Honolulu Rainforest Self-Guided Audio Tour
Description
See a rarely explored corner of Honolulu! Hawaii's bustling capital may be known for its beaches and high-rise buildings but did you know just a few minutes away there's a lush forest with hiking trails? On this tour, you'll visit a waterfall hike, a 200-acre garden, Honolulu's historic Chinatown district, and a lookout with stunning views of the city's skyline. Here are just a few of the fun things you can do on the tour! • Hike to Manoa Falls • Visit Tantalus Lookout • Try local Poke • Stroll through Lyon Arboretum • Take a walk through Chinatown PLEASE NOTE: Round Top Drive, a major road on this tour, is closed intermittently due to construction (as needed). KNOW BEFORE YOU GO Recommended Start Time: Before 11:00 a.m. Tour Starting Point(s): Waikiki Direction: Loop, ending where you began "Download the Shaka Guide app to access your purchased tours."
Tour Options
Itinerary
Located just 10 minutes from Waikiki, Manoa Falls feels like a world away! Hike along a jungle path that leads to a 150-foot waterfall. Along the way, look out for native plant species, listen to the birds chirp, and breathe in the fresh mountain air.
Visit an artificial lowland tropical rainforest with numerous trails and small water features
Take a walk at the oldest and largest Chinese Cemetery in Hawaii
Visit Manoa Marketplace - a neighborhood shopping center in beautiful Manoa Valley
Hike a loop trail that features beautiful wild flowers and is good for all skill levels
Visit a popular national cemetery located at Punchbowl Crater in Honolulu
Enjoy strolling in the garden made for Hawaiian native plants and flora
Visit the oldest of the Honolulu Botanical Gardens
Check out one of our favorite places to get shave ice
Visit a town bustling with traditional dim sum restaurants, noodle shops and hip bars in converted lofts, as well as crowded Asian markets full of antiques and stalls
Check out the best sunset lookout on Oahu situated in a huge grassy hill and looking out over Diamond Head Crater and all of Waikiki
After your drive through Chinatown, you can choose to pull over and take a look around, or we’ll guide you back to Waikiki where you can hit the beach, do some shopping, or take our Heart of Waikiki Walking tour! When you’re in Hawaii, we ask that you act respectfully toward the locals, land, and wildlife. Please pick up your trash; never touch any marine life, plants, or other animals; and avoid unsafe spots. Hawaii’s natural resources are precious, it’s up to all of us to help preserve these resources.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- This tour is completed in a loop, starting and ending in Waikiki.
- Expect to spend 3-5 hours on the tour.
- We recommend starting before 11:00 a.m.
- The only spot to grab food is at Manoa Marketplace.
- Lyon Arboretum is open from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. on weekdays and closed on weekends; there’s no admission fee but a donation is recommended.
- Tantalus Lookout is open daily from 7:00 a.m. – 7:45 p.m.
- Lili’uokalani Botanical Garden is open daily from 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
- National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific is open daily from 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
- Foster Botanical Garden is open daily from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. There is a nominal entrance fee to enter
- Bring some cash! Parking at Manoa Falls is cash only.
- Travelers must have a smartphone compatible with the Shaka Guide app.
- The app must be downloaded and the tour redeemed before arrival.
- Strong Wi-Fi or cellular data is required to download the tour in advance.
- Location services (GPS) must be enabled on the device
- Travelers are responsible for securing any required entrance passes, reservations, or permits before starting
Reviews(7)
The self guided tour gave us many great places to visit.
I was in Hawaii for my 55th birthday I took this tour because I could drive myself and be on my own time it was a wonderful tour the guide was extremely easy to understand easy to hear and told you exactly what you needed to do and if you followed it your experience will turn out magnificent so I had a beautiful time and I recommend this to anyone who wants to do a tour on their own time
We're delighted to receive your positive feedback! Our team works hard to create the best user experience possible, and it's always gratifying to see that our efforts are paying off.
Great navigation and history. Folloewd a perfect pace and could stop and start as needed. Wonderful options to stop and experience trails and nature. Narrator tends to undersell the level of difficulty but still awesome. Loved it!!
So happy to hear you had an amazing time on your Shaka Guide tour. Hope to see you all again on more Shaka Guide adventures. 🤙😍🤙
Great Island. Very beautiful safe and friendly Great Hawaiian food. Try Helena’s on school street for Kalua pork and cabbage
Thank you for your positive review! We're glad that you're finding our app useful and easy to navigate, and we appreciate your support.
It has terrible! We drove around Honolulu trying to find the starting point, got so frustrated after an hour, that we gave up! There was no clear, concise instructions on how to use it! I want a refund!
The guide is linked to Google Maps, so that the information always comes at the right time and it is extremely easy to use. In addition to great tips on sights that are not in every book, you also learn about history and "insider tips" on restaurants or shopping opportunities. The routes can be adapted to suit your personal taste, as you can shorten or skip points, or extend them if you are particularly interested. The routes can also be easily interrupted and continued on another day, for example. In addition to the pleasant voice of the speaker, there is no lack of humor or information. There are even special warnings about dangers, such as not driving on some winding roads in the dark, etc. Even though the guide is unfortunately only available in English, thanks to the clear pronunciation, even non-English speakers can understand it. We were able to marvel at many beautiful places and expand our knowledge in an amusing way, which we would certainly not have seen otherwise. We definitely recommend buying it.
Thank you for your kind words! We're thrilled to have you as a satisfied user of our app, and we look forward to continuing to serve you in the future.
Windy roads. We saw lots of wild life and enjoyed the narration. There is not more to say. It was nice to get out and enjoy the sites
Aloha! Thank you for your kind feedback. We are reviewing this and several other suggestions for future updates.
