Around April of last year my wife and I spent a beautiful clear day hiking in Waianae. At the end of the day we decided to make the quick trek to Upper Makua Cave for sunset. The hike starts just past the very well known "Makua Cave" on Farrington Highway. The cave is nestled into the mountain a few hundred yards above and to the left of the more popular "Makua Cave". Instead of parking in the pullout by Makua Cave, we drove about 30 seconds further along the highway and parked off the road immediately after the 15 mph speed limit sign. The trail starts pretty much right there. It was insanely hot out and for some reason we decided not to bring water along since we knew it was gonna be a short trip. Big mistake, because after a few minutes in the Waianae heat I was begging for water. The trail is very obvious pretty much the whole way and the incline is fairly steep for the majority of the short trip. The ground was covered with crumbly rock but the hike up was pretty easy and tame, all though a little tiring. There looked to be a trail going right to the cliffs edge so I followed it but it dead ended. I backtracked and continued going up, where we found another trail going right towards the cliffs edge and towards the ocean. We followed it for about five minutes and upon veering left around a rock face, we arrived at Upper Makua Cave. There's actually two caves, the first being rather small but the second fairly large. The views were outstanding, especially since it was an extraordinarily clear day out. We found a goat skull in the large cave and hung out for some time, awaiting sunset and trying to avoid a few angry wasps. We had to wait a rather long time for sunset due to the fact that the hike up only took about 15 minutes, when we had figured it would take a good amount longer. We didn't mind though and enjoyed the views from the cave while takeing some pictures and just soaking in the serenity of the place.
Finally the sun went down and we decided to head back down to our car. The sunset from the cave wasn't all that great and it wasn't nearly as good of a spot to watch the sunset as I thought it would be. The view was kind of obscured but it was still nice. This a great little hike though, especially for those who like quick treks with gorgeous views. Due to the short distance, it's definetly a place I will always stop by every time I am in the area. After arriving back at our car and not willing to call it sa day just yet, my wife and I stopped by a nearby beach and took a bunch of nighttime photos from the lifeguard stand and other areas and just enjoyed the peaceful quietness on the beach. After a good amount of time we reluctantly headed out and back towards home with the only diversion between us and our bed, being a stop at 7-eleven for some tasty slurpees.
The initial, somewhat steep climb up
After heading up from the speed limit sign, we veered to the right and back towards the ocean to reach the caves.
The small cave and the bigger cave.
Inside the bigger cave, while Ryan sits outside to avoid the wasps.
Not wanting the day to end.
All alone to enjoy the beach at night by ourselves
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