 Facts at a Glance
Population: 400,000
Area: 25 sq miles (65 sq km)
Elevation: 15ft (5m)
State: Hawaii
Time Zone: Hawaii Time (GMT/UTC minus 10 hours)
Telephone area code: 808
 History
Around the time the first Europeans laid eyes on the archipelago, the Hawaiian Islands were under the control of a handful of chiefs who were fighting for dominance of the island chain. One of the main contenders was Kamehameha the Great, chief of the island of Hawaii. In 1795, Kamehameha swept through Maui and Molokai, conquering those islands before crossing the channel to Oahu. On the quiet beaches of Waikiki, he landed his fleet of canoes and marched to meet the king of Oahu. Under Kamehameha's command, a handful of Western sharpshooters picked off the Oahuan generals and blasted into their ridgetop defenses. Kamehameha's taking of Oahu marked Hawaii's emergence as a united kingdom.
As foreign ships found their way to Honolulu, the port became a focal point for merchant ships plying the seas between North America and Asia. In 1809, Kamehameha moved his royal court from Waikiki to the Honolulu Harbor area, which by then was a village of almost 1800 people. Intent on keeping an eye on all the trade that flowed in and out of the harbor, Kamehameha firmly established Honolulu as Hawaii's center of commerce.
By 1820, whaling ships plying the Pacific had begun to pull into Honolulu for supplies, liquor and women. To meet their needs, taverns and brothels sprung up around the harbor. Much to the ire of the whalers, their arrival was soon followed by that of Christian missionaries, who befriended Hawaiian royalty and made their inroads quickly. After Queen Kaahumanu became seriously ill, Sybil Bingham, one of the chief missionaries' wife, nursed the queen back to health. Kaahumanu showed her gratitude by passing a law forbidding work and travel on the Sabbath.
In time, the missionaries gained enough influence with Hawaiian royalty to have more effective laws enacted against drunkenness and prostitution. By the peak whaling years of the mid-1800s, most whaling boats had abandoned Honolulu, preferring to land in Lahaina on Maui, where life was not so wholesome. Back in missionary hands, downtown Honolulu soon became the headquarters for the emerging corporations that eventually gained control of Hawaii's commerce. It's no coincidence that their lists of corporate board members - Alexander, Baldwin, Cooke and Dole - read like a roster from the first mission ships.
In 1845, the last son of Kamehameha the Great, Kamehameha III, moved the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii from Maui to Honolulu. Here, Kamehameha III established Hawaii's first national legislature, provided for a Supreme Court and passed the Great Mahele land act, which established religious freedom and gave all male citizens the right to vote. In an 1853 census, Honolulu registered 11,450 residents, a full 15% of the Hawaiian kingdom's population.
In the decades that followed, Honolulu began to take on a modern appearance as the monarchy erected a number of stately buildings in the city center, including St Andrew's Cathedral, Iolani Palace and the Supreme Court building Aliiolani Hale. By the mid-19th century, Honolulu had a prominent foreign community comprised largely of American and British expatriates. As the city continued to grow, Westerners increasingly wrested control over island affairs from the Hawaiians.
King David Kalakaua, who reigned from 1874 to 1891, was Hawaii's last king. A great Hawaiian revivalist, he brought back the hula, reversing decades of missionary repression against the 'heathen dance,' and composed the national anthem, Hawaii Ponoi, which is now the state song. To many influential whites, however, the king was perceived as a lavish spender, too fond of partying and throwing public luaus. As Kalakaua incurred debts, he became increasingly unpopular with the sugar barons whose businesses were now the backbone of the economy. They formed the Hawaiian League in 1887 and developed their own armies which stood ready to overthrow the kingdom.
In January 1893, Kalakaua's sister and successor, Queen Liliuokalani, was preparing to proclaim a new constitution strengthening the throne when a group of armed US businessmen occupied the Supreme Court and declared the monarchy overthrown. They announced a provisional government, led by Sanford Dole, son of a pioneer missionary, and immediately appealed to Washington for annexation, while the queen appealed to the same powers to restore the monarchy. Democrat president Grover Cleveland ordered that the US flag be taken down and the queen restored to her throne. However, the provisional government turned a deaf ear, declaring that Cleveland was meddling in 'Hawaiian' affairs.
