&nb sp; &nb sp; &nb sp; &nb sp; &nb sp; &nb sp; &nb sp; &nb sp; &nb sp; &nb sp; &nb sp; &nb sp; &nb sp; &nb sp; &nb sp; &nb sp; &nb sp; &nb sp; Waikiki Beach
Waikiki, at night when the shadows are falling,
I hear your rolling surf calling, calling and calling to me.
Waikiki, ‘tis for you that my heart is yearning,
My thoughts are always returning out there to you across the sea.
Your tropic nights and your wonderful charms are ever in my memory.
And I recall when I held in my arms, an angel sweet and heavenly.
Waikiki, my whole life is empty without you.
I miss that magic about you, magic beside the sea.
“Waikiki” by Andy Cummings
©1947 by Atlantic Music Corporation.
The magic of Waikiki has been attracting visitors to its white sands, warm waters, and rolling surf since the late 1800s. One of the most famous beaches in the world today, Waikiki's proximity to the city of Honolulu encouraged its development, and by 1900, many of O'ahu's affluent families, including members of the Hawaiian monarchy, had built large beachfront homes on its shore. In 1901 the first large tourist hotel, the Moana, opened for business, Waikiki's fame having spread nation-wide with annexation in 1898.
In the century that followed, the Waikiki resort area expanded around the beach to include three square miles of hotels, condominiums, shopping centers, and parks. Bordered on the east by Diamond Head, on the north and west by the Ala Wai Canal, and on the south by Waikiki Beach, Waikiki is the flagship of Hawai'i's visitor industry.
Waikiki Beach includes the two-mile stretch of shore from the Hilton Hawaiian Village to the Outrigger Canoe Club, a private club at the east end of Kalakaua Avenue. Originally a barrier beach between the ocean and a large wetland, Waikiki Beach is now almost entirely artificial, having been altered with imported sand and seawalls along most of its length. Early alterations of the shore were attempts to protect the beach homes and to reduce beach erosion.
Waikiki means “spouting water,” and probably refers to the springs that were found in the wetlands inland of the original beach. The Manoa and Palolo Streams flowed directly into Waikiki, creating the wetlands, and after heavy rains, Waikiki was often severely flooded. As more people moved into the area, the flooding became as issue. In January 1922, an extensive project was launched to transform Waikiki into a dry, attractive, and livable community. Known as the Waikiki Reclamation Project, it included dredging the Ala Wai Canal and filling hundreds of acres of wetlands to create residential tracts. The tons of coral dredged during the construction the Ala Wai Canal were used to bury the former springs, ponds and marshes, and by 1927 the newly completed canal was channeling the stream runoff into the ocean at the west end of Waikiki. The canal became the inland boundary of Waikiki and paved the way for the resort area's phenomenal growth following statehood in 1959.
Waikiki Beach begins in the west at Kahanamoku Beach fronting the Hilton Hawaiian Village and ends two miles to the east at the Outrigger Canoe Club on Kalakaua Avenue. Between the Hilton Hawaiian Village and the Outrigger Canoe Club, the shore of Waikiki is backed by the following properties: Kahanamoku Beach Park, Fort DeRussy, the Waikiki Shore Hotel, the Outrigger Reef Hotel, the Halekulani Hotel, the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, the Outrigger Waikiki Hotel, the Sheraton Moana Surfrider Hotel, Kuhio Beach Park, Kapi'olani Regional Park, including the Waikiki Aquarium and the War Memorial Natatorium, the New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel, the San Souci condominium, and the Colony Surf condominium. High, vertical seawalls comprise the shore east of the Outrigger Canoe Club to the end of Kalakaua Avenue.
The Sheraton Moana Surfrider Hotel in the center of beach is the oldest hotel in Waikiki. When it opened in March 1901, it was known as the Moana and a night's stay in one of its 75 rooms cost $1.50. The Moana remained alone on the Waikiki shore for many years until the Halekulani opened in 1917 and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel opened in 1927. Today, these three hotels are still the historic anchors in the heart of Waikiki Beach.
