Sea Cliffs, Part I

This hike was not so much of a hike as it was an expedition.  We were kind of just wandering around the Portlock area near Hawaii Kai and started to walk around.  There are several places to jump from the cliffs into the water (known as China Walls and the Spitting Caves), however, these spots can be dangerous and we do not encourage people to jump.  If you do go to these spots to jump, please make sure that you have someone with you that has done it before - they probably know how to get back up safely.

Gear for this hike (recommended):
1. Shoes
2. Sunscreen
3. Swimsuit and towel (if you plan on jumping in at either China Walls or Spitting Caves)
4. Water and snacks

As we said earlier, the sea cliffs are located in the Portlock area near Hawaii Kai.  Parking can be found on Hanapepe Loop and access to China Walls is found on the bottom of Hanapepe Place.  Follow the path in the park down to China Walls.  Turn left and continue to walk around the peninsula.  As you walk around, you might see people gathered around tall cliff jumping into a small cove.  This is spitting caves.  Again, we strongly advise that you do not jump off unless you're with someone that has done the jump before.   Conditions and currents in the water may be strong and you can be swept out to sea so please be careful.

Continue walking around the area and take in the scenery. You can easily spot the famous Diamond Head from the Sea Cliffs.  You can turn back at any point.  We chose to continue exploring and followed some pink ribbon trailmarkers around the peninsula and finally found a trail that lead up to the Koko Crater trail.  This trail over looks Hanauma Bay and is absolutely beautiful.



If you want to head back to China Walls, it will be easier to follow this trail so as you come up from the Sea Cliffs, turn left of the paved trail and follow it down to the entrance of Hanauma Bay and turn left again and walk along the Kalanianaole Highway until you get to Lunalilo Home Road.  Make a left onto the road and follow it until you reach Nawiliwili Street, take another left.  Make a right onto Makaweli Street followed by a right onto Poipu Drive.  Follow Poipu Drive until you reach Hanapepe Loop and you should be back to where you started.

Much of the beauty of the rock formations on this part of Oahu is overlooked.

We started at the popular China Walls and continued south (to the left when facing the ocean).

Watch out for steep cliffs. One missed step could end pretty badly.

Also try to avoid the smaller, crumbling rocks. 

You've got the best of both worlds with massive rock formations to explore

as well as spectacular views of the ocean.

There were some trails heading towards the top of Hanauma Bay, but many of them are unmaintained and hard to bypass.

Fortunately, we had perfect weather.

Ropes are available to help make it up tough parts like this. We also ended up using a rope that had previously been there to hike up, out of the rocky parts. It would be as if hiking up toward the left part of this picture.

 Somehow (we actually have no idea how), we made it up here, to the top of Hanauma Bay.

Nice view of the bay and south shore of Oahu.

Not knowing what to expect from this expedition, we all went home pretty satisfied after a fun day of adventure.

Note: Part II coming soon...