Kaʻena Point State Park — Attraction in Oʻahu

This is an easy and moderately long hike. The path is flat and lightly rocky for most of the way. As you approach the point from the west side there is maybe a 50 yard section of narrow rocky stairs, and along the whole path there is a sharp drop off so don't look at your phone. You could probably take a mountain bike along this trail. Has great views of crashing waves, cliffs, tidepools, and the mountain. The path is mostly exposed and sunny, but there are shaded points where you could take a break. Pack lots of water. The only bathroom is at the beach park near the west trailhead, so go before you park.

Points of interest include a crashed car off a cliff, a spouting hole in the rocks, and the remains of a 19th century railroad. There are two large rock arches by the ocean. At some points you could scramble down the rocks if you wanted to sit by the crashing waves, but it is quite intense and there are no lifeguards, so I would avoid swimming or being anywhere you could be thrown against the rocks. You can dip your toes in the water at the point if there are no seals around, or at the beach park at the trailhead.

Remember if you start from the west side, there is no road or trail that cuts through to the north side, so you can go to the point and turn around. If you want to do the whole hike around the point, you could have someone drop you off on one side and drive to meet you later. There is a trail that goes across the mountain which is restricted and requires a permit, and is very challenging.

Took our group 3.5 hours to go to the point, hang out, and come back at a leisurely pace, a round trip of...

Great experience! Don't try to take the trail, it has been eroded away near the end. There are a couple really tough turns that only an experienced offroader with a smaller stance should attempt. So even if you made it to the end (ish) like I said it has been eroded away so you'll have to park and walk the rest of the way. Not an issue except the trail is pretty narrow at the end so you'll be taking up a majority of the path. Also don't bring dogs, I brought my service animal and someone without even asking or knowing any circumstances took a photo (with a telephoto) lens and called the park to turn me in. It wasn't a big deal I explained the situation and showed them the paperwork and we went on our way. But the lady that just decided to be non conformationally and a jerk caused the 2 troopers to wait for no reason just till we returned from our hike.

Ok that being aside it's a pretty decent walk (2-2.5 miles) each way the view is great but becomes very repetitive. Keep an eye out for monkey seals resting on the rocks, but don't get too close. I believe the law is 50' or 100' because there endangered. On our hike we witnessed 6 seals all together. The state park at the end is home to an endangered bird (this is the reason for no dogs). It's a nice area for bird watching, and pictures but no much of a beach, still a trip definitely worth while. Overall it was an all day experience for us, stopping for lots of amazing pictures and just a great family day, the entire trip took us about 6 hours, but like I said we took it slow and had a good time....

Wow so amazing! If you could take the time to go there, definitely do! There's a gate to fence off mongoose so it's a bird sanctuary in there past the fence. So many different types of birds that aren't afraid of people. Albatross doing mating dance, baby albatross squeaking, etc. reminds me a lot of the Galapagos.

The O'ahu west coastline was also visible at the pillbox. It's such a nice spot to sit and enjoy some snacks and the sunset. It's too bad that the sun set behind the clouds, but we got beautiful views of everything. We just soaked it all in. It's the most remote part of O'ahu and it's amazing.

If you don't wanna walk all the way to the west, you can drive but you'll need to apply for a permit and have a vehicle with high clearance and decent tires. It's ok without a 4wd or awd if it's not raining. It's dry mud and lots of small to medium sized rocks. The path was mostly visible with tire tracks. But just in case it rains, and it can come down heavily, it's best to go with an awd or 4wd because you can get stuck in mud, and also skid from wet mud so drive slowly so the tires have good grip of the road. Doable to drive in rainy weather and in the dark too. I did it :-) Overall fun off-roading experience! However, driving back out can be tricky as there are multiple roads sometimes. Just make sure you hug the mountain when leaving.

It's so worth the visit. It didn't feel like O'ahu at all. It's a special magical place on the most populated Hawaiian...