Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
If it's still early in the day, you can head up the lush, green Windward Coast by turning
right at the Castle Junction, Highway 72 and Highway 61 (which is also Kailua Rd. on the
makai, or seaward, side of the junction, and Kalanianaole Hwy. on the mauka, or inland,
side of the junction), and continuing down Kailua Road (Hwy. 61). After Kailua Road crosses
the Kaelepulu Stream, the name of the road changes to Kuulei Road. When Kuulei Road
ends, turn left onto Kalaheo Avenue, which becomes Kaneohe Bay Drive after it crosses
the Kawainui Channel. Follow this scenic drive around the peninsula until it crosses Kame-
hameha Highway (Hwy. 83); turn right and continue on Kamehameha Highway for a scenic
drive along the ocean.
If you're in a hurry to get back to Waikiki, turn left at Castle Junction and head over the Pali
Highway (Hwy. 61), which becomes Bishop Street in Honolulu and ends at Ala Moana. Turn
left for Waikiki; it's the second beach on the right.
Lanikai Beach
★★
This is one of the best places on Oahu to greet the sunrise. Watch the sky
slowly move from pitch black to wisps of gray to burnt orange as the sun rises over the two
tiny offshore islands of Mokulua. Use your five senses for this experience: hear the birds sing,
feel the gentle breezes on your face, taste the salt in the air, smell the ocean, and see the kal-
eidoscope of colors as another day dawns.
Mokulua Dr., Kailua. To get here from Honolulu, take Hwy. 61 (Pali Hwy.) into Kailua. Follow the street (which becomes
Kailua Rd., then becomes Kuulei Rd.) until it ends. Turn right on Kalaheo Ave. (which will become Kawailoa Rd. in a few
blocks). Follow the road over the canal. At the stop sign, turn left on Kaneapu Place. At the fork in the road, bear left on
one-way Aalapapa Dr. Turn right at any cross street onto Mokulua Dr. No bus service.
Nuuanu Pali Lookout
★
Gale-force winds sometimes howl through the mountain pass at
this 1,186-foot-high perch guarded by 3,000-foot peaks, so hold onto your hat—and small chil-
dren. But if you walk up from the parking lot to the precipice, you'll be rewarded with a view
that'll blow you away. At the edge, the dizzying panorama of Oahu's windward side is breath-
taking: Clouds low enough to pinch scoot by on trade winds; pinnacles of the pali (cliffs),
green with ferns, often disappear in the mist; the vertical slopes of the Koolaus end in lush
green valleys that become the town of Kaneohe; and the Pacific, a magnificent blue, dotted
with whitecaps, beckons in the distance. Definitely take a jacket with you; it can be quite misty
and cool at the lookout. On very windy days, you'll notice that the waterfalls look as though
they are flowing up rather than down.
In 1898, John Wilson built the road up to the lookout using 200 laborers. Even before the
road existed, the Nuuanu Pali (which translates as “cool heights”) was infamous because le-
gend claims it as the location of Kamehameha the Great's last battle. Although some academic
scholars scoff at this, the story alleges that in 1795, Kamehameha pursued Oahu's warriors up
Nuuanu to these cliffs and waged a battle in his attempt to unite the Hawaiian islands. Sup-
posedly, the Oahu warriors were driven over the cliffs by Kamehameha's men. Some say the
battle never happened, some say it happened but with only a few men fighting, and some say
thousands were forced over the cliff, plunging to their deaths. Others say at night you can still
hear the cries of these long-dead warriors coming from the valley below.
From on high, the tropical palette of green and blue runs down to the sea. Combine this
10-minute stop with a trip over the Pali to the windward side.
Near the summit of Pali Hwy. (Hwy. 61); take the Nuuanu Pali Lookout turnoff.
