Waikiki Overview

From surf swells to sushi to beachside Mai Tais and vibrant nightlife, there’s always something going on in Waikiki. Start out on the main drag along Waikiki Beach, Kalakaua Ave., where designer shops, restaurants, and beachside bars provide spectacular people-watching. On your beach day, you can plan for bodyboarding and beach volleyball near Kapahulu Pier, surfing at Canoes break on Waikiki Beach, or a more relaxed lounge near the calmer Fort DeRussy and Duke Kahanamoku Beach. Waikiki offers something for every traveler: idyllic sunsets, gorgeous weather, and plenty to do.

In 1922, Waikiki’s water was diverted into the Ala Wai Canal, turning the marshland into the beach it is today. The Waikiki wetlands, a former gathering place for Native Hawaiians, were transformed into Waikiki Beach by importing sand. Upon the beach’s completion tourism gained an early foothold. An international melange of travelers and tourists and a smaller contingent of locals consistently crowd the area’s streets, shops, sights, sands, and dance floors.

The center of tourism in Hawaii’s biggest city, Waikiki is less a site of local culture than a thoroughly commercial vacation destination, but the area has an allure nonetheless. If manufactured gimmicks do not fulfill your culture craving, take an afternoon stroll down the offbeat Kapahulu Ave. on the east end of town, where you can explore a street full of mom-and-pop shops, antique stores, and authentic local eateries. To put it simply, if Oahu is “the gathering place,” Waikiki is where the party’s at.

• Orientation

Waikiki’s boundary is defined on the north and west by the Ala Wai Canal, on the south by its beaches, and on the east by Diamond Head Crater. Three main thoroughfares run Waikiki’s two-mile ...more

• Practical Information

Tourist Office: Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau Information Office, 2270 Kalakaua Ave., Ste. 801 (☎ 808-923-1811; www.gohawaii.com), in the Waikiki Business Plaza. A friendly office with free tourist ...more