Stunning View and Accomplishments ! DIAMOND HEAD BIKE TO HIKE

This is The Maruruns' 4th visit to Oahu, Hawaii. Though we tried a similar bike tour about ten years ago, we challenged it again to enjoy cycling and the amazing view.

This time, we took a tour conducted by the tour company, Bike Tour Hawaii, and Kelly, who is the owner of the company and also a triathlete, was our guide. Kelly has such a great character. He is such a kind and reliable person and besides those qualities, knowledgeable about local points of interest. He speaks Japanese a little because he has been to Japan several times for triathlon races. We had a great experience thanks to Kelly.

Bike and Hike to the top of Diamond Head

The meeting place of this bike tour was Kuhio Beach Banyan Tree, located next to Duke Kahanamoku Statue, and the time was at 8:00 am.

First, we introduced ourselves to each other and Kelly gave us the important notice and safety instructions for taking part in this tour.

And after our bike fitting, we installed a bottle of water and isotonic drink given by Kelly on each of our bikes, put on a helmet, and headed to the foot of Diamond Head.

We stopped at the beach where we could see that a lot of fish were swimming in the very high transparency seawater.

The pretty flowers named Naupaka Kahakai which are native Hawaiian Plants growing naturally by a beach were blooming.

The shape of their flowers is a half circle which looks like a fan and Kelly explained to us the sorrowful legend relating to this shape.

Then, we stopped at Waikiki Natatorium War Memorial, an ocean water public swimming pool which was built as a living memorial dedicated to the people who served in World War Ⅰ. The pool has been closed so it was currently unavailable.

There is a nice fountain near the War Memorial. We saw a part of the Diamond Head view from there, and that made us gradually boost our morale to pedal our bike to the foot of Diamond Head.

After moving a short distance by bike from the fountain, we stopped at a French-style residential area along the beach and enjoyed seeing those houses.

The beach behind these houses was quiet and very beautiful. We were envious of the people who lived in a place where they could enjoy the stunning sea view every day.

We also stopped at a mansion located close to the starting point of a slope. We enjoyed seeing the gorgeous appearance and a lovely flowering tree which had beautiful pink flowers.

There is Reef Beach Park next to the mansion, and this was the starting point of a tough uphill ride. Luckily we pedaled our bikes with no sweat until then…

Uphill cycling was really hard for us since we both haven't ridden a bike at all for about 20 years in our daily life. Honestly, uphill cycling was killing us.

Marurun felt so ashamed that I couldn’t keep pedaling without Kelly pushing my back several times. Jay, my husband, struggled to keep up with us, but he managed to keep pedaling without Kelly's help..😅

We were somehow able to finish pedaling up the toughest hill. That slope you can see in the picture was where we struggled to climb by bike.

We took some memorable photos. Though we are smiling in the picture, we were worn out and almost flopped down heavily.

We hydrated a little and enjoyed seeing the Diamond Head Lighthouse for a little while.

There was a stunning view a little bit ahead of here. Our tiredness flew out the window the moment we saw this view. You can see the sunlight sparkling on the sea water surface, and the arc-shaped horizon.

Marurun took some nice pictures of a bird named the Red-crested Cardinal who has a beautiful red head and crest and are native to South America. We often saw the same kind of birds in Oahu. Their red head and crest are very pretty so I tried to take pictures of them whenever I saw them.

Marurun loves birds so much.🐦🎵

After our short break, Kelly readjusted the height of our bike seats to match the course beyond this point, and we started cycling again for the foot of Diamond Head.

Kelly said us there are no steep hills like the one we biked up a while ago but this point was still halfway of the entire distance.

The slope of the hill was a little gentler than the previous one, but it was steep, so our tired leg muscles had reached our maximum limit and we often almost stopped pedaling each bike. Marurun needed Kelly's help again.

After struggling with our tired of legs, we finally stopped at a lovely small park. There was a gentle breeze there, and we took a little longer break in the shade of the trees.

Birds singing in the trees at the park healed our tired body and mind, and that was so comfortable.

There is a beautiful green parrot in the following photo, but it might be hardly seen because of the similar color to the leaves.

Birds lover, Marurun, was looking for birds the whole time there, though she was very tired.

The monument of a time capsule buried in 1999 was in the park, and a lot of cute snails were around the monument.

The views from this point were also stunning. Though we wanted to stay a bit longer to enjoy them, there was still a little bit of a distance to get to the foot of Diamond Head.

We were encouraged by Kelly, and he told us there were almost no hills anymore and it was only a short distance from Diamond Head. Though our physical exhaustion reached the limit, we made one last effort. That was so tough.💦

Diamond Head showed itself just when we passed through the tunnel.

At last, we arrived at Diamond Head!😆

We left our helmets and bikes there, and then went to the bathroom and got another bottle of water. The entrance fee is included in the tour fee, so you don't need additional payment.

From this point, it was the start of climbing the mountain.

At the start, the slope was gentle, so in the picture, we look like we were easily and enjoyably climbing.

The slope was getting steeper and steeper, and there was no shade under the blazing sun. That caused a rush of blood to the head of Marurun, and she started getting sunburn on her calves which she forgot to put on sunscreen.

However, we still kept smiling when we took a picture with a great view.

