Diamond Head Hike

YEWDVC

Earning My Ears
Joined
Nov 9, 2008
Do you need to wear hiking boots for the Diamond Head and other hikes on Oahu? If so, I will wear them on the flight.
 
you don’t need them for diamond head (tho it may help a little), the other hikes...it may help a bit more. depends on what hikes you’re planning.
 


We also wore sneakers and were fine. If you're a hiker, you should be ok with it. We were not, and were a little surprised that it was more difficult than we were expecting.
 
I wore sneakers for every hike that I did on Oahu and rarely saw people wearing anything else, even for Koko Head, which many consider the most difficult short hike on the island. Boots would probably make it easier but they definitely aren’t needed.
 
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We wore good quality walking shoes with a reasonably good tread. It can be slippery in some areas - it was partially raining when we did it - but there are also stairs at various points. So good footwear is important but hiking boots are definitely not necessary. Sneakers in decent condition would be fine; I just wouldn't wear anything with a really worn down sole.
 


You definitely don’t need hiking shoes for Diamond Head. It’s really just a dusty dirt trail that zigzags up a very short mountain. As kids, we’d walk up in rubber slippers . . . But I definitely don’t recommend that either lol.

But if you want to climb the outside of Diamond Head, yes, you will need hiking shoes.
 
WARNING: Be sure to eat a meal before your hike and carry lots of water and salty snacks.

Otherwise, you are in serious danger of heat exhaustion/dehydration and will have to be airlifted off the mountain by helicopter. That will be followed by a heart attack when you see the medical bill for the airlift!

There were 6 medical airlifts in one day when I climbed last year.


-Paul
 
I think Diamond Head is really just a hilly walk, and not really a hike (similar to walking up to the top of Coit Tower from a main street in San Francisco). And I consider myself to out of shape. Also despite recommendations to bring a flashlight for the tunnel, I find it completely unnecessary.

For more intense hikes, you will want good soles, but generally we wore older shoes because trails can get muddy and shoes waterlogged. But when I lived in Hawaii I never found any type of hiking specific gear necessary. If you're sensitive to mosquito bites, insect repellent is a good idea when hiking.

I do think sunscreen and a good insulated water bottle (especially if it has a wide enough mouth to add ice) is great for carrying around all the time (not just on hikes). And tap water in Hawaii is the absolute best, the only place I drink tap water.
 
I think Diamond Head is really just a hilly walk, and not really a hike (similar to walking up to the top of Coit Tower from a main street in San Francisco). And I consider myself to out of shape. Also despite recommendations to bring a flashlight for the tunnel, I find it completely unnecessary.

Well, to be fair, its on a dirt path with uneven terrain and there are portions with a lot of stairs. Its not a hike as in you need boots and a walking stick, but it can be a lot for people who aren't used to cardio activity. We also found that the path is narrow and gets crowded, so there were instances where we felt pressured to keep going when we could have used a break. There was no place to pull over out of the way because of all the people coming and going, so we had to keep pace. We had a few people on our tour that did not reach the top and opted to turn around and go back to the bus.
 
I think Diamond Head is really just a hilly walk, and not really a hike (similar to walking up to the top of Coit Tower from a main street in San Francisco). And I consider myself to out of shape. Also despite recommendations to bring a flashlight for the tunnel, I find it completely unnecessary.

For more intense hikes, you will want good soles, but generally we wore older shoes because trails can get muddy and shoes waterlogged. But when I lived in Hawaii I never found any type of hiking specific gear necessary. If you're sensitive to mosquito bites, insect repellent is a good idea when hiking.

I do think sunscreen and a good insulated water bottle (especially if it has a wide enough mouth to add ice) is great for carrying around all the time (not just on hikes). And tap water in Hawaii is the absolute best, the only place I drink tap water.

I agree 100% with this, but I guess it’s all relative. By Hawaii standards, Diamond Head is a walk. No streams, rocks to climb, narrow walkways along a ridge/cliff, etc. Lots of 2nd and 3rd grade classes take field trips to Diamond Head.

I’ve been on some “medium” difficulty trails on the mainland and have left scratching my head at how easy they were.

@nkereina - Diamond Head is ridiculously over-crowded!

For anyone who wants a beautiful, less-crowded hike on a mostly paved trail, the Makapuu Lighthouse at sunrise is far superior. If you can do Diamond Head, you can do Makapuu. Imo, Diamond Head is the worst hike on the island ... but I get it, it’s in all the guidebooks and “must do” lists so people feel compelled to do it.
 
I wore sneakers for every hike that I did on Oahu and rarely saw people wearing anything else, even for Koko Head, which many consider the most difficult short hike on the island. Boots would probably make it easier but they definitely aren’t needed.
KoKo Head was intense for sure!

But I will probably have to hike it once more since my wife didn’t make the summit and wants to try again.
 
We did it in Keens and were fine. It’s not a “technical climb” but it’s not a stroll in the park, either. Definitely take water, as it does take a while, even at a moderate pace. I don’t care it it’s touristy, being able to see back down into the crater and up the coast was gorgeous. I’d rather there have been no other people around, but I wish that in the parks too and it just isn’t happening.
 
So did you guys do the excursion with Aulani? I saw a few weeks ago that aluani did this as an excursion, but now on the website I can't find it anywhere.
We did ours through Discover Oahu Nature tours. We booked it on our own during our stay in Waikiki because the tour offered transportation to and from our Waikiki hotel. I would recommend doing a tour that offers transportation if you can swing it because they dropped us off nearly at the start of the path. Had we tried to go ourselves, parking is a challenge and we would have had to park a ways away making for a long walk before the hike even started.
 
I wore sneakers for every hike that I did on Oahu and rarely saw people wearing anything else, even for Koko Head, which many consider the most difficult short hike on the island. Boots would probably make it easier but they definitely aren’t needed.
I was reading this and thinking about Koko Head, as we plan to do that hike on our upcoming trip. Thanks for answering that! One less thing to pack. (I have to bring too much stuff already.) We are used to technical hikes where we live and rarely need anything but good running shoes for half-day hikes.
 
Running shoes, training shoes are fine for all the hikes around Oahu. I would not wear flip flops on any of these, but teenagers are defiant. :)
 

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