Mānoa Falls is a 150-foot

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

along the Manoa Falls Trail in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, Hawaii. Swimming in the pool below the waterfall is highly discouraged because there is a threat of becoming infected with

Leptospirosis Leptospirosis is a blood infection caused by the bacteria ''Leptospira''. Signs and symptoms can range from none to mild (headaches, muscle pains, and fevers) to severe ( bleeding in the lungs or meningitis). Weil's disease, the acute, severe ...

, a disease causing mild to moderate flulike symptoms that can last for 1 to 2 weeks. Many tourists are attracted to the waterfall and the scenery throughout the trail leading to it. Another attraction near Mānoa Falls is the

Lyon Arboretum The Harold L. Lyon Arboretum is a arboretum and botanical garden managed by the University of Hawaii at Manoa, University of Hawaii at Mānoa located at the upper end of Manoa, Mānoa Valley in Hawaii, Hawaii. Much of the Arboretum's botanical c ...

, which preserves many endangered Hawaiian plant species. The hike to the waterfall and back takes about one hour. The waterfall and surrounding area experience rainfall almost every day, and

flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing o ...

s can occur.

Characteristics

Mānoa Falls is located on the island of

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, in

Manoa Valley Mānoa (, ) is a valley and a residential neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii. The neighborhood is approximately three miles (5 km) east and inland from downtown Honolulu and less than a mile (1600 m) from Ala Moana and Waikiki at . Neighbo ...

, and comprise a 150 foot waterfall that empties into a small pool of water. The waterfall is nestled in the mountains of Koolau in a

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equatori ...

. Since the area surrounding the waterfall is considered a tropical rainforest, it is prone to heavy rainfall often making the ground damp and muddy The high amount of precipitation leads to a high amount of plant life near the falls. There is often less water in the waterfall during the summer months, which leaves peak tourism extending from summer to fall, before the rainy months of November–March.

Dangers

Leptospirosis

Swimming in the pool at the bottom of the falls is discouraged. This is due both to occasional rockfalls and to the bacterial disease

leptospirosis Leptospirosis is a blood infection caused by the bacteria ''Leptospira''. Signs and symptoms can range from none to mild (headaches, muscle pains, and fevers) to severe ( bleeding in the lungs or meningitis). Weil's disease, the acute, severe ...

, which causes severe flu-like symptoms. Leptospirosis is found in freshwater and is common in tropical climates. In Hawaii, rats and mice often carry the disease and can easily transfer it to humans through their urine.

Deaths

A 19 year old valedictorian from Kaiser High School, in Honolulu, Hawaii, died from falling from the top of Mānoa Falls on June 15, 2016. Kristi Takanishi died two days after the incident and the cause of death was determined to be from blunt force trauma to the head. A 27 year old man died from falling from the top of Mānoa Falls on December 17, 2018.{{Cite web, url=http://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/12/17/breaking-news/man-27-dies-after-falling-about-75-feet-at-manoa-falls/, access-date=December 18, 2018, title=Man, 27, dies after falling about 75 feet at Manoa Falls The man's name has yet to be released. Phillip Scott Mann fell from the top of the falls and died on April 11, 2012. His body was not found until around 2p.m. the following day April 12th. Cause of death was blunt force trauma from the almost 200ft fall. Phillip was from Scottsmoor, Florida, and moved to Hawaii in 2011.

Ecology

The

is located at the entrance to the Mānoa Falls Trail in

Mānoa Valley Mānoa (, ) is a valley and a residential neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii. The neighborhood is approximately three miles (5 km) east and inland from downtown Honolulu and less than a mile (1600 m) from Ala Moana and Waikiki at . Neighbo ...

. It contains over 5000 plant species. Some plant species included are

heliconia ''Heliconia'', derived from the Greek word (), is a genus of flowering plants in the monotypic family Heliconiaceae. Most of the ca 194 known species are native to the tropical Americas, but a few are indigenous to certain islands of the we ...

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...

s, aroids, bromeliads, and some native Hawaiian plants. Many tourists visit the

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

but some also go for research and academic purposes. It provides several different programs that develop innovations to restore endangered native Hawaiian plants.

Sources

Waterfalls of Hawaii Oahu Landforms of Oahu Tourist attractions in Honolulu County, Hawaii