Hawaii with Kids: Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden

Even when it pours for days on end, it's absolutely beautiful on the Windward side. These waterfalls appear only when it's been raining hard. Gorgeous, aren't they? Well every so often you see an idiot parked on the side of H-3 (where the speed limit is 60mph and most people are traveling at 75 or higher) in the POURING RAIN, trying to get a picture of it.  I also hear stories of folks walking through backyards, which is totally illegal.  Why risk life and limb when  you can get a MUCH better vantage point without breaking any traffic laws or trespassing?

Ordinarily, I am not a huge fan of botanical gardens... so I've actually ignored the signs pointing to Ho'omaluhia quite often.  The entrance is on Luluku Rd, which is very close to the Likelike and Kamehameha Hwy intersection.  If taking the H-3 from the Pearl Harbor side, take the Likelike exit, turn right on Anoi, and another right on Luluku.  If coming from Kailua or Kaneohe, take Kam Hwy toward the Likelike.  Turn Mauka (toward the mountain) at Ko'olau Farmers.  Luluku runs through some residential areas.  There are many brown signs to reassure you that you're going the right way.  Don't worry- if I can find it, anyone can.

Here is the view from the parking lot at the Visitor Center.  Can you believe this?  THE PARKING LOT!!!

There are art exhibits and some other things available at the Visitor Center.  Today, there happened to be a Bonsai class as well as a hula halau.  Behind the Visitor Center is a path to a man made lake.   (A dam was built by the Army Corps of Engineers to provide flood protection for Kailua and Kaneohe.)  There are tons of trails, but we saw lots of other families going toward the lake, so we followed.

Barely 5 minutes down the trail, we found a nice area where some families were feeding ducks.  Next time, we will definitely bring some stale bread!

This would also be a great area to picnic, and a family was having professional portraits taken. 

Lots of space to spread out and find your own spot, but bring your own snacks and drinks for sure!

If you keep walking around the lake, you'll come to an area where fishing is allowed on weekends.  (Catch and release from 10-2, no casting.)  We didn't make it quite that far this time (it's on the far side in this picture), but I think that sounds like a lot of fun too.

This time, we just sat and watched the ducks and fish.  

When it got too hot, we drove around the rest of the park.

There are several parking lots and each alcove of the park has a different "theme" in terms of which region the plants are from.  So you can see everything from introduced Polynesian plants to African plants. 

We saw about a dozen joggers/runners/walkers, two families camping, honeymooning tourists, and two artists painting (one was actually painting a portrait of the other artist painting the mountains).  There were folks sitting around playing music under a tree and several folks on "photo shoots." 

So, we will definitely be back, but next time with our picnic lunch, bread for the ducks, and fishing poles!!!

Please visit our Etsy store for all kinds of upcycled accessories and jewelry, created in Hawaii!