The Spanish-American War of 1898 and the acquisition of the Philippines marked the arrival of American expansionism in the Pacific. In short order, the annexation of Hawaii was adopted by the US Congress and, in 1900, US President McKinley appointed Sanford Dole the first governor of the Territory of Hawaii. Soon after annexation, the US Navy set up a huge Pacific headquarters at Pearl Harbor and in central Oahu built Schofield Barracks, the largest US military base anywhere. The military quickly became the leading sector of Oahu's economy.
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese staged a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that sank or seriously damaged 21 ships, killed more than 2300 people and catapulted the USA into the war. After the smoke cleared, Hawaii was placed under martial law and Oahu took on the face of a military camp. Already heavily militarized, vast tracts of Oahu's land were turned over to the US armed forces for expanded military bases, training and weapons testing. Much of that land has yet to be returned.
On August 21, 1959, after 61 years of territorial status and following a plebiscite in which 90% of islanders voted for statehood, Hawaii became the 50th state of the USA, with Honolulu as its capital.
Today, Honolulu is home to people from throughout the Pacific - it has no ethnic majority. It's also the state's center of business, culture and politics, in addition to being one of the world's prime tourist destinations.
 When to Go
Honolulu is a great place to visit any time of year. Although Hawaii's busiest tourist season is during winter (December to February), this has more to do with the weather elsewhere, since many visitors are snowbirds escaping cold winters back home. Average temperatures differ very little from winter to summer. June through October is the hottest period, while rainfall is heaviest between December and March - neither extreme is worth worrying over. Daily temperatures in Honolulu average a high of 84°F (29°C) and a low of 70°F (22°C). Hotel prices are lowest between April and mid-December.
If you're a surfer, you won't want to miss the Christmas-time action around Oahu's North Shore, but if windsurfing or diving is more your thing, you'll find the waters at their calmest at the height of summer (July and August).
 Orientation
Honolulu is a harbor city at the southern end of Oahu, the most visited island of the Hawaiian archipelago. The city lies 2550 miles (4100km) southwest of Los Angles; 3860 miles (6220km) southeast of Tokyo; 5060 miles (8150km) northeast of Sydney; and 1470 miles (2370km) north of the equator. Not surprisingly, it's a major hub for trans-Pacific air travel.
Downtown Honolulu contains all Oahu's state and federal government buildings, including the state capitol and Iolani Palace, once home to Hawaii's last few monarchs and still the only royal palace in the USA. Chinatown is a few blocks northwest of the palace; the Aloha Tower and cruise ship terminals are a few blocks west. Southeast of downtown, Waikiki is the epicenter of all things touristic: all the big resorts and much of the city's nightlife are found here. Just southeast of Waikiki, 760ft (230m) Diamond Head rises up as the city's favorite geological landmark. All of these sites are within the boundaries of greater Honolulu.
H-1, the main south shore freeway, passes east-west through Honolulu, connecting it to the airport and all other freeways on the island. Interestingly enough, it's a US interstate freeway - no small achievement for an island in the middle of the Pacific.
Honolulu International (HNL) is a 9 mile (15km), 25 minute drive northwest of downtown via Ala Moana Blvd/Hwy 92 (Nimitz Hwy) or the H-1. The Ala Moana Center, on Ala Moana Blvd just northwest of Waikiki, is the central transfer point for TheBus, the island's public bus network.
 Attractions
Waikiki
The largest tourist destination in Hawaii, Waikiki is a long stretch of picture-perfect white-sand beach just southeast of downtown Honolulu. Its shores are lined with swanky high-rise hotels set against the scenic backdrop of Diamond Head. On any given day, the tiny area is thronged with package tourists from Japan and North America: 65,000 of them on average, in addition to some 25,000 residents. It boasts more than 30,000 hotel rooms; close to 1000 restaurants, bars and clubs; and more shops, shams and shysters than anyone cares to count.
