Hiking the Makapu’u’ Tide Pools

Our favorite snorkeling spot on Oahu is a hidden location off of the Makapu’u’ Lighthouse Trail. This gorgeous secluded spot is worth the hike down and has some gorgeous reefs and fish. You’ll find tide pools, an amazing view, and multiple blow holes at the bottom.

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Makapu’u’ Lighthouse Trail
Easy, 2.5 Miles
Dog Friendly
No Pass Needed
You will start your hike on the Makapu’u’ Lighthouse Trail. This trail is easy and heavily trafficked. The parking lot fills up really fast, so I suggest getting there early. Make sure you park in the parking lot or between the signs on the side of the street, police are constantly writing tickets to those that park incorrectly. Also make sure not to leave valuables in your car here. The trail is not shaded at all, so wear a hat or bring lots of sunscreen. If you go to do just the Lighthouse Trail, it is paved and stroller friendly. If you plan to hike down to the tide pools with your kids I highly suggest wearing younger children. We took Aurora at age 6 and 8 and she did fine both times by herself. Younger kids would be a safety issue with so many large drop offs. One last note, if you plan to go to the tide pools, make sure to go at low tide. Just google “Makapu’u’ Tide Charts” to check the tides schedule.
View the trail on All Trails App HERE.

There are no restrooms on this hike or trash cans, so make sure to go before and pack out what you bring in. The entire hike is full of stunning views.

There are several trails off of the main hike. The first one on the right not far after the start is a walk down to the beach you can see in the photo below.

Keep your eyes peels. There are lots of different types of birds on this hike. We have also seen a mongoose both times we did this hike.

There are multiple lookouts on the hike. These spots offer good info and are great viewpoints for whale watching.

There’s a view of where we started!

The third viewpoint/lookout is where you will start descending to the tide pools. There is a small dirt trail on the left of this lookout which you will take down. When you first start you will not be able to see the tide pools down below.

Follow the spray painted arrows to stay on the “trail”. That’s in quotations because there really is no trail, just the more used path. You are literally scaling down a mountain. The rocks can get slippery on spots with dirt/pebbles so be careful.

When you get about halfway down you’ll be able to see the tide pools.

There are multiple tide pools and the view is absolutely amazing. There is plenty of room to spread out. When we went in 2019 there was only one other family there. It is a lot more popular and known about now. When we went in 2021 there was about twenty other people there.

Make sure to bring (or wear) good water shoes. The rocks will hurt your bare feet and you can cut them. I personally wore my Tevas for the hike and snorkeling.

The water is crystal clear in the tide pools and there are multiple to explore.

There are a lot of really cool fish in the tide pools. I also love shell hunting which we found quite a few cool ones in.

The hike down took us about 45 minutes from the parking lot to the tide pools. We stayed at the tide pools about an hour and a half snorkeling and exploring. Going back up to the main trail took us about 20 minutes. Below is a photo of the hike back up from the tide pools.

After the tide pools we did continue on the rest of the lighthouse trail. The view was worth it! You can see most of the rest of the Eastern side of the island.