Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [53]
For some, O′ahu is just a transit point en route to the Neighbor Islands. For others, it’s the place for thrill-of-a-lifetime adventures. Here you can surf the giant waves of the North Shore, dive into the outdoor fishbowl of Hanauma Bay, go windsurfing or kayak to uninhabited islands off Kailua Beach, and still be back in Waikiki in time for sunset drinks, torchlit hula and live tunes by some of Hawaii’s most iconic musicians. No worries, brah.
Landing at Honolulu’s airport plunges you into the urban jungle, but relax, this is still Polynesia. Even among the high-rises of downtown Honolulu you’ll find power brokers in breezy aloha shirts, and the pungent, chaotic markets of Chinatown taste more like Asia than the USA. Even in this modern 21st-century city, some places manage to feel timeless, like the harborfront and the hills, where hiking trails lead deep into the lush Ko′olau Range and its knife-edged pali (cliffs) that officially divide the ‘city’ from the ‘country.’
Everything you’ve ever dreamed about Hawaii, you can find it here.
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HIGHLIGHTS
Swizzle tropical sunset cocktails while slack key guitars play in Waikiki (Click here)
Touch dramatic WWII-era history at Pearl Harbor (Click here)
Surf giant winter waves at Sunset Beach (Click here)
Snorkel and dive at Hanauma Bay (Click here)
Kayak to uninhabited offshore islands from Kailua (Click here)
Chow down and go gallery-hopping in Honolulu’s Chinatown (Click here)
Inspect royal feathered capes and ancient temple carvings at the Bishop Museum (Click here)
Hike around Mt Tantalus (Click here)
Cruise the lush Windward Coast (Click here)
Get lost on the untrammeled beaches of the Wai′anae Coast (Click here)
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POPULATION: 905,600
AREA: 604 SQ MILES
NICKNAME: THE GATHERING PLACE
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HISTORY
Around AD 1350, Ma′ilikukahi, the ancient mo′i (king) of O′ahu, moved his capital to Waikiki, a bounteous coastal wetland known for its fertile farmlands and abundant fishing, as well as for being a place of recreation and healing. O′ahu’s fall to Kamehameha the Great in 1795 signaled the beginning of a united Hawaiian kingdom. In 1809 Kamehameha moved his royal court from Waikiki to Honolulu (‘Sheltered Bay’) to control the vigorous international trade taking place in the harbor.
First established in the 1830s, sugar plantations soon became O‘ahu’s major industry. Contract workers from Asia, North America and Europe were brought in to fill the island’s labor shortage, as evidenced today by the island’s ethnic diversity. The 19th century ended with the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and the institution of a short-lived republic, until the USA annexed Hawaii in 1898.
Honolulu’s electric streetcars reached Waikiki Beach in 1901, which was the same year that Waikiki’s Moana Hotel opened, spurring a tourism boom interrupted only by the Great Depression and WWII. During the war, O′ahu was placed under martial law. As civil rights were suspended, a detention center for Japanese Americans and resident aliens was established on Honolulu’s Sand Island, and later an internment camp was established in the Honouliuli area of Kunia Rd in central O′ahu. The US federal government did not apologize for WWII internment camps in Hawaii and on the mainland until 1988.
Modern jet-age travel and baby-boom prosperity after the war provided O′ahu with a thriving tourism industry that conveniently replaced its declining shipping industry. In the ’60s and ’70s, the Hawaiian renaissance flowered here, especially on the University of Hawai′i’s Manoa campus and after the successful voyage of the Hokule′a (Click here), first launched from Kualoa