Length: Just over one mile, one way.
Elevation Gain: 400 feet.
Modes: Walk, run.
Conditions: Paved asphalt. Moderate slope. No water. No shade. No sanitary facilities.
To Reach: Follow Kalanianaole Highway east 30 minutes from Waikiki. A metal gate on the right side of the road marks the trail head less than a mile past the Hawaii Kai Golf Course just after the highway turns away from the sea. Coming from Waimanalo-Kailua, the trail head is on the left about a mile past Sea Life Park.
One of the things I like about this path is that you have to step through or around a couple of gates, which gives the illusion that you're tredding on rare ground. In fact, the gates are to keep joy-riding four-wheel vehicles out. I have, however, seen families pushing baby strollers -- one for the baby, one for the food and water -- up the path for a picnic. Older children can walk it themselves, as can their grandparents. (See Queen's Beach chapter for two alternate and more adventurous routes to the top.)
Unless you're a fisherman or sailor, walking is the only way to see this dramatic point up close, as well as to get a view of the back sides of Manana (Rabbit) Island and its lowly neighbor Kaohikaipu Island.
But the best thing about Makapu`u Point is that you'll never breathe fresher air. This is the southeast point of Oahu and the air that blows ashore here with the trade winds has been at sea for over 2,000 miles. It is cool, clean, soft. Your lungs will thank you. The cool rush of the tradewinds is also a welcome sensation to the skin.
In this balmy place, giant cacti seem out of place. They are, but thrive. Tangles of kiawe (Hawaiian for mesquite) creak in the wind like a rusty gate and seeds inside its dry pods rattle from their branches.
The Coast Guard lighthouse was erected in 1909 and in recent years viewing platforms have been built above the lighthouse that provide incredible views of the entire Windward coast and the sheer Koolau Range all the way to Kahuku.
The cliffs at Makapu`u Point is the closest that I've ever come to a white tropic bird, its long tail following like an arrow as it soared a few yards away on winds whistling up the cliffs, then swooping down to the sea to scoop a fish.
In the winter, whales are often seen just offshore.
From Makapu`u Point, you can see Molokai and Lanai to the southeast. On particularly clear mornings, you can see Maui and the Big Island. And from the trail, you can also see all the way to Diamond Head to the west.
Okay, so it's paved. But it sure is pretty.
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