Thoughts about paying for transportation to and guided tour up to the DH crater? We won't have a rental car - so would taking the bus to DH put us at the same place to start the hike as these tour companies? Trying to decide if the $$ is worth it to take the guided tour.

Topic should read Diamond HEAD hiking tours - such as Oahu Nature Tours, etc. Sorry!

I don't know about guided tours. We (7 of us) went to ride The Bus to the entrance ($2 pp, $1 over 65 with Medicare card), and a limo stopped and offered to take us and bring us back for the price of the bus fare.

It's better to go early before it gets too hot. The hike is not long, but it's fairly steep in places and with some steps to climb. My husband and I were 70 and followed somewhat behind out kids. A young woman passed us and then came back to congratulate us on doing the hike. I jokingly told DH it is bad enough to get older without having young sprouts congratulate you on it!

Funny, Carolyn! So where you were dropped off by the limo is where everyone starts the hike? Would this be where the bus drops off too? I was wondering if the tours place you further up, making the climb shorter.

We just did the Diamond Head hike last week. It's short (about 1/2 hoour-45 min. walk), and fairly steep as carolyn said, and offers a nice view, but otherwise, there is just nothing special about it (other than having said you've done it). There is no way I would pay someone to take me there -- there's nothing there that you need a guide for. It's just a zig-zag walk up to the top, and look out at the view. FWIW, there are a lot of steps to climb. I'm in decent shape and still had to stop and catch my breath from time to time. We didn't go very early (although we knew we should have) -- I think it was late morning. There were plenty of people there even then.

Oh, we saw people walking up from the bottom (where I guess the public bus lets you off), but also saw a stop for I think a tram much closer to the parking lot, where the hike actually starts. It's a lot more work to walk up from the very bottom! You could just take a taxi (again, no guide needed!)

Thanks so much!!

rksh, if you're fairly fit, I highly recommend kayaking. We took the 4-hour "adventure" kayaking tour with Kailua Sailboards and it was awesome. The water is turquoise, you can see straight to the bottom, and warm, the beaches in the area are gorgeous (soft sand), really fun. Of course, the weather that day was sensational. We are a couple in our late 50s. The others in our group were mostly females in their late 20s and 30s (and one 20-something male who literally let his girlfriend do all the work).

http://www.kailuasailboards.com/kayaking.html

Do yourself a huge favor & rent a car on Oahu at least for one day.

You can see the island much, much better with a car.

By the time you pay for shuttles, cabs, buses & tours you can do on your own, you won't save any $$ by not renting a car.

agree - no guide necessary, and rent a car on Oahu.

Thanks for the great advice everyone!