Today, we went in search of another waterfall within Manoa Valley. As I mentioned in a prior post, there are thought to be 6 waterfalls in Manoa valley. Waiakeakua is the furthest fall from the popular and highly traversed Manoa Falls. Yet, in my opinion, this waterfall offers so much more than Manoa Falls. To begin, we went ahead and parked in the Manoa falls parking lot and then we walked back down the road we drove to and took a left on Waakaua Street. We then took an immediate left on Waaloa plaza and then a right on Waaloa road to a gate that state no trespassing. Some people park in the neighborhood but I didn’t want to be rude and take any risks. You then continue down that gravel main road staying to the left at the fork just prior to entering the woods. The trail is pretty obvious and even marked with some red and white markers on the trees. You continue down the trail passing a few bridges. There are several side trails going off of this main trail, as long as you stay on the main trail going upstream to the right of the stream you should be fine. You come across several little swimming holes on the way. You walk up a set of concrete stairs and continue on the trail. After about 15 more minutes you should reach a small waterfall with a pipe above it; if you continue to the left of the waterfall you can stand on top of it. From here, you can see a trail on the right side on top of this waterfall, continue to take this for about 10 more minutes, staying on the trail and to the right of the stream. There will be a small fork in the trail where you can go left or right, with even a rock with an orange arrow painted in it signifying going right, I believe the right takes to to mount Olympus, but I could be wrong. So we took the left fork which leads you back to Waiakeakua falls. About 20 minutes later on the trail we reached the falls. There are 3 levels to the falls. At the bottom you can take the rope to the right of the falls and reach another pool at the top. From here you can take either the rope climbing up the waterfall or you can go slightly to the left of the fall and climb up using a different rope. I actually went both ways because after climbing up the actual waterfall I neglected to bring my phone or gopro to capture the even taller waterfall on the top of the second tier. So I climbed back down the waterfall, which was very slick and at times hard to find footholds. I felt safer climbing up to the left of the waterfall. Ultimately, the ropes seemed pretty sturdy and I trusted them! Overall, the hike took us about 1 hour to reach the 3 tier waterfall. It is extremely muddy and we had a few close calls falling. Biggest tip: Bring mosquito repellent! They will eat you alive. I highly recommend this waterfall if your trying to avoid the crowded, tourist trap of Manoa falls! Waterfalls in Manoa Valley: 1. Waiakeakua Falls 2. Naniuapo Falls 3. Aihualama Falls 4. Waihinui aka Manoa Falls(refer to my prior review) 5. Kahuwaiiki Falls 6. Lua’alaea Falls(refer to my other review)