Kahanamoku Beach
In 1955 Henry J. Kaiser constructed Hawai'i's first visitor resort in Kalia at the west end of Waikiki. He dredged a swimming area and a lagoon out of the shallow reef fronting the property, and in 1956 lined them with imported sand, creating a new beach. In May 1958 the City Planning Commission voted to name the new beach Kahanamoku Beach in honor of Duke Paoa Kahanamoku (1890-1968), one of Hawaii's most beloved sons. Kahanamoku spent much of his childhood in Kalia at his grandfather's home, and it was here that he learned to swim, a skill that took him to four Olympic Games. In 1912 Kahanamoku won the gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle. He also swam in the 1920, 1924, and 1932 Olympics and remained an active supporter of all water sports until his death in 1968.
Kahanamoku Beach lies between the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor to the west and the Hilton Hawaiian Village's catamaran pier to the east. A shallow reef protects the beach and provides a popular swimming area for families with children. Kahanamoku Lagoon is adjacent to Kahanamoku Beach where its shallow sandy bottom slopes to a depth of fourteen feet at its center. Kaisers, one of Waikiki's well-known surf sites, is on the west margin of the boat channel that passes through the reef.
Public amenities: equipment rental concessions, parking, showers.
Ocean activities: fishing, snorkeling, surfing, swimming.
Kahanamoku Beach Park
Kahanamoku Beach Park, named after Duke Paoa Kahanamoku (1890-1968), is a half-acre, landscaped mini-park on the shore of Waikiki between the Hilton Hawaiian Village and the Hale Koa Hotel in Fort DeRussy. Located at the end of Paoa Place, a service road that commemorates Duke Kahanamoku's middle name, the park is opposite the Hilton Hawaiian Village's catamaran pier. Number Fours, or Fours, a Waikiki surf site and windsurfing site during southerly winds, is directly offshore on the east margin of the boat channel.
Public amenities: restrooms, showers.
Ocean activities: snorkeling, surfing, swimming, windsurfing.
Fort DeRussy Beach
In 1904 the federal government acquired the lands that make up Fort DeRussy and named the site the Kalia Military Reservation after the Hawaiian name of the area. Inland of the beach, the reservation was primarily a wetland consisting of duck ponds and marshes, all of which were filled during construction of the fort. In January 1909, War Department Orders 15 officially established the site as a military reservation, and in February 1909 it was named Fort DeRussy for Brigadier-General Rene Edward DeRussy, a member of the Engineer Corps who had served with distinction in the War of 1812 and the Civil War.
In keeping with the development of Waikiki as a resort area, the federal government developed Fort DeRussy into a visitor destination for military personnel. Today the fort is the site of the Hale Koa Hotel at its west end and the U.S. Army Museum of Hawai'i in Battery Randolph at its east end.
Fort DeRussy Beach, an artificial beach that was dredged out of the original rocky shore and lined with imported sand, is one of the longest uninterrupted sections of sand on Waikiki Beach. Although the beach is part of Fort DeRussy, the public is welcomed to use it. Several popular surf sites are located on the reef offshore, including Number Threes, or Threes.
Public amenities: equipment rental concession, food concession, parking, picnic tables, restrooms, showers.
Ocean activities: outrigger canoe rides, snorkeling, surfing, swimming.
Gray's Beach
In 1912 La Vancha Maria Chapin Gray rented a large, two-story beachfront home on the present-day site of the Halekulani Hotel. The home belonged to the J. Atherton Gilman family, and Gray converted it into a boardinghouse she named “Gray's-by-the-Sea.” A small pocket of sand fronting the boardinghouse, a popular swimming area, was soon called Gray's Beach.
Gray's by the Sea closed its doors when the Gilmans sold their property to Clifford and Juliet Kimball. Earlier in 1917, the Kimballs acquired the Hau Tree Inn near Gray's Beach from Robert Lewers and converted it into a stylish Waikiki hotel for wealthy vacationers. In the late 1920s, they decided to expand and bought the Gilman property, including Gray's-by-the-Sea and an adjacent parcel belonging to Arthur Brown. When their expansion project was completed, the Kimballs had acquired over five acres of prime Waikiki beachfront for their resort, which they named Halekulani, or “house befitting heaven.” Today the Halekulani, with its 456-room hotel, is one of Waikiki's premier resorts.