If you've come to Hawaii for the luaus, hula lessons and lazy days on the beach, you'll hit the motherlode in Waikiki. But independent travelers needn't be discouraged - if you're one of those with less packagable predilections, you'll be happy to find activities such as outrigger canoe clubs and Japanese tea ceremonies to distract you from the masses. And there's always the natural beauty of the area, with its spectacular orange sunsets, bath-warm waters and night skies overrun with stars.
The 2 mile (3.5km) stretch of white sand that runs from the Hilton Hawaiian Village to Kapiolani Beach Park is commonly called Waikiki Beach. Although it teems midday with beach boys and betties, sunrise strolls here are downright meditative. By midmorning, the surfers, sailors and swimmers begin to amass, and by noon it's a challenge to get to the water without stepping on somebody. Fronting the Hilton, Kahanamoku Beach is one of the calmer swimming areas, ironically named after one of Hawaii's wildest native sons, Duke Kahanamoku, a local swimmer and surfer who won the 1912 Olympic 100m freestyle. At the southern end of Waikiki Beach, boogie boarders cluster at Kapahulu Groin, delighting onlookers with their daredevil wave riding.
Away from the waves, Kapiolani Park contains the Waikiki Aquarium, the Honolulu Zoo, a bandstand and hula show grounds. It's at the Diamond Head end of Waikiki and was a gift to the Hawaiian people from their last king, David Kalakaua.
Waikiki's Hawaiian-style entertainment ranges from Polynesian extravaganzas, with beating drums and hula dancers, to mellow duos jamming on ukuleles or slack-key guitars. Duke's Canoe Club is the most popular venue for contemporary Hawaiian music, while any of the big resorts can provide you with the other stuff. The area around the hotels is the best place to look for nightclubs and bars. Honolulu's gay scene is focused on the venues along Kuhio Ave between Kalaimoku and Kaiolu Sts.
Chinatown
A walk through Chinatown is a bit like a whirlwind tour across Asia - although it's predominantly Chinese, there are sizable Vietnamese, Thai and Filipino communities as well. The bustling market area could be right out of a Hong Kong back street, and the fire-breathing dragons curled around the red pillars of the Bank of Hawaii are as celestial as any you're likely to run across. In these few blocks, you can get a tattoo, consult an herbalist, munch moon cakes or slurp a steaming bowl of pho, and there are plenty of temples, shrines, noodle factories, antique shops and art galleries to explore.
The heart of Chinatown is along Maunakea St around N King and N Hotel Sts. Head south on N Hotel St and you'll be treated to a tour of Chinatown's seamiest side, with peepshows and nudie bars sporting evocative names like Club Hubba Hubba. Heading north on N Hotel St you come to Wo Fat, a big pink restaurant shaped like a Chinese temple at the corner of Maunakea St. The River St Pedestrian Mall, three blocks north of Wo Fat, is lined with food stalls and old men playing mah jongg and checkers. Towards its eastern end is a Taoist temple and, just across Nuuanu Stream, a Shinto shrine. Respectful visitors are welcome in both.
At the eastern end of the pedestrian mall on Chinatown's northern boundary is a former royal estate that now houses the city's finest greenbelt, the Foster Botanical Garden. Near the entrance is yet another worship spot, the ornate Buddhist Kuan Yin Temple. The main entrance to Chinatown is the Chinatown Gateway Plaza at S Hotel and Bethel Sts, five blocks north of Iolani Palace.
Bishop Museum
The Bishop Museum is considered to be the best Polynesian anthropological museum in the world. Its Hawaiian Hall has three floors of exhibits documenting the islands' cultural history and includes among its treasures a feather cloak made for Kamehameha I, the king who first united the Hawaiian islands. Other halls brim with masks, weapons, musical instruments and artwork from Pacific cultures as well as Asian and European items brought to the islands by traders.
The Bishop is also home to Hawaii's only planetarium, a natural history hall, and an area where craftspeople demonstrate traditional Hawaiian quilting, lauhala mat weaving and lei making. The museum is about 2.5 miles (4km) northwest of downtown Honolulu, accessible by bus or by car via the H-1.
