Dunford Lisa - Discover Honolulu, Waikiki & Oahu Travel Guide

This Is O'ahu

Landing at Honolulus airport plunges you into the urban jungle, but relax, it's still Polynesia. Even among downtown high-rises, youll find capital-city power brokers in breezy aloha shirts. By day, inspect royal feathered capes and ancient temple carvings, then swizzle mai tais while slack key guitars play at Waikiki Beach after dark.

Theres another side of the island: the country, where farms and dirt roads lead deep into a Hawaiian heartland. On some wild, rugged and nearly deserted beaches, sea turtles still outnumber surfers. Set your watch to island time as you cruise past the Windward Coasts emerald valleys, rustic ranches and roadside shrimp trucks, or lose yourself on the rural Waianae Coast.

Dont dismiss O'ahu as a transit point en route to the Neighbor Islands. Take a closer look and youll uncover a lifetime of adventures. Surf the Banzai Pipelines giant waves, hike atop knife-edged pali (cliffs), dive in Hanauma Bays giant fishbowl, windsurf or kayak to uninhabited islands off Kailua Bay, and be back in Waikiki for sunset hula. No worries, brah .

O'ahu, like Honolulu-born President Barack Obama, is proud of its multicultural heritage. The nerve center of the archipelago brings you face to face with Hawaii as it really is, not just a postcard fantasy. All over this island, nicknamed The Gathering Place, pulses the Hawaiian lifeblood, from ancient heiau (stone temples) to sacred hula dances and chants. Boisterous festivals keep diverse traditions alive.

Spam, surfing, hula, pidgin, rubbah slippah these are just some of the touchstones of everyday life floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. People are easygoing, low-key and casual, bursting with genuine aloha and fun. Youll feel welcome whether youre a surf bum, a honeymooner or part of a big 'ohana (extended family) with grandparents and kids tagging along.

Boats docked on Lanikai Beach (), near Kailua
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O'ahus Top Experiences

Sunset Hula at Waikiki Beach ( )

Every night at beachfront resorts, bars and shopping malls you can stumble upon legendary O'ahu musicians strumming their slack key guitars and ukuleles or singing ha'i (a style of falsetto) and Hawaiian chants, while hula dancers in swaying skirts perform subtle hand movements and patterned footsteps. After sunset, tiki torches are lit and the conch shell blown at Kuhio Beach Park, where you can watch a free show thats surprisingly not just for tourists its a way of keeping Hawaiian traditions alive.

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