Picture and Picnic Perfect Moanalua Gardens

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The Markos Family at Moanalua Gardens
Footage credit: BJ Rivad & élan, A film by élan.

For our last family outing before heading home for Las Vegas, we visited Moanalua Gardens. My niece Franchesca and BJ joined us too. It was élan and the girls’ first time going there, and my second. We wanted to have a nice picnic and take some family photos at the park, so we picked up plate lunches at Soon’s Drive Inn and brought our new Sony a7 III camera.

Moanalua Gardens is a 24-acre, privately-owned park located a few miles northwest of Honolulu. It’s open daily from 8 am to 5 pm to the public, and visitors are charged a small entrance fee. There are also Kama’aina and Military discounts available. The park is filled with magnificent trees, tropical plants and has a rich history.

There are a few historical structures located in Moanalua Gardens, namely Kamehameha Cottage, which used to be the home of Prince Lot Kapuāiwa, who would later become King Kamehameha V, the Chinese Hall and the Japanese tea house. On the grounds as well is a koi pond, taro patch, snack and gift shop.

Moanalua Gardens is also where you can find a large 130-year-old monkeypod tree with an umbrella-shaped canopy in the middle of the park, known as the Hitachi tree. It is particularly famous in Japan because it is the corporate symbol for the Hitachi Corporation since 1973. In fact, Hitachi currently pays the owners, Kaimana Ventures, $400,000 annually to use the tree as their symbol. Furthermore, the Hitachi tree is registered as an exceptional tree by the City and County of Honolulu and cannot be removed or destroyed without city council approval.

I can see why Moanalua Gardens is a popular spot for both locals and tourists. The park has lots of wide open spaces and the trees provide tons of shade. Lyric and London loved running across the grass and the park is perfect for picnics. We had a relaxing time there while we ate our Meat Jun, Kalbi and BBQ Chicken from Soon’s. And thanks to BJ we were able to get some nice family photos and videos.

Here are a few of my tips when visiting Moanalua Gardens:

Bring food, snacks and drinks for a picnic.
Bring a picnic blanket to sit on the grass. There are also tree-carved benches, tables and chairs scattered throughout the park.
Bring an umbrella or sun hat and wear sunscreen.
Bring koi pellets or purchase at the gift shop to feed the fish, and bread to feed the ducks and birds.