Diamond Head
Diamond Head is a tuff cone - a hill composed of compacted volcanic ash - formed by a violent steam explosion deep beneath the island's surface long after most of Oahu's volcanic activity had stopped. Its 760ft (230m) peak provides a majestic backdrop to the flair of Waikiki and, as such, it's one of the best-known landmarks in the Pacific.
The Hawaiians called the hill Leahi, and at its summit they built a luakini heiau, a type of temple used for human sacrifices. But ever since 1825, when some British sailors noticed calcite crystals sparkling in the sun and quickly mistook themselves for rich men, the hill's been known as Diamond Head.
The best reason to visit Diamond Head is to hike the trail to the crater rim, where those who persevere are treated to a showstopping 360° panorama of the entire southeastern coast of Oahu. Buses from Waikiki stop near Diamond Head - it's about a 15 minute walk from the bus stop to the trailhead. If you come by car or taxi, the trail begins at the parking lot off Diamond Head Rd on the crater's northeastern side.
Tantalus & Makiki Heights
Just 2 miles (3.2km) from downtown Honolulu, a switchback road cuts its way through the lush forest reserve land of the Makiki Valley to the top of 2010ft (600m) Mt Tantalus. A continuous circuit just under 9 miles (14km) long, the western stretch of the road is called Tantalus Drive and the eastern portion is Round Top Drive. As a loop, it offers the finest views of Honolulu available without wings.
Winding past some of the city's swankiest mountainside homes, the well-paved route meets up with several trails leading into the Honolulu Watershed Forest Reserve and Puu Ualakaa State Park. Surprisingly, the only walking most people do here is between their car and the scenic lookouts. Bring your hiking boots along, and you may well have the whole trail to yourself.
Nestled at the base of Makiki Valley, just off Tantalus Drive, you'll find the Contemporary Museum, a quality modern art showspace on an estate surrounded by woodsy gardens. A new building on the lawn holds the museum's prize possession, an installation by David Hockney based on his sets for a Ravel opera. The galleries feature changing exhibits of national and international artists.
Although daytime is best for hiking and taking photos, the upper reaches of the valley also offer great spots to watch evening settle over the city. The museum can be reached by bus from downtown Honolulu, but to get to the mountaintop you'll need a car.
 Off the Beaten Track
Pearl Harbor
Over 1.5 million people 'Remember Pearl Harbor' every year by visiting the USS Arizona Memorial, still responding to the rallying cry that ushered the US into WWII. The 185ft (55m) floating memorial perches directly over the Arizona, still lying in the shallow waters where it was sunk by Japanese fighter planes on 7 December 1941. The massive warship took a direct hit in the early morning fighting and sank within 9 minutes, taking with it 1177 sailors.
Today, the memorial is run by the National Parks Service, which maintains the onshore visitors center and its museum and theater. The park service's 75 minute program includes a documentary film on the attack, followed by a boat ride to the memorial. Everything is free.
The Arizona Memorial visitors center is off Hwy 99 (Kamehameha Hwy) on the Pearl Harbor Naval Base, about 9 miles (15km) west of Honolulu via H-1. Shuttle buses run from all the major Waikiki hotels.
Windward Coast
Windward Oahu, the island's eastern side, parallels the Koolau Range along its entire length. The mountains looming inland show scalloped folds and deep valleys, sometimes edging so close to the shore that they seem about to shove the highway into the ocean. There are some decent swimming beaches along the coast - notably Kailua, Kualoa and Malaekahana - but most sections are too silted for swimming. The waters here are best suited for windsurfers and sailors, as the coast is exposed to the blustery northeasterly trade winds.
Kailua - the third-largest city on Oahu - lies just south of where the Pali Hwy meets the windward coast. The town is unremarkable, save for its stellar beach and the eerie remains of a luakini heiau (sacrificial temple). Offshore, Popoia Island is a bird sanctuary that's popular with kayakers. The next largest of Oahu's towns, Kaneohe, is immediately north of the Mokapu Peninsula. Kaneohe is notable for its enormous botanical garden, Hoomaluhia Park, and for the super-tranquillity of the Valley of the Temples, an interdenominational Japanese-style cemetery.