An early guest at the Halekulani was Earl Derr Biggers, the author of a murder mystery called “The House without a Key.” The book's title came from Biggers' discovery that no one in Honolulu ever locked their doors. The principal character in the story was the celebrated Chinese detective, Charlie Chan, patterned after a Honolulu detective Chang Apana. In memory of the author and his novel, the Halekulani named its seaside bar and lanai The House Without a Key.
Today, Gray's Beach is also known as Halekulani Beach or Sheraton Beach. A small pocket of sand nestled between the Halekulani and the Sheraton Waikiki, it is shaded by a single hau tree and still a popular swimming area, especially for families with children. Hawaiians knew this shore as Kawehewehe, or “the removal,” and they believed that the beach and the ocean fronting it were a place of healing. Populars and Paradise, two of Waikiki's well-known surf sites, are directly offshore.
Public amenities: equipment rental concession.
Ocean activities: outrigger canoe riding, catamaran sailing, snorkeling, surfing, swimming.
Kuhio Beach Park
Kuhio Beach Park lies between the Sheraton Moana Surfrider Hotel and the Kapahulu Groin. Prior to 1951, the east end of the park was fronted by a shallow reef and was called “Stonewall” for the vertical seawall that supported Kalakaua Avenue. The Waikiki Beach Improvement Project, completed in July 1951, changed the area dramatically when James W. Glover, Ltd., constructed a large pedestrian groin into the ocean. Officially known as the Kapahulu Groin, the pier is an extension of a storm drain that runs under Kapahulu Avenue. The project also included constructing the low retaining wall on the Diamond Head side of the groin and importing sand to create the beaches on both sides.
Kuhio Beach Park was named for Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana'ole, the youngest son of Kekaulike Kinoiki II and High Chief David Kahalepouli Pi'ikoi. Born on March 26, 1871, at Hoai, Kualu, in the Koloa district on Kaua'i, his mother died soon after his birth. He and his two older brothers were adopted by Kapiolani, his mother's sister. Kapi'olani and her husband Kalakaua had no children, so when Kalakaua became king in 1874, he gave each of the boys the title of prince.
In 1893, a revolution deposed Queen Lili'uokalani, Kalakaua's sister and successor. In 1895, Prince Kuhio and other Royalists joined Robert Wilcox in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Republic of Hawai'i and restore the queen to her throne. Prince Kuhio served one year in jail as a political prisoner. He was released on October 8, 1896, the same day as Queen Lili'uokalani and other Royalists who had also been arrested.
In 1902, Prince Kuhio was elected Hawai'i's second delegate to Congress and served until his death in 1922. He is best remembered for his efforts to help the Hawaiian people, and in 1921 he was successful in establishing the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, a measure that opened public lands in Hawai'i for homesteading by native Hawaiians.
Kuhio Beach Park was the site of Prince Kuhio's home, Pualeilani, or “flower from the wreath of heaven,” where he lived with his wife Princess Elizabeth Kahanu. On July 22, 1918, he removed the high board fence around his home and opened this section of beach to the public. When he died of heart disease at Pualeilani on January 7, 1922, the property was given to the city. It was officially dedicated as Kuhio Beach Park in 1940.
Waikiki's two famous surf sites, Queen's and Canoes, are off the west end of the park. Queen's was named for Queen Lili'uokalani, who had a beach home and a pier inshore of the site, and Canoes was named for the outrigger canoes that are still used to surf its waves today. Waikiki's beach boys also teach visitors how to surf at Canoes, one of the best beginner's spots in Hawai'i.
Kuhio Beach Park is the site of three well-known landmarks, the Stones of Kapaemahu, the Duke Kahanamoku Statute, and the Prince Kuhio Statue. The stones represent four legendary men, Kapaemahu, Kahaloa, Kapuni, and Kinohi, who came to Hawai'i from a distant land. They were famous throughout the islands for their powers of healing and for their great wisdom. The Duke Kahanamoku statue, created by sculptor Jan-Michelle Sawyer, was dedicated on August 24, 1990, the 100th anniversary of the Duke's birth. One of the greatest sports heroes in Hawai'i, Kahanamoku is recognized internationally as the father of modern surfing. The statue of Prince Kuhio, created by sculptor Sean Browne, was dedicated on January 12, 2002.
