Hiking the Hanauma Bay Rock Bridge Trail on Oʻahu
Distance (Roundtrip): 3.2 miles / 5.1 km
The Hanauma Bay Rock Bridge hike is a great hike at any time of the day. Sunrise is always beautiful with the east facing view, and the road can be a great place to catch sunset over Hawaiʻi Kai.
Just know that there is very little shade along this trail, so I would try to avoid the heat of the day.
Hanauma Bay Rim Trailhead Parking
Parking for the Hanauma Bay Rock Bridge is on Nāwiliwili Street just after turning off of Kalanianaʻole Highway. There should be plenty of street parking any time of the day.
Google Maps Directions: Hanauma Bay Rock Bridge Trailhead
Hiking the Hanauma Bay Rock Bridge
After parking, walk back out toward Kalanianaʻole and up the hill toward Hanauma Bay. A short distance later the trailhead will be just past this driveway with a little ditch to step over (photo below).
Understand that you accept all potential legal consequences for hiking a closed trail.
After this sign in the photo below, turn right up the asphalt road.
When the road starts to level off toward the top, start looking for either one of two left hand turns off of the road. Either of these paths leads the right direction to continue on along the south side of Hanauma Bay Rim.
After either of these turns, take the most obvious trail down the steep hill along rim of Hanauma Bay.
Be careful of the loose rocks. You’ll see what I mean in a few photos.
At the bottom of the steep downhill along the ʻIhiʻihelauākea Crater, there’s just a few rolling hills until the final descent down to the rock bridge.
I stepped on some rocks that acted like golf balls under my feet, and that’s how I got this cut. Really, this could have happened on any steep part of the trail, so just be careful.
The Rock Bridge
The Hanauma Bay Rock Bridge is located just to the right of these tide pools.
Under no circumstances and I mean ocean conditions should you walk out on the rock bridge. Horror stories have happened here before, and that’s why there’s this float here. Rescue services would be extremely slow to get over here, and on any average day with the waves crashing, I don’t see how it would be possible to climb back up the cliffs without seriously injuring yourself from the waves. My best guess would be that you would have to swim around to the Hanauma Bay Beach for safety.
Seriously, it’s not worth getting the photo.
Native Plants on the Rock Bridge Trail
There are number of native coast plants that you can find along this hike including ʻIlima, Pāʻū o Hiʻiaka, and ʻUhaloa to name a few.
If you would like to learn more about identifying native plants on this hike and around Hawaiʻi, check out my separate post on native Hawaiian plants.
Read My Separate Post: Native Hawaiian Plant Guide
