21°18.87916′N157°48.4846′W / 21.31465267°N 157.8080767°W /21.31465267; -157.8080767
Manoa (/ˈmɑːnoʊə/,informally/mɑːˈnoʊə/;Hawaiian:Mānoa) is a valley on the island ofOahu,Hawaii. It is a residential neighborhood ofHonolulu, Hawaii. The neighborhood is approximately three miles (5 km) east and inland fromdowntown Honolulu and less than a mile (1600 m) fromAla Moana andWaikiki.
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Similar to many Honolulu neighborhoods, Mānoa consists of an entire valley, running fromManoa Falls at the mauka (inland-most) end to King Street. The valley receives almost daily rain, even during the dry season, and is thus richly vegetated – though the valley walls are often dry. Seeing rainbows in the valley is a common occurrence, and is the source of theUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa sports team names, theRainbow Warriors (for men's teams) andRainbow Wahine (for the women, with the beach volleyball team more often using BeachBows).
The neighborhood is composed of private houses built before the 1960s and low-rise condominiums. Mānoa is home to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, the flagship campus of theUniversity of Hawaiʻi System. The university has several faculty and student residence areas in Mānoa.
Other educational institutions located in Mānoa includeManoa Elementary School,Noelani Elementary School,Punahou School, theMid-Pacific Institute, Saint Francis School, and a handful of small, private preschools.
The central shopping area of Mānoa is the Mānoa Marketplace which features a farmer's market several days of the week. More recent development has seen housing on steeper parts of theDiamond Head side valley wall.
Mānoa meansthick,solid,vast,depth, orthickness in theHawaiian language.[1] There is another valley named Mānoa on the north shore ofKauaʻi.
Mānoa Stream begins at the base of Mānoa Falls and runs through the valley before joining the Palolo Stream to form the Mānoa-Palolo drainage canal, which flows into theAla Wai Canal. Floods caused by high rainfall have plagued the residents living along Mānoa Stream. Most recent was on October 30, 2004, when Mānoa Stream overflowed causing millions of dollars in damages to residential homes and University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa buildings.
| Climate data for Manoa (Lyon Arboretum) 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1975–present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 88 (31) | 87 (31) | 90 (32) | 86 (30) | 88 (31) | 89 (32) | 89 (32) | 90 (32) | 92 (33) | 91 (33) | 90 (32) | 88 (31) | 92 (33) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 76.0 (24.4) | 75.9 (24.4) | 75.7 (24.3) | 76.0 (24.4) | 77.7 (25.4) | 78.1 (25.6) | 79.0 (26.1) | 80.1 (26.7) | 80.8 (27.1) | 80.1 (26.7) | 78.0 (25.6) | 76.4 (24.7) | 77.8 (25.4) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 69.6 (20.9) | 69.6 (20.9) | 69.8 (21.0) | 70.7 (21.5) | 72.3 (22.4) | 73.3 (22.9) | 74.4 (23.6) | 75.2 (24.0) | 75.4 (24.1) | 74.7 (23.7) | 72.8 (22.7) | 70.9 (21.6) | 72.4 (22.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 63.1 (17.3) | 63.3 (17.4) | 63.9 (17.7) | 65.4 (18.6) | 66.8 (19.3) | 68.4 (20.2) | 69.7 (20.9) | 70.2 (21.2) | 70.0 (21.1) | 69.2 (20.7) | 67.6 (19.8) | 65.4 (18.6) | 66.9 (19.4) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 52 (11) | 50 (10) | 52 (11) | 56 (13) | 56 (13) | 59 (15) | 61 (16) | 61 (16) | 63 (17) | 59 (15) | 54 (12) | 49 (9) | 49 (9) |
| Average rainfall inches (mm) | 10.64 (270) | 9.14 (232) | 13.74 (349) | 12.91 (328) | 9.32 (237) | 12.87 (327) | 15.35 (390) | 12.66 (322) | 12.19 (310) | 12.89 (327) | 15.08 (383) | 14.17 (360) | 150.96 (3,834) |
| Average rainy days(≥ 0.01 in) | 18.3 | 18.0 | 20.6 | 24.4 | 22.5 | 26.3 | 28.1 | 26.8 | 25.2 | 24.9 | 24.1 | 23.0 | 282.2 |
| Source:NOAA[2][3] | |||||||||||||
Mānoa was the site of the firstsugarcane andcoffee plantations in theHawaiian Islands. Hawaiian coffee was first introduced along Mānoa Valley in 1813 by Don Francisco de Paula y Marytin as an ornamental plant. In 1825 Chief Boki, the Royal Governor of Oahu, followed up and brought coffee trees back from Brazil on the shipHMS Blonde.[4]: 34
Chief Boki also chose Mānoa Valley as the historic birth site of the very first coffee plantation in Hawaii. With the aid of an agriculture expert, John Wilkinson, the coffee trees were able to survive which allowed its descendants to be brought over to Kona and other islands many years later. Hawaiʻi is the only state in the United States that produces coffee commercially. For more history seecoffee production in Hawaii.
There are many legends associated with Mānoa. In one legend, Kahalaopuna was born to Kahaukani and Kauakuahine. Kahaukani is the wind of Mānoa and Kauakuahine is the rain of Mānoa. Kakaukani and Kauakuahine were brother and sister, both born to Akaaka (the projecting spur of the Mānoa mountain range) and Nalehuaakaaka (the lehua on the brow of the Mānoa ridge).[5]
Hawaii Department of Education operates public schools in Mānoa, which is also home to theUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
The privateSaint Francis School was in Mānoa until its 2019 closure.[6]
Manoa-Makiki travel guide from Wikivoyage