Public amenities: food concession, picnic tables, equipment rental concessions, restrooms, showers.
Ocean activities: outrigger canoe riding, catamaran sailing, snorkeling, surfing, swimming.
Queen's Surf Beach
In December 1871, King Kamehameha V proclaimed June 11 of each year as a public holiday in memory of Kamehameha I, the first king to unite the Hawaiian Islands. In 1877, King Kalakaua celebrated Kamehameha Day by opening a public park in Waikiki that he named in honor of his wife, Queen Kapi'olani. On December 31, 2002, the anniversary of her birth, a statue of the queen was dedicated in the park on Kalakaua Avenue near the Kapi'olani Bandstand.
During the early days of the Republic of Hawai'i (1893-98) nearly all of Kapi'olani Park's beachfront was sold to private individuals and many years passed before the city was able to re-acquire the properties. The city's first re-acquisition came in 1908 when it purchased the Kunst lot opposite the bandstand in Kapi'olani Park for a public beach facility. Popularly known as the Public Baths, the facilities included showers, dressing rooms, and a dance pavilion. In January 1931, the aging structures were torn down, and on November 9, 1931, Mayor Fred Wright dedicated the new Public Baths, which were hailed as one of the showcases of Waikiki. These facilities served O'ahu residents for thirty more years until they, too, were torn down. Today, a popular surf site offshore known as Publics, short for Public Baths, is the only surviving reference to the former facilities.
In 1946 a beautiful two-story, beachside mansion next to the Public Baths was converted into a restaurant and named Queen's Surf after the famous surf site in Waikiki. It was soon one of the most popular nightclubs in Honolulu. The city acquired the Queen's Surf property in 1953, but allowed the restaurant operation to continue. In 1961 the SpenceCliff Corporation became the final lessee and ran the restaurant until the lease expired in 1970. The City demolished the Queen's Surf restaurant in 1971 to expand Kapi'olani Park, but this narrow section of Waikiki Beach is still known as Queen's Surf Beach. Sometimes the name is shortened to Queen's Beach.
Queen's Surf Beach is bordered on its west end by the Kapahulu Groin and on its east end by the Waikiki Aquarium. When the Kapahulu Groin was constructed in 1951, surfers promptly named it The Wall. The Wall, often shortened to Walls, is also the name of the adjoining surf site, a break reserved exclusively for bodysurfers and bodyboarders. The ocean waters within 150-yards of it are off limits to board surfers and are marked by a line of buoys. Cunha's, one of Waikiki's well-known big wave surf sites, is straight out from The Wall.
On June 25, 2003, the City and County of Honolulu dedicated a bronze sculpture in the park near The Wall called Surfer on a Wave. Located at the intersection of Monsarrat and Kalakaua Avenues as a monument to surfing in Waikiki, artist Robert Pashby, designed the sculpture to include a unique wave water feature.
The Wall marks the west boundary of the Waikiki Marine Life Conservation District (MLCD), which extends east to the War Memorial Natatorium. The State Department of Land and Natural Resources prohibits fishing, possessing fishing gear, and removing marine life in the waters of the MLCD.
In the park across the street from the Kapahulu Groin is a memorial, a raised stone octagon surrounded by a black wrought iron fence. Known as Kahi Hali'a Aloha, or "place of loving remembrance", the site is the resting place for iwi kupuna, or ancestral remains of native Hawaiians, that have been unearthed during construction projects in Waikiki. Dedicated in December 2001, the burial complex was designed by Keawe Keohokalole, a lineal descendant of the Kalakaua family.
Public amenities: food concession, picnic tables, parking, equipment rental concession, restrooms, showers.
Ocean activities: bodysurfing, bodyboarding, fishing, snorkeling, surfing, swimming.
War Memorial Natatorium
After World War I, the Territory of Hawai'i decided to erect a memorial to honor the island men who had lost their lives while serving their country. The Irwin property next to San Souci Beach was acquired for the project and in 1920 on Armistice Day, a newly established national holiday, a ceremony was held to dedicate the site. During the late 1920s, City planners decided that a natatorium, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, would be a fitting memorial. At that time all of Hawai'i's competitive swimming events were held in the open waters of Honolulu Harbor, so an enclosed swimming pool was considered to be a worthy public facility. The pool's length, 100 meters, was then the size of an official Olympic pool.
