Let us get this straight right off the bat - No, we are not going to recommend Ha'iku stairs (or as you might know it, Hawaii's "Stairway to Heaven"). It is illegal to be on and there is a fair chance you'll be breaking a bone if a stair breaks. Our suggestion will save you from the illegal-ity of the adventure. Although the possibility of breaking a bone, still exists, if you are not careful :)
Our favorite adventure in Oahu is conquering the Chinaman's hat!
Huh? What? Whose hat? No, I'm not sending you to a wok-filled dungeon in Chinatown. And we are not a food adventure whatsoever. Instead, this is the perfect adventure to experience the best of Hawaii - kayaking on the ocean, visiting an island (off of the main island) and after some legwork, rewarding yourself with grand views of the Jurassic park inspired Kualoa (Ko'olau) mountain range.
Let me first show the carrot on the stick. :)
So if you want to get that ultimate experience, here's what you do!
#1 Keep a day aside for this adventure! Check the weather forecast to make sure it won't be raining or crazy windy.
#2 Use Oahu Active Tours to book a kayak (or your choice of water vessel) to get to Chinaman's hat. Ensure that you specify drop off at Kualoa Regional Park. Book for atleast 3 hours, to be on the safe side, although 2 hours are also enough.
#3 Wear something loose and comfy, and take water!
On the day (From our experience!)
We left Honolulu early enough to grab a quick bite and make it to Kualoa Regional Park just in time to find our double kayak being dropped off in front of the park entrance. A few minutes of tugging the kayak, and I was able to get it to the water! (Make sure you use the restroom in the park, as that might be the last opportunity for a few hours)
The park itself is gorgeous, with the views of Chinaman's hat, as well as the Kualoa range. It is also across from Kualoa park, which has some awesome adventure activities, that we also highly recommend.
As we started kayaking across the water, we were positive that we would tumble out atleast once, considering that we had not kayak-ed in the ocean before. Some people we would meet soon, did actually fall out. But we were lucky enough (or followed instructions below on which route to kayak pretty well) to escape having to do any hard work flipping a kayak mid-ocean.
Once on the shore, we found a rocky flat patch, and pulled our kayaks on to it. We continued following the rough trail up towards the top of the small mountain (the chinaman's hat!). The hike is short and not super challenging, but is also not for the faint-hearted, and includes a rope section (which was pretty straightforward in retrospect). But since the trail isn't maintained, please be extremely careful, and know your limits!
Our eyes hung out of their sockets as we reached the top, not unlike the cartoons of years past. The lush greenery of the Kualoa behind the turquoise colors of the Hawaiian waters make for one of the best views across all of our travels. I'll leave the talking to the videos/pictures, but suffices to say that one could sit up there for hours! But be careful not to miss your return time for the kayak :)
Going down has always been a bit of a mental challenge for me, as I can imagine myself soaring (read: tumbling) in the air. However, with some encouragement, I did make my way down. It gets easy as soon as you start, I guess! After coming down, and thanking the lord that our kayak hadn't been stolen, we quickly paddled our way back to Kualoa park, as we were already late returning the kayak!
A combination of kayaking in Hawaii, hiking an interesting trail on an island to the top of a mountain (well, kind of), and having the chance to witness the awesome views from above, truly made this one of the best experiences for us on the island of Oahu!
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