force Base -- a view to the left in the direction of Kailua, and a view to the right in the direction of Makapuu Point at the southeastern corner of the island. Beachfront homes on a street that loops around to the beach from the highway. Most of the homes in the area are older than these, however. In the photo on the right, a glimpse of Waimanalo Bay from the street. 26. Waimanalo Beach Park Waimanalo Beach Park is different from Waimanalo Bay Beach Park where we were a couple of minutes ago. It's a little farther south just before the highway runs right up against the ocean. Here there are ball fields, picnic and camping grounds, a couple of parking areas, restrooms, showers -- and beautiful beach. It's a good place for long walks along the beach without cutting in front of homes or other private properties. 27. Ocean Drive At the end of Waimanalo Beach Park, Kamehameha Highway hugs the ocean for quite a stretch. The photo on the left shows just how close the road runs to the ocean. On the beach at this point, the views left (middle photo) and right (right photo) are these. Farther down the road, people on novice snorkeling trips usually from Waikiki learn how to snorkel in the calm waters of Waimanalo Bay. At the same stop but looking right, the Makai Research Pier and facilities operated by CEROS (the National Defense Center of Excellence for Research in Ocean Sciences) under the auspices of the State of Hawaii High Technology Development Corporation. That's uninhabited Manana Island (popularly known as Rabbit Island) in the distance. We'll have a better view of the island from the Makapuu lighthouse trail ahead. 28. Sea Life Park In the same area but on the right side of the highway is Sea Life Park, a private attraction featuring numerous exhibits, trained seal, dolphin, and whale shows, a replica of a whaling ship, and more. 29. Makapuu Beach Park Although Makapuu Beach is a little stony in spots and not one of the world's top beaches like Kailua Beach, it is one of the most scenic in Hawai'i. With tall cliffs behind it and on the southern side, tall palm trees, an island offshore, and uncrowded, it's very difficult to beat this. Also what makes it stand out are views of it from higher elevations. Parking, restrooms, picnic tables, and planted areas are to the left of the beach itself. A picnic table in a nice little spot (photo on the left) overlooking the beach and the ocean. If you're from a cold northern place or taking this tour in the dead of winter somewhere, how does this look? The table is right there this very minute, probably not in use right now -- you could be sitting there now enjoying the warm Hawai'i weather and great views. In the photo at the right, a view of Makapuu Point.

A panoramic view of the beach and Makapuu Point in the background. Notice the lighthouse on the edge of Makapuu Point at the left -- also the road, Kamehameha Highway, cut into the cliff at the far right. When we leave the park, we'll travel along that cliff. There's a popular pulloff there where people stop and photograph the beach below. At the top of the incline right before the highway disappears over the hill there's another pulloff that's a popular photo spot. 30. Makapuu Trail and Lighthouse This may be one of Oahu's best kept secrets. The trailhead is poorly marked, there's no dedicated parking, and tour buses do not stop here. But what a nice short climb this is! It's similar to Diamond Head in that it takes only about 30 minutes each way, the highest elevation is probably about the same, and there are specacular ocean views. But the trail is wide and paved the entire way, the climb is gradual (no 100-step stretches like at Diamond Head), there's really more to see, and the views are more varied. It's along this stretch of raod (#1) where the trail begins. We've parked a little beyond the trailhead and are walking back toward it. The trail will be on the right. You can see how anyone could miss this great stop altogether. There's barely a pulloff for cars, and the edge of the pavement is even dangerous. A better trailhead is an inexpensive project that is badly needed. The gate here (#2) is the only marking of something beyond (would you recognize this as a great tour stop?). Beyond the gate we bend around to the right and start the gradual ascent (#3) to the lighthouse. A little farther along the trail there are great views of Koko Head (volcano), the Hawaii Kai Golf Course, and the ocean (#4). We actually go inside the Koko Head crater at the next stop on our tour. We'll enter on the right side, and you can see from here how the crater opens on the right. Back on this lighthouse trail, we continue to climb gradually as we round a corner in the trail and walk parallel to the coast. Now the views are quite different. During the winter, whales can be seen from this vantage point (#5). Looking down we see the ocean waves crashing against the shore (#6). They are difficult to see in the picture, but there are people fishing from the level rock down there. Farther along the trail the lighthouse comes into view. Climbing down the rock from the trail we get a better look at it (#7). From higher on the trail we can see the railing-lined path that leads to the lighthouse (#8). The white railing is not particularly strong, and probably for that reason of the danger involved in walking the path, the path is closed to the public. Still farther along the trail we can look up and see the lower summit ahead (#9). The lighthouse is off on the right from the lookout at the summit. Curving slightly left from the ocean, we approach a lookout point (#10) that affords a great view of the windward coast. For a trail that is poorly marked at the road and not very well known, the lookout itself is clean and relatively new looking. To the right of the lookout, we climb a little higher to the lower summit that we saw earlier (photo #9 above). From here we can look down and see the lighthouse picturesquely perched on a small outcropping of rock (#11). The paved trail ends at the lookout, but a higher summit is off to the left of the lookout. Although a path to it is not paved, it's easy to reach -- and the views to the cliffside road below and toward Makapuu Beach (#12) are breathtaking. Looking more oceanward, we see two islands (#13), Manana Island (the larger one) and Kaohikaipu Island, both of which are protected State bird refuges. Looking down at the shore (#14) we see how treacherous the water is here. People who don't know the danger of swimming in these waters sometimes dive in from the rocky shore and then cannot get out. There have been many cases where swimmers have been stranded in the water, beaten against the rock, and not survived. The water is even more danmgerous here than it looks. A last look at the lighthouse (#15) as we descend along the ocean from the higher summit. Click here for a related story.