The swimming area for the Natatorium was dredged out of the shallow reef and the structure was completed during the summer of 1927 in time to host the National Outdoor Swimming Meets. Governor Wallace R. Farrington was the keynote speaker at the dedication ceremony on August 23, and Duke Kahanamoku, Hawai'i's Olympic champion, opened the pool with an exhibition swim.
The Natatorium remained a popular public swimming facility until it was closed for safety reasons in 1979. At the direction of Mayor Jeremy Harris, the first phase of its restoration, the renovation of its bleachers, exterior façade, and artwork, was completed and dedicated on May 28, 2000.
The Natatorium marks the west boundary of the Waikiki-Diamond Head Shoreline Fisheries Management Area, which extends east to the Diamond Head Lighthouse. The State Department of Land and Natural Resources allows fishing in the management area during even-numbered calendar years and prohibits it during odd-numbered years, allowing fish and other marine life to replenish themselves.
Public amenities: parking, restrooms, showers.
Ocean activities: fishing, snorkeling, surfing.
Kaimana Beach
A wide pocket of sand, Kaimana Beach lies between the War Memorial Natatorium and the New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel. The beach takes its name from the hotel, which was named for Kaimana Hila, or Diamond Head. Kaimana Beach is also known to local residents as San Souci Beach, an old name that goes back to 1884 when Allen Herbert bought several acres of land here and opened a lodging house. He named it Sans Souci, French for “without a care,” after the palace of Frederick the Great in Potsdam.
On the morning of December 28, 1902, an important event took place at the beach when the steamship Silvertown anchored offshore after a 12-day crossing from San Francisco. The Silvertown had layed a submarine cable from California to Hawai'i and the end of the cable was brought ashore through Kapua Channel in a canoe steered by David Pi'ikoi Kahanamoku, an uncle of Duke Kahanamoku. The cable was the first telegraphic link between Hawai'i and the mainland, an important event for communication and navigation in Hawai'i. The first message over the new system was sent on January 1, 1903 to President Theodore Roosevelt in Washington. Remnants of the submarine cable, abandoned in 1951 for newer communication systems, still lie on the ocean floor in Kapua Channel.
Many local residents consider Kaimana Beach one of the best family beaches in Waikiki. Protected by a wide reef, the nearshore bottom is shallow, sandy, and free of strong currents. Open ocean swimmers and kayakers also frequent the beach to access the waters beyond the reef through Kapua Channel, which also leads to Old Man's, a popular surf site.
Public amenities: parking, restrooms (in the Natatorium), showers.
Ocean activities: fishing, snorkeling, surfing, swimming.
Outrigger Canoe Club
In 1908, the founders of the Outrigger Canoe Club leased some Waikiki beachfront property on the west side of the Moana Hotel, their mission to preserve and promote the sports of surfing and canoe paddling. The Outrigger Canoe Club remained at its original site from 1908 until the New Year's Eve of 1963. Four days later the club opened its new facilities at its present home on Kalakaua Avenue at the east end of Waikiki. The Outrigger Waikiki Hotel now occupies the club's former site.
The small pocket beach on the shore of the present Outrigger Canoe Club was created from sand on the club's property, primarily from the excavation for one of the buildings, part of which is underground. This beach marks the end of Waikiki Beach. The shore from here to the east end of Kalakaua Avenue consists of vertical seawalls.
Public amenities: none.
Ocean activities: boating, snorkeling, surfing, swimming.
Makalei Beach Park
Makalei Beach Park, a small, 0.7 acre community park at the base of Diamond Head, lies at the intersection of Diamond Head Road and Makalei Place. Makalei was the name of a supernatural tree that attracted fish. The park, formerly the site of a beachfront home, was purchased by the City and County of Honolulu in 1972. Park facilities include showers and picnic tables. The park's shore is a vertical seawall, but a small pocket of sand on its west side is wide enough for sunbathing. In addition to sunbathers, the park is a popular access point for a number of surf sites, including Ricebowls, Tongg's, The Winch, Radicals, Graveyards, Suicides, and Sleepy Hollows.