At the northern end of the windward coast, the town of Laie is the center of Hawaii's surprisingly substantial Mormon community. The Latter Day influence is evident in the stately 1919 temple, a smaller version of the main temple in Salt Lake City, and the local branch of Brigham Young University. But most conspicuous of all is the Mormon-run 'nonprofit' Polynesian Cultural Center, the island's second-most-popular attraction behind the USS Arizona Memorial. Here, BYU's Pacific Island students earn their college keep by dressing in native garb and demonstrating Polynesian crafts, dances and games for tourists. Fittingly, there's also a re-creation of a 19th century mission house and chapel.
The windward coast is reached by two cross-island highways from Honolulu: the Pali Hwy (Hwy 61) and the Likelike Hwy (Hwy 63). For the best of both routes, take the Pali from Honolulu and the Likelike on the way back. You can also drive around the southeastern tip of the island and up the windward coast via H-1 and Hwy 72.
North Shore
Oahu's North Shore is synonymous with surfing. Every year, its 30ft (9m) winter waves lure the biggest kahunas of the surf-junkie set, who descend in droves to ride the giant swells. The most famous breaks - Sunset Beach, the Banzai Pipeline and Waimea Bay - teem with aged masters and neophyte grommets from just before Christmas until the swells die back, usually around February.
December is the peak of the season, when three major surf competitions, collectively known as the Triple Crown, offer prize purses reaching six figures. Each winter weekend, convoys of cars make the drive over from Honolulu to watch the action at the beach. You can beat the rush simply by arriving on a weekday. To reach the North Shore from Honolulu, drive northwest on Hwy 99 or the H-2.
 Activities
Honolulu's beaches are good for swimming year round, though the surf can get rough from June to August. If crashing waves are what brought you here, the area boasts hundreds of surfing locales, the most famous of which line Oahu's North Coast. Boogie boarding is the scene stealer at Kapahulu Groin in Waikiki, while the most popular bodysurfing breaks are at Sandy Beach Park and Makapuu Beach Park in southeastern Oahu.
The best spot for snorkeling cose to Waikiki Beach is Sans Souci Beach, east of the resorts. Hanauma Bay in southeastern Oahu is better still. Oahu's best dive sites are between Hanauma Bay and Honolulu; the optimum time to explore them is between December and March. Windsurfers flock to Fort DeRussy Beach, at the western end of Waikiki.
The trail to the top of Diamond Head is a favorite route for hiking, as are the Manoa Falls Trail and the Tantalus and Makiki Valley network of trails, about 2 miles (3.2km) north of downtown Honolulu. Running and jogging are ridiculously popular, especially in the Kapiolani and Ala Moana parks, both near Waikiki.
 Events
Hawaiians love to shake a leg, and you can join in at a large number of festivals and events. New Year's Eve is jump-started with 'explosive' street parties and parades in Honolulu, as is Chinese New Year in late January or early February. The Japanese community shines throughout February with the Cherry Blossom Festival, then the Irish get their turn with a Waikiki St Patrick's Day parade on 17 March. One of Honolulu's quirkier festivals, the International Bed Race, sees some offbeat four-wheeling in late April. All Hawaiians get leid on 1 May, Lei Day, and again on 11 June, King Kamehameha Day - the latter is a state holiday.
Honolulu has two hula festivals in June and July: the King Kamehameha Hula & Chant Competition and the Prince Lot Hula festival. In August, the Hawaiian Slack-Key Guitar Festival and Ka Himeni Ana - an old-style Hawaiian singing contest - celebrate Hawaiian contributions to the world of music. Sports nuts get an eyeful with the Bankoh Kayak Challenge in May, the Transpacific Yacht Race in July, and major women's and men's outrigger canoe races in September and October, respectively. The Honolulu Marathon is run in mid-December, and the Aloha Bowl, a nationally televised collegiate football game, takes place on Christmas Day.
Several big surf-related blowouts take place every year, drawing the world's top wave riders to the beaches across the island. Exact dates depend on when and where the surf's up.
 Getting There & Away
Honolulu is a major Pacific hub and an intermediate stop on many flights between the US mainland and Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. Passengers on any of these routes are usually allowed to make a stopover in Honolulu, and because of Hawaii's central Pacific location, Honolulu can be included on most round-the-world and Circle Pacific tickets. There are frequent flights from Honolulu to the Neighbor Islands of Maui, Kauai, the Big Island, Molokai and Lanai.
