 Oahu was formed different that the other
Hawaiian islands. If you look at the other
islands you'll see that they're for the most
part round. They were formed from regular
volcanic mountains that rose from the sea floor
creating that familiar cone shaped volcano like
Mt. St. Helen. It is believed that
Oahu was
formed from long fissures in the oceans floor
causing elongated mountains not resembling a
volcano at all. There are
two main mountain
ranges on
Oahu, one stretches from Honolulu along the east
side of the island to the north shore. The other
starts in the north west corner and goes along
the west coast. There are a few small cone
shaped volcanoes on the island,
Diamond Head
being the most famous and then there is
Punchbowl.
There is also
one caldera volcano at
Hanauma Bay forming one
of the best diving/snorkeling places in the
world. The highest mountain is Mt. Ka'ala (Kaala)
located to the north on the west coast between
Waianae valley and Makaha valley. There are
trails in both valleys to get to the top and
both are very beautiful
hike, there are pictures and more info in our
pix & vids section.
Weather
There are areas of the island that get regular
rain, because of the high mountains the moist
ocean air gets lifted up into the atmosphere
where it condenses and then rains. Usually this
happens on the east coast because the the trade
winds coming from the east. Also Mt. Ka'ala gets
a fair amount of rain. These areas have lush
rain forest and make for some great hiking. The
west shore doesn't see as much rain, usually it
only sees rain in the winter months, and
occasionally in summer if the winds change
direction and come from the west. This makes the
west side of the island very dry and desert like
most of the time, a big difference from the east
coast.
Because the islands are surrounded by warm ocean
waters and because of it's location the
temperatures are very constant. In the summer
the average is around 85°
and the winter average is around 75°. Of course
there are some other variances, in the higher
elevations it can get colder.
The Surf
As with most of the oceans shorelines, Hawaii
offers surfing, but because of it's location and
the geological shape of the ocean floor it's
better here. Large storms form over the northern
Atlantic ocean starting near Japan create some
very large waves. These storms grow as they move
west causing very large surf to hit Hawaii's
north and northwest shores. Because of the steep
incline of the ocean floors around the Hawaiian
islands these waves reach the shores with
maximum intensity. The north shore is known
around the world for it's large surf, but the
Waianae (west) coast, specifically Makaha beach
is said to have the worlds most powerful waves
(this is where I spend most of my time).
Heritage
As you hike around Oahu you may come across
pieces of history such as relics from WWII and
Hawaiian artifacts. More to come soon. |
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