Public amenities: Picnic tables, showers.
Ocean activities: fishing, snorkeling, surfing, swimming.
Le'ahi Beach Park
Le'ahi Beach Park, a small, 1.3 acre community park, lies at the base of Diamond Head where it borders Diamond Head Road between Makalei Place and Beach Road. Formerly the site of a beachfront home, the land was donated to the City and County of Honolulu by the Dillingham family in 1976. Landscaped, but otherwise undeveloped, it is a popular location for commercial photographers. The park shore is a vertical seawall. Le'ahi, literally “forehead [of the] ‘ahi fish,” is the Hawaiian name of Diamond Head.
Public amenities: none.
Ocean activities: fishing.
Diamond Head Beach Park
Leahi uheuhene There is Leahi,
Kaimanahila uheuhene, Diamond Head
Hoku kau ale kai a o Mamala uheuhene. Star of the waves at Mamala Bay.
“Leahi” by Mary Pulaa Robins and Johnny Noble
©1963 by Miller Music Corporation.
One of the most famous landmarks in Hawai'i, Diamond Head borders the eastern edge of Waikiki, where its dormant volcanic crater dominates the shore for miles in either direction. In 1825, British sailors saw small sparkling calcite crystals in its beach sand and named the mountain Diamond Hill. This name was eventually changed to Diamond Head, “head” a shortened form of headland. Le'ahi, the Hawaiian name for Diamond Head, is a contraction of lae (point of land) and ‘ahi (yellow-fin tuna), and means “point [of the] ‘ahi fish.” The highest peak on the crater rim rises 760 feet above sea level and from a distance resembles the dorsal fin of the ‘ahi fish. The resemblance is mentioned in the legend of Hi'iaka, the youngest sister of Pele, the goddess of the volcano.
The federal government purchased Diamond Head in 1904 for $3,300. Fort Ruger and a number of gun emplacements for coast artillery defenses were established in the 1930s. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the mountain was heavily fortified against further attack on O'ahu. Many of the gun emplacements, pillboxes, and fox holes still remain on the crater rim, and one underground facility, Birkheimer Tunnel, houses the headquarters for the State Civil Defense Agency. The entire crater is a state park known as Diamond Head State Monument. Except for a parking lot and a comfort station, most of the crater floor is undeveloped.
Diamond Head Beach Park is the name of two acres of sea cliff on the south slope of the crater between Beach Road and the Diamond Head Lighthouse. A narrow sand beach fronted by a rocky shelf lines the shore, a popular tide-pool excursion site.
Public amenities: parking.
Ocean activities: fishing, snorkeling, surfing, swimming, tide pooling.
Kuilei Cliffs Beach Park
Kuilei Cliffs Beach Park lies on the south slope of Diamond Head between the Diamond Head Lighthouse and the residential community of Ka'alawai. It consists of eleven acres of undeveloped sea cliffs that are topped with three drive-in lookouts. Access to the narrow sand beach at the base of the sea cliffs is a paved pedestrian walkway from Diamond Head Road between two of the lookouts. Kuilei, the name of a former fishing grounds fronting the park, is a combination of two words, kui (to string) and lei (garland of flowers), and means “lei stringing.”
The ocean bottom off Diamond Head is a shallow coral reef, poor conditions for swimming, but ideal for surfing. The reef generates surf every day of the year, attracting many surfers from dawn to dusk. During periods of strong trade winds, windsurfers line the beach and ride the waves offshore.
The middle lookout is the site of a memorial to Amelia Earhart (1898-1937). She was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean; the first woman to fly solo across the continental United States; and in 1935, the first person to fly alone from Hawai'i to North America. Four years later, in July 1939, she attempted to fly from New Guinea to Howland Island, on her way to Hawai'i. Her plane failed to reach Howland Island, and she was never seen again. The monument to honor Earhart was made by Kate Kelly, Honolulu's leading sculptress of the 1930s and wife of noted artist John Kelly.
Public amenities: parking, showers.