Though Hawaii-bound cruises are rare, the Queen Elizabeth II embarks on a world cruise that stops by once per year. The boat can be picked up in Ensenada, Mexico, for the five-day voyage.
Would-be smugglers should know that all luggage and carry-on bags leaving Honolulu for the US mainland are checked by an agricultural inspector using an X-ray machine. You can take out pineapples and coconuts, but most other fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers are banned. Seeds, fruits and plants that have been certified and labeled for export aren't a problem. There are no departure taxes to pay when leaving Hawaii.
 Getting Around
Honolulu International Airport is about 25 minute's drive west of Waikiki via Ala Moana Blvd/Hwy 92 (Nimitz Hwy) or the H-1. You can also catch a ride between the airport and Waikiki on a public bus (about an hour), a shuttle bus (45 minutes) or a taxi. Many of the larger resort hotels offer free shuttles to their guests.
TheBus is Honolulu's public bus network. Its routes branch across the island, with each line's destination written above the bus' windshield. The Ala Moana Center is the central transfer point. Overall, the buses are in excellent condition - clean and air-conditioned - though buses on popular routes tend to be packed and their pace is always dawdling. Setting your watch by this system gives you nothing but a good sense of Hawaiian Time. The Waikiki Trolley is an expensive, tourist-laden open-air bus geared primarily for sightseeing shopaholics. The attraction-lined route between Waikiki's Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center and downtown Honolulu is narrated.
Oahu is not a big island, and few places are more than an hour's drive from Honolulu. If you plan on spending all your time in the resorts of Waikiki, forget about renting, but if you plan to get beyond the city limits, a car is the easiest way to do it. The minimum age to drive in Hawaii is 18 years, and most car rental agencies hike that limit to 25. Gasoline is about 25% more expensive on the island than on the US mainland. Driving is on the right.
Taxis wait at most major downtown hotels and at the airport. Otherwise, you'll need to phone for a cab. Bikes are available for rent in Honolulu and Waikiki, and most bike shops provide maps, helmets and locks. The city is poorly suited for cycling, though, and most riders prefer to use their bikes for longer jaunts around Oahu.
 Recommended Reading
- Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen by Queen Liliuokalani is an autobiographical account of Liliuokalani's life in Honolulu and the circumstances surrounding her 1893 overthrow. Another insightful book on the topic is The Betrayal of Liliuokalani: Last Queen of Hawaii, 1838-1917 by Helena G Allen.
- Merchant Prince of the Sandalwood Mountains by Bob Dye tells the story of Honolulu's first Chinese millionaire in the context of the turbulent social and economic changes of the 18th century.
- For the anthropologically minded, Nana I Ke Kumu (Look to the Source) by Mary K Pukui, EW Haertig & Catherine A Lee is a fascinating source of information on Hawaiian cultural practices, social customs and beliefs.
- Surf junkies will be thankful for Surfer's Guide to Hawaii: Hawaii Gets All the Breaks by Greg Ambrose, which describes all the top surfing spots, including the world-famous Sunset Beach and Banzai Pipeline.
- For a less cowabungafied look at the local waters, pick up The Beaches of Oahu by John RK Clark, offering a comprehensive look at the island's coastline and every one of its beaches, including water conditions, shoreline geology and local history.
- Don't forget your walking shoes! The Hikers Guide to Oahu by Stuart Ball details 53 hikes on the island. Ball, a former president of the Hawaiian Trail & Mountain Club, gives information on length, difficulty and direction to the trailhead for each hike, and the book comes with a topo map.
- From the Skies of Paradise, Oahu is a good aerial photography book with color plates by renowned photographer Douglas Peebles and text by Glen Grant that incorporates Hawaiian myths and legends.
- Architecture in Hawaii by Rob Sandler is a coffee table book with color photographs of Hawaii's most notable buildings, the majority of which are in Honolulu. More than 150 buildings are detailed, from thatched cottages to the royal palace, covering some two centuries of architecture.
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