Volcanic crater offering a historic hiking trail through tunnels and bunkers with panoramic views of Honolulu and the Pacific Ocean.
General Information
Last entry at 4:00 PM
Closed Christmas and New Year’s Day
Non-Residents: $5 per person
Children 3 and under: Free
Parking (Non-Residents): $10 per vehicle
How to Get There
From Honolulu, HI (5 mi): Take H-1 E to 6th Ave, continue onto Monsarrat Ave, then follow Diamond Head Rd to the park entrance.
Overview
Diamond Head is a volcanic tuff cone on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu and known to Hawaiians as Lē'ahi. The Hawaiian name is most likely derived from lae (browridge, promontory) plus 'ahi (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 on the adjacent beach for diamonds.
Geology
Diamond Head is part of the system of cones, vents, and their associated eruption flows that are collectively known to geologists as the Honolulu Volcanic Series, eruptions from the Ko'olau Volcano that took place long after the volcano formed and had gone dormant. These eruptive events created many of O'ahu's well-known landmarks, including Punchbowl Crater, Hanauma Bay, Koko Head, and Mānana Island in addition to Diamond Head.
Diamond Head, like the rest of the Honolulu Volcanic Series, is much younger than the main mass of the Ko'olau Mountain Range. While the Ko'olau Range is about 2.6 million years old, Diamond Head is estimated to be about 400,000 to 500,000 years old.
Known as Lē'ahi in Hawaiian, the mountain in 1825 was given the name Diamond Hill by British sailors who discovered sparkling volcanic calcite crystals in the sand and mistook them for diamonds. This is reflected in another local name, Kaimana Hila. The name later became Diamond Head, with head being shortened from headland.
The interior and adjacent exterior areas were the home to Fort Ruger, the first United States military reservation on Hawaii. Only Battery 407, a National Guard emergency operations center, and Birkhimer Tunnel, the Hawaii State Civil Defense Headquarters (HI-EMA), remain in use in the crater. An FAA air traffic control center was in operation from 1963 to 2007.
Diamond Head is a defining feature of the view known to residents and tourists of Waikīkī, and also a U.S. National Natural Monument. The volcanic tuff cone is a State Monument. While part of it is closed to the public and serves as a platform for antennas used by the U.S. government, the crater's proximity to Honolulu's resort hotels and beaches makes the rest of it a popular destination.
In 1968, Diamond Head was declared a National Natural Landmark. The crater, also called Diamond Head Lookout, was used as a strategic military lookout in the early 1900s. Spanning over 475 acres (190 ha) (including the crater's interior and outer slopes), it served as an effective defensive lookout because it provides panoramic views of Waikīkī and the south shore of Oahu.
The Diamond Head Lighthouse, a navigational lighthouse built in 1917 is directly adjacent to the crater's slopes. In addition, a few pillboxes are located on Diamond Head's summit.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Diamond Head, Hawaii", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
