Honolulu/Manoa-Makiki

Manoa and Makiki are two prominent neighborhoods of Honolulu situated in the foothills of the Ko'olau Mountains north of Downtown Honolulu. Along with Nu'uanu, these neighborhoods sit within valleys which extend into the Ko'olau Range, varying in character from unpretentious bungalows, 1960s cinderblock walkup apartments and small businesses in the lower reaches of the neighborhoods to upscale apartment and condo complexes on the hillsides above. Manoa is best known as the home of the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, the main branch of the largest university in the Hawaiian Islands. Makiki sits beneath the Punchbowl crater, home to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, and gained fame as the birthplace and childhood home of former President Barack Obama.

Get in
Manoa and Makiki are bisected by the H-1 freeway, and are easily accessible heading East (from Downtown) via the Punahou or University exits and heading West (from Hawaii Kai) via the University or Wilder exits. You can also follow surface streets into the area, namely King Street (one way heading east) or Beretania Street (one way heading west), which run through the southern end of the Manoa and Makiki area and continue west straight into Downtown. Nu'uanu is located along the Pali Highway (State Road 61), which can be accessed from the freeway or, if coming from Downtown, by heading straight inland on surface streets.

If you're coming from Waikiki it's a 15 minute drive. Get on Kalakaua Avenue and head west, towards Downtown. For Manoa, turn right onto Kapiolani Blvd immediately after crossing the canal and continue for about half a mile before turning left onto University Avenue, which will take you straight to the UH campus. For Makiki, stay on Kalakaua Avenue until it ends at Beretania Street, where you make a left, then make a right onto either Keeaumoku Street or Ward Avenue, both of which will cross the freeway and take you into Makiki.

If taking TheBus, both the #2/#13 and #4 routes connect Makiki with Waikiki to the east and Downtown to the west, with the #2/#13 running along King and Beretania Streets and the #4 heading past the UH campus and along Wilder Avenue. The #4 also travels north of Downtown into Nu'uana.

See

 * Walking Tour of Obama's former neighborhood. This is one of the newest attractions in Honolulu; so new that there are no historical markers or signs erected by the city. In the thirty years since "Barry" Obama, as he was known as a youth, attended high school, the neighborhood hasn't changed all that much. Major landmarks along the walking tour, which takes about an hour to complete, include his grandmother's former apartment at the, (which he attended from 1971-1979),  (where Obama was born on August 4, 1961), the  (the site of Obama's baccalaureate), the  ice cream store where he worked after school, the  (where he learned to play basketball), and his mother's old apartment at . For a route and detailed description of the walking tour check out the maps available on the website.
 * Walking Tour of Obama's former neighborhood. This is one of the newest attractions in Honolulu; so new that there are no historical markers or signs erected by the city. In the thirty years since "Barry" Obama, as he was known as a youth, attended high school, the neighborhood hasn't changed all that much. Major landmarks along the walking tour, which takes about an hour to complete, include his grandmother's former apartment at the, (which he attended from 1971-1979),  (where Obama was born on August 4, 1961), the  (the site of Obama's baccalaureate), the  ice cream store where he worked after school, the  (where he learned to play basketball), and his mother's old apartment at . For a route and detailed description of the walking tour check out the maps available on the website.
 * Walking Tour of Obama's former neighborhood. This is one of the newest attractions in Honolulu; so new that there are no historical markers or signs erected by the city. In the thirty years since "Barry" Obama, as he was known as a youth, attended high school, the neighborhood hasn't changed all that much. Major landmarks along the walking tour, which takes about an hour to complete, include his grandmother's former apartment at the, (which he attended from 1971-1979),  (where Obama was born on August 4, 1961), the  (the site of Obama's baccalaureate), the  ice cream store where he worked after school, the  (where he learned to play basketball), and his mother's old apartment at . For a route and detailed description of the walking tour check out the maps available on the website.

Do

 * Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wāhine. The southern end of the UH campus is home to most of the university's sports facilities. The baseball team plays at, while the men's and women's basketball and volleyball teams play at . With the football team's former home of Aloha Stadium in Western Honolulu having been permanently closed in 2020 due to structural issues and set for demolition, the team was forced to move to the university's far smaller on-campus track and field stadium, the . (A new football stadium is planned for the Aloha Stadium site.) Adjacent to these three facilities are the university's swimming pool, tennis courts, and softball and soccer fields. Note that UH is one of a dwindling number of schools with separate nicknames for men's and women's teams—men are Rainbow Warriors and women are Rainbow Wāhine (the second word translates to "women" in the Hawaiian language).