Honolulu
Kapena Falls
A small fall and pool in Nuuanu, five minutes from the car and ten from downtown.
Why go
It is the easiest waterfall to reach on the island by a wide margin, with petroglyphs on the rocks nearby.
The catch
It is close enough to the city to get litter and graffiti, and the stream water quality is poor. Worth a look, not worth a swim.
- How long
- 45 min - 1 hour
- With children
- With care
- Effort
- Easy
- Cost
- Free
- Parking
- Limited
Before you go
- Flash-flood risk after rain
Getting there
Driving times on real roads, from the same data the trip planner routes on — not straight-line distance.
| From Waikīkī | 13 min | 5.7 miles |
|---|---|---|
| From HNL airport | 32 min | 13.6 miles |
| From Downtown Honolulu | 6 min | 2.4 miles |
| From Ala Moana | 9 min | 3.7 miles |
Add traffic. These are free-flowing times, and the H1 through town at eight in the morning is not free-flowing.
More on Kapena Falls: OpenStreetMap
Hours, fees and access rules have not been checked against a primary source for this entry yet. Confirm before you build a day around it.
See it on the map Build a trip around it
What else is close
Nearest by road, which is not the same as nearest on a map — and not the same as sharing a region either.
- Foster Botanical Garden3 min awayThe oldest garden on the island, in the middle of downtown, full of trees nothing else here has.
- Lili‘uokalani Botanical Garden3 min awayA small garden of native Hawaiian plants on land the Queen left to the city.
- Punchbowl, National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific4 min awayA cemetery inside an extinct crater above downtown, for the Pacific war dead.
- Mauna Ala, the Royal Mausoleum4 min awayThe burial place of the Kamehameha and Kalakaua royal families, in a small walled ground in Nuuanu.
- Honolulu Museum of Art4 min awayA museum built around a series of open courtyards, with a serious Asian and Pacific collection.
- Capitol Modern5 min awayThe state art museum, in a 1920s building beside the capitol, free to walk into.