Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The entrance to Pearl Harbor's historic sites is off the Kamehameha Hwy (Hwy 99),
southwest of Aloha Stadium. From Honolulu or Waikiki, take H-1 west to exit 15A (Ari-
zona Memorial/Stadium), then follow the signs to the USS
Arizona
Memorial, not those
pointing toward Pearl Harbor's military base. Visitor parking is free.
From Waikiki, bus 42 ('Ewa Beach) is the most direct, running twice hourly beginning
around 6am, taking just over an hour each way; slower TheBus 20 also stops here.
WAIKIKI
POP 27,150
Waikiki - just the name alone will have you thinking of boundless horizons, Pacific sun-
sets and hula dancers gently swaying to the beat of island rhythms. Once the playground
of Hawaiian royalty, this remains Oʻahu's quintessential beach.
After emerging from the long shadow of WWII, Waikiki recaptured the popular ima-
gination as an idyllic tropical island vacation complete with flower lei, aloha shirts and
romance. Celebrities like Elvis sang about it and strummed a ukulele, while bronzed
beachboys walked on water thanks to their long wooden surfboards.
Today Waikiki has reinvented itself. Although tacky tiki drinks and resort luau featur-
ing all-you-can-eat buffets and Samoan fire-knife dancing are still a fixture on the scene,
Hawaii's most-visited beach is moving beyond plasticky mass tourism, with stylish resort
hotels, fashion-forward boutiques and sophisticated restaurants and cocktail lounges.
A lazy morning of lying on the white sand here is only the start of the fun. Take a surf-
ing lesson, sip a mai tai as the sun drops into the sea, listen to lilting slack key guitars,
and just enjoy life. It's for good reasons that everyone's here.
History
Fed by mountain streams from Manoa Valley, Waikiki ('Spouting Water') was once a
fertile wetland of
kalo loʻi
(taro fields) and fishponds. In 1795 when Kamehameha the
Great conquered Oʻahu, he brought his royal court here. For almost the next century,
Waikiki became a privileged royal retreat.
In the 1880s, Honolulu's wealthier citizens started building gingerbread-trimmed cot-
tages along the narrow beachfront. Tourists arrived in 1901, when the Moana opened its
doors as Waikiki's first luxury hotel, built on a former royal compound. The next year a
tram line connected Waikiki with downtown Honolulu, and city folk crowded aboard for
weekend beach outings.
Tiring quickly of the pesky mosquitoes that thrived in Waikiki's wetlands, beachgoers
petitioned to have the 'swamps' brought under control. In 1922 the Ala Wai Canal was