Ocean activities: fishing, snorkeling, surfing, swimming, windsurfing.
Ka'alawai Beach
I waho makou i Kaalawai la We were all there on Kaalawai's shores
I ke i ka nani Kaimana Hila la And gazed upon the grandeur of old Diamond Head
Kau mai iluna. So majestic.
“Kaimana Hila” by Charles E. King
©1943 by Charles E. King.
Ka'alawai, a residential community at the base of Diamond Head between Kuilei Cliffs Beach Park to the west and Black Point to the east, is fronted by a narrow sand beach. With a shallow reef offshore, swimming opportunities are limited to small pockets of sand scattered along the beach. Brown's, one of the south shore's well known big wave surf sites, is off the center of the beach, outside the reef.
Black Point at the east end of the beach formed when a volcanic eruption flowed back against the base of Diamond Head. Hawaiians called the point Lae o Kupikipiki'o, “point of [the] raging sea,” but today it is best known as Black Point, a name that describes its dark lava. At the bottom of Kulamanu Place, the primary public access to Ka'alawai Beach, freshwater surfaces among the rocks. Ka'alawai means “the watery rock,” and may refer to these springs.
Ka'alawai was a famous fishing site for mullet, the ‘anaeholo, a species that formerly migrated in the fall from Pearl Harbor around the east end of O'ahu to La'ie. In 1907 Thomas Thrum described the annual run in Hawaiian Folk Tales, Fish Stories and Superstitions:
“The anaeholo is a species of mullet unlike the shallow water, or pond, variety; and the following story of its habit is well known to any kupa (native born) of Oahu.
The home of the anaeholo is at Honouliuli, Pearl Harbor, at a place called Ihuopalaai. They make periodical journeys around to the opposite side of the island, starting from Puuloa and going to windward, passing successively Kumumanu, Kalihi, Kou, Kalia, Waikiki, Kaalawai, and so on, around to the Koolau side, ending at Laie, and then returning by the same course to their starting point.”
In October and November, schools that numbered in the thousands would begin their journey, and throw-net fishermen from all over the island would gather along the route to catch them, including on the beach at Ka'alawai. Today, throw-net fishermen still come to the beach, but the massive seasonal schools of mullet have all but disappeared.
One of Honolulu's most famous shoreline landmarks lies at the east end of Ka'alawai, a mansion called Shangri-La, the former home of Doris Duke. Duke was the only child of American Tobacco Company founder James Duke and became one of the wealthiest women in the world upon the death of her father. In 1936, she built a fortress-like home on Black Point and used it as a retreat until her death in 1993. Today, the home is maintained as a museum by the Doris Duke Foundation of Islamic Art. During the construction of Shangri-La, a natural bay at the foot of the 4.9-acre property was converted into a small boat harbor by constructing two breakwaters. Subject to heavy surge during periods of high surf, the harbor was never used for its original purpose. Instead it became a popular swimming and fishing site.
Public amenities: none.
Ocean activities: fishing, snorkeling, surfing, swimming.
Kahala Beach
Kahala Beach is a narrow sand beach that fronts Kahala, the residential community between Black Point to the west and the Kahala Oriental Mandarin Hawai'i Hotel to the east. With a shallow reef offshore, swimming opportunities along the beach are limited to small sand pockets in the reef. The sand pockets at the intersection of Hunakai Street and Kahala Avenue are the most popular. Collectively known as Mothers' Beach, they are often frequented by mothers with young children. Mothers' Beach and the rest of Kahala Beach are accessed by public rights-of-way on Kahala Avenue and through Wai'alae Beach Park.
Kahala is the name of a deepwater fish, the amberjack, which is common around O'ahu.
Public amenities: none.
Ocean activities: fishing, snorkeling, surfing, swimming.
Wai'alae Beach Park
The ahupuaa (land division) of Waialae takes its name from the stone-encased spring, which may be seen today just above the highway. From the spring runs a stream which watered terraces that are now largely covered with grass raised for dairying and by the golf links.
Hawaiian Planter
Handy and Handy, 1972.