There were some nice lookouts before reaching the top of the mountain, and we refreshed ourselves by feeling the pleasant breeze at those spots.

The building on the top of the mountain came into view. From around here, the sharp angle slope and stairs appeared.

In the picture, you can see that we climbed up a long, sharp-angled and cranky narrow path.

We saw that some people who were wearing thongs or older people kept sitting down and couldn't stand up due to exhaustion.

The ocean view from the observation deck after climbing quite a number of stairs and close to the top of the mountain was also stunning.

We can see the inside of the crater of Diamond Head and can recognize it was an active volcano a long time ago. We heard Diamond Head is the extinct volcano since the last time of eruption occurred about 30 to 50 thousands years ago, so we did not need to worry about the volcano erupting.

From around this point, the trail branches off into two, where the right side has a short distance but sharp angle, so it's for someone who is like an expert.

Now, the top of the mountain was almost there, but Marurun hardly kept climbing the stairs due to having muscle pain but managed to climb holding the handrail.

We are smiling in the picture, so maybe you don't know how tough that was for us…😅

At last, we arrived at the top of Diamond Head!

You can look over a wonderful 360 degree panoramic view of the ocean, Waikiki town and mountains from there and can enjoy the totally different type of views such as the beautiful ocean, the center of Waikiki town lined with hotels or lush green mountains with many trees.

Oahu has two totally different climates. The area around Diamond Head has a dry climate, where it hardly ever rains, and the area around the mountains on the opposite side of the ocean has ten times the amount of rainfall.

We felt great amount of accomplishment and satisfaction without giving up all the way to the end. I was surprised that tiredness really disappeared quickly in a situation like this!

I guess that we might not have felt so tough if we only hiked the mountain but we had tough cycling before climbing the mountain. So I thought we were the most tired persons among people on the top of the mountains. However, I'm sure that tough experience made us able to feel great joy.

Diamond Head summit certificate was selling for $5 a piece there. We got one seven years ago but that was blown away by a strong wind, and we lost it. We bought it again this time. Jay put it on his back to try not to lose it again on our way back by bike.

Naturally, going down the mountain was very easy. Hiking ended here, and we took a commemorative picture while holding the certificate.

We rode a bike again to Waikiki from here.

The roads to get back to Waikiki were all downhill so riding a bike was very comfortable and enjoyable.

The tour course included lunch. We had Fish Tacos for lunch on the way back to Waikiki. The Tacos tasted great, and this restaurant was in full swing.

After lunch, we started riding a bike to Kuhio Beach Banyan Tree which was our meeting place. The tour ended at the same place where we started.

From the bottom of my heart, I was really glad and thought that we made the right decision of choosing this tour. We had a great day and experience thanks to Kelly. The tour and Kelly were really awesome!

The tour company has other different types of courses such as "NORTH SHORE ADVENTURE," "HISTORICAL HONOLULU BIKE TOUR" and "HAWAIAN FOODIE TOUR," etc. We'd love to try another course when we visit Oahu next.

You should try the bike tour when you visit Oahu, Hawaii!

Information about the Tour and Advice

[ Tour Company ] : Bike Tour Hawaii  http://www.biketourhawaii.com
[ Tour Course ] : DIAMOND HEAD BIKE TO HIKE

• Recommend you wear clothes to make you easy to move around in, a cap for under the helmet, and sports shoes. Please do not wear thongs or similar types of footwear.
• The tour guide takes pictures for you with the latest model iPhone so it's not necessary to take along your camera, but just in case, it's better to bring yours because you'll stop at a lot of good places to take pictures. All pictures taken by the guide will be shared with you. If you are an iPhone user, you can get them via AirDrop, and if you aren't an iPhone user, the guide will send you the links to the Dropbox and YouTube. The guide takes lots of memorable pictures of you while you are riding a bike, and some landscape pictures as well. I think this is their own fabulous service.
• The persons who are physically weak or older age should not choose this course, DIAMOND HEAD BIKE TO HIKE. I think probably persons around 50 yeas of age who often work out, or ride a bike in everyday life can choose this tour without any problems. Marurun and Jay managed to finish this course, but we hadn't ridden a bike for about 20 years except for cycling during travelling.
• Please bring some money. Although a bottle of water and isotonic drink are included in the tour fee, it's better to bring some money in the case for getting another drink or something else, and giving a tip.
• Please don't skip breakfast because you must exhaust your energy to finish this tour course. Lunch is included in the tour fee, and you'll have a lunch break in the latter half.
• You should apply enough sunscreen. Otherwise, you'll regret it later. Marurun regretted not to apply enough sunscreen and got sunburn.

You can read reviews of other travellers about the cycling tours conducted by Bike Tour Hawaii, and also book them on TripAdvisor.

What’s the #1 hotel in Hawaii? Read reviews & find hotel deals on TripAdvisor!

Overall Impressions

This tour course is the toughest course but has some great merits you can only experience in this course, such as stopping at some stunning view spots, sights, and getting information from a knowledgeable and experienced guide.

Also about safety, the tour company and guide are reliable. The tour guide pays careful attention even while riding his bike.

I'm sure that compared to the experience of only climbing the mountain without cycling, there's nothing like the satisfaction of accomplishment after overcoming the tight situation.

Marurun highly recommends this tour course. You should give it a try!

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