Diamond Head is the name of a volcanic tuff cone on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu and known to Hawaiians as Lēʻahi, most likely from lae ‘browridge, promontory’ plus ʻahi ‘tuna’ because the shape of the ridgeline resembles the shape of a tuna’s dorsal fin. Its English name was given by British sailors in the 19th century, who mistook calcite crystals embedded in the rock for diamonds.

The entrance to the Diamond Head is inside the crater – we new from laster Saturday that the entrance was close to the farmers market, so we put on some good shoes and took off. The guidebook says you need a flashlight – we say – forget it. The tunnel is lit and there are always someone who has a torch. Just bring water – a large bottle for two people is enough. You can buy water at the bottom, but there’s nothing to buy on your way up or on the top.

The walk from our hotel took us 40 mins – it was all up up up. The climb itself isn’t that bad, but wear good shoes (not like the Japanese guy we met on our way down in his best shirt, black pants and mirror-shining shoes – and a briefcase. Flip-flops is also not a good thing as it’s very rocky and there are a few steps you need a bit of climbing. The worst part of the climb is all the steps at the end. They really take the last breath out of you.

When on the top you need climb out a “whole” – so this is not a place if you have a bad back (unless you crawl out – which is actually a good idea). Anyway – we survived the climb and the “whole” and the view is just amazing! When at the top our hotel is so very close and it’s difficult to understand how we got to where we were. We walked around the crater before swirling upwards and ended up almost where we started – just a BIT higher!

On our way home we stopped at Bogart’s Cafe. JO had a breakfast bagel and I bought pancakes with bananas. Of course I ended up eating just 1/3 (or maybe only 1/4) and the rest is brought back to our hotel so we can munch on it later.

It’s actually raining now. It’s pm 3:30 (1530) and we hope that it will clear up for all those who’re getting married today. The weather here is like this all the time, but we only had drizzle so far – except for a quick shower in our own wedding that killed all my curls

We’re closing in on our last 3 days here and we have nothing planned. I think we’ll spend the time relaxing – it’s after all our holdiay!

Aloha and mahalo!