Lookout or crater hike?

What is the difference between the Diamond Head lookout and the crater hike?

The lookout is a free roadside viewpoint on the ocean side of the crater. The hike climbs inside the crater to the summit, needs a $5 reservation, and takes 1.5 to 2 hours.

The two side by side:

Which Oahu tours only stop at the Diamond Head lookout?

Most half-day scenic loops and many circle-island tours. On this site, the 7 lookouts tour stops at Diamond Head Beach Park for 15 minutes and never enters the crater.

Read the itinerary, not the title. On Oahu's 7 lookouts tour ($77), the Diamond Head stop is "Diamond Head Beach Park, 15 minutes", below the crater on the coast road. The rest of the day is Hawaii Kai, Lanai Lookout, Halona Blowhole, Makapuu Point, the Nuuanu Pali lookout and Pu'u 'Ualaka'a. Lovely tour, rated 4.9; it just isn't a Diamond Head hike.

Three other things that look like Diamond Head tours and aren't:

• The Waikiki Trolley Green Line ($22) stops at the crater trailhead and the Kahala lookout, but entry is not included and the ticket is non-refundable.
• The Ke Kai catamaran sail ($53) passes Diamond Head from the water. No stop.
• The $11 audio guide sold as an "official" hiking tour: an audio device, no park entry.

Which tours include the actual Diamond Head hike?

Every shuttle tour from $35, the two bike tours, the early-hike tour, the circle-island day that starts with the hike, and the Diamond Head plus Makapuu combo.

The listing line to look for is "Diamond Head State Monument" or "Diamond Head Crater Hike" with admission included and an hour or more on site:

The lowest price for the real summit: hotel pickup, park fees, water and a map for $35.

★ 4.8 · 3 hours · from $35

Explore the Kaimana hike shuttle → Tour details

What can you see from the Diamond Head lookout?

The Diamond Head Lighthouse below you, surfers off Kuilei Cliffs, the open Pacific, and a memorial to Amelia Earhart's 1935 flight. You don't see Waikiki's skyline.

The pull-offs sit along Diamond Head Road east of the lighthouse, which has guided ships since 1899 (the current tower dates from 1917). Below is Kuilei Cliffs Beach Park, a surf spot reached by a steep path. One lookout carries a marker for Amelia Earhart, who flew solo from Hawaii to California in January 1935 (To-Hawaii). Parking is along the road and free.

It is a good stop. It is also a view of the ocean with Diamond Head behind you, not the view people put on postcards. That one needs the climb.

What do you see from the summit that the lookout misses?

The whole of Waikiki and Honolulu laid out to the west, the inside of the crater, and the coast running east to Koko Head, from the 1911 fire control station.

The summit is the top of a coastal defence system: the trail was built in 1908 and the Fire Control Station at the top was finished in 1911, according to the Division of State Parks. You come out of the bunker onto platforms 760 feet up with a 360-degree view: hotels and beach to the west, the crater bowl behind you, the lighthouse and reef straight down, Koko Head to the east.

The crater itself is about 300,000 years old, from a single explosive eruption. Its Hawaiian name, Le'ahi, most likely joins lae (brow) and 'ahi (tuna) for the ridge's shape; British sailors named it Diamond Head after mistaking calcite crystals for diamonds. None of that is visible from the coast road.

Is the lookout enough if you can't do the hike?

Yes. For wheelchair users, anyone with bad knees or a tight schedule, the lookouts give you Diamond Head and the coast without stairs. The 7 lookouts tour does it in half a day.

The summit trail is not ADA accessible; the crater floor facilities are. Wheelchair users can enter the crater with a reservation, but the summit isn't reachable. The 7 lookouts tour takes ages 7 and up, and one guest described it as "not too long to get tired and not too long to walk a lot". Afternoon departures end with a sunset above Honolulu.

The Green Line trolley is wheelchair and stroller accessible, if you want to see the crater floor; you would still need an entry reservation, and its ticket is non-refundable. For the stairs in detail, see how hard the hike is.

Seven island viewpoints in half a day, including Diamond Head from the beach park below, with no stairs and an afternoon sunset option.

★ 4.9 · 3 to 4 hours · from $77

Explore the 7 lookouts tour → Tour details

Can you do the lookout and the crater hike in one day?

Easily. Hike at opening, then walk or ride the short way down Diamond Head Road to the lookouts. Some shuttle drivers pull over there too.

From the tunnel entrance, Diamond Head Road curves around the crater's east side to the lighthouse lookouts, a short drive or a longer walk on a narrow road. With a rental car, hike first, then stop on the way back to Waikiki. On the Go Tours shuttle, one guest wrote that the driver "stopped at a turnout so we could get out and take photos of the beautiful view". Don't count on it, but it happens.

To see the whole east coast in one go, the hike and circle island day starts with the summit at dawn, then Halona Blowhole, Kualoa, the North Shore and Dole Plantation. It is a long day (11 hours, lunch not included) and one guest found it heavy on shopping stops, but you get both views of Diamond Head before 8 a.m.

Which should you choose: lookout or summit?

Climb if you can manage 1.5 hours of uphill and stairs; it is the view you came for. Stick to the lookout if you can't do stairs, have under an hour, or are already on an island loop.

• First visit, fit enough: the summit. Book a slot or a shuttle with entry.
• No reservation left: a tour with entry, not a scenic loop that only drives past.
• Limited mobility: the lookouts, or the 7 lookouts tour.
• Already doing a circle-island tour: the lookout stop is a bonus; book the hike separately if you want the summit.
• Want it from the water: the one-hour catamaran sail from Waikiki Beach, drinks included.

Frequently asked questions