Oahu, Hawaii
Hiking Stats of the Diamond Head Hike
Distance: 1.8 miles roundtrip (2.9km)
Difficulty: Mostly Easy
Length of time: 1.5 – 2 hours (depending how many times you stop to take photos or break)
Elevation Gain: 515 Ft.
Cliff notes: Once you park, you’ll head towards the Visitors Center. You’ll pay the $5 each, free for residents, and you’ll start along the trail. This trail is a sidewalk-width dirt path. You’ll begin to incline and gain elevation and go up switchbacks with railing. You’ll go up stairs to get to the summit and there’s really pretty viewpoints along to the very top! This is a bit of a workout. Bring tennis shoes!
My top 3 favorite tours on Oahu!
How to get to Diamond Head? Waikiki to Diamond Head.
The Diamond Head Crater Hike is about a 10-15 minute drive from the main strip in Waikiki. You can use Uber, Lyft, or a rental car. I wouldn’t suggest walking from Waikiki to Diamond Head Crater.
This is the Google Maps location you’ll want to put in for getting to Diamond Head trail.
Diamond Head Parking
Parking inside the crater is $10 per vehicle and free for residents. Residents must show valid State ID. If parking is full, or you’d like to save the $10, then you can park outside of the crater. We parked just right before the tunnel on the left.
Credit cards only!
Here’s the Google Maps location for where we parked and walked into the crater.
Entrance fee and reservations into Diamond Head State Park
The entrance fee is $5 for each person 3 years and older, and it’s free for residents that can provide a valid Hawaii State ID.
You’ll need to make a reservation before entering the trail. If you don’t make it ahead of time, at the Visitors Center the staff will instruct you to scan a QR code to make your reservation there, and then pay afterwards. It is recommended to make your reservation ahead of time. Make your reservations here!
Credit cards only!
Best time to hike Diamond Head
The BEST time to visit is… anytime! That’s one of the best things about Hawaii is the consistent weather. Now, if you visit during the winter months, the trees and bushes will be much more green. If you visit during the summer, it’ll look dry like a desert. We went in late August, so it looked like a desert.
The best time of day to visit is the morning. This trail has hardly any shade at all, and you’ll be hiking in direct sun. Bring sunglasses, hat, sunscreen and water!
Hiking at Diamond Head can be VERY crowded. Since it’s the most popular hike on the entire island and the closest to Waikiki, you could imagine how many people make their vacation plans to hike here!
How long does it take to hike Diamond Head?
The Diamond head hike length is 1.2 miles roundtrip, so it takes about an hour to two hours just depending on how long you take breaks and take photos! It took us about an hour and 45 minutes (and we take A LOT) of photos! 🙂
Where to stay on Oahu? Here are my top 3 hotels!
- Royal Hawaiian (known as the pink hotel) Super cute hotel right on Waikiki strip!
- Four Seasons Ko’Olina (luxury and relaxing experience)
- Parkshore Waikiki hotel (budget friendly) with the best view of Diamond Head, it’s at the end of the Waikiki strip
What to expect when hiking the Diamond Head Crater
You’ll be hiking along this path with railing on the side, and begin to ascend up the switchbacks. Don’t forget to look up and see the beautiful view around you!
You’ll come to your first set of stairs, and go up to see this sign I’ve added below! You’ll get a good visual of the different ways you can reach the summit. We took a right, and went up more stairs!
You’ll be inside of the concrete structure, and see the really cool spiral staircase! Follow it up, and you’ll see the lookout at the top!
diamond head hike
Once you reach the top, you’ll follow the sidewalks (stay on the sidewalks and don’t hop the fence!) Take in the beautiful and breathtaking views of Waikiki from a birds eye point of view!
Final conclusions about the hike:
If you’re planning on visiting Oahu, I highly recommend this easy-moderate hike! The views of the ocean are the best on the island, in my humble opinion! If you do this hike in the morning, then have some breakfast in Waikiki and enjoy the ocean after! That sounds like the perfect day! 😉
If you’ll be visiting Hawaii anytime soon, and going to the island of Oahu, check out my latest blog 12 Best things to do on Oahu! Thanks for reading!