Wai'alae means “water of the mudhen” and was the name of a fresh water spring. According to tradition, the spring water was reserved for the ruling chief of O'ahu in this formerly hot, barren area. Kamehameha III (1813-1854), while on a tour around the island, is said to have asked an old couple living in Wai'alae where he could get some water to drink. The couple was the guardian of the spring and told the king that the only reason they stayed there was to guard it and revealed its location to him. The spring was hidden, sealed by a large stone slab that was covered by pohuehue, or beach morning glory. Today its location is unknown.
Kapakahi Stream, an intermittent stream, runs through Wai'alae Beach Park and empties into the ocean where its waters have cut a wide, sand-bottomed channel through the shallow reef. The narrow sand beach fronting the park is covered with coral rubble from the shallow reef offshore. The park is frequented by picnickers, surfers, and windsurfers. Razors is the name of the surf site on the west side of the channel.
Public amenities: parking, picnic tables, restrooms, showers.
Ocean activities: fishing, snorkeling, surfing, swimming, windsurfing.
Kahala Oriental Mandarin Hawai'i Beach
The Kahala Oriental Mandarin Hawai'i Hotel opened in January 1964 as the Kahala Hilton Hotel. Subsequently purchased by the Oriental Mandarin chain in 1996, it was renovated and reopened in 1998 as the Kahala Oriental Mandarin Hawai'i. During the hotel's construction in 1963, the saltwater lagoon and the beachfront swimming area were dredged out of the shallow nearshore reef. The small offshore island was constructed at the same time. The 800-foot-long beach was created by shipping 18,000 cubic yards of sand from Papohaku Beach on Moloka'i.
Kahala is the name of a deepwater fish, the amberjack, which is common around O'ahu. It is also the name of the residential community and beach between the hotel and Black Point to the west. Hilton's is the name of the surf site fronting the hotel.
Public amenities: none.
Ocean activities: fishing, snorkeling, surfing, swimming.
Wailupe Beach Park
Wailupe Beach Park is on the shore of Wailupe Valley and adjacent to the Wailupe Peninsula residential community. Development of the valley began in 1924 when Robert Hind purchased 2,090 acres and established the Hind-Clarke Dairy. In 1946, after World War II, Robert Hind, Ltd., sold the dairy operation and in 1947 developed the valley into a residential community known as ‘Aina Haina, literally “Hind's Land.”
Shortly after work on ‘Aina Haina began, the Hawaiian Dredging Company began filling in Wailupe fishpond, one of only three fishponds on O'ahu's east shore. In 1932 Gilbert McAllister described the pond in his book Archaeology of Oahu:
The pond is 41 acres in area. The wall is approximately 2500 feet long. The west side is a broad sandy area, at least 50 feet wide, through which four outlets (makaha) now pass. The remainder of the wall is 12 feet wide, with waterworn basalt faced higher on the outside than within. The central part is of dirt and sand fill.
Hawaiian Dredging pumped more than 500,000 cubic yards of coral into the pond, the fill coming primarily from the dredging operations that created the adjacent boat channel. The reclamation project created Wailupe Peninsula, a residential community, on the site of the former fishpond, and a small public beach park, Wailupe Beach Park.
Located on the west side of Wailupe Peninsula, the park is fronted by a shallow coral reef and is frequented primarily by fishermen and surfers who wade across the reef to fish and surf offshore. Surfers ride a number of sites at the edge of the reef, including Kim's, Wailupe, Bones, Suicides, and Lefts.
Public amenities: parking, picnic tables, restrooms, showers.
Ocean activities: fishing, surfing.
Kawaiku'i Beach Park
Kawaiku'i Beach Park is on Kalaniana'ole Highway at the foot of Hawai'i Loa Ridge. Kawaiku'i, the name of a freshwater spring at the east end of the park, means “the united water.” One explanation for the name is that the spring is on the beach where its fresh water “unites” with salt water. Another is that Kawaiku'i was where travelers, area residents, and fishermen came for drinking water, so people congregated or “united” at the spring. Kawaiku'i was formerly noted for its limu ‘ele'ele, a dark seaweed with fine strands that grows where fresh water mingles with salt water.
The beach fronting the park is a narrow strip of sand, most of which disappears at high tide. Fronted by an especially shallow coral reef, it is a marginal swimming site, but a popular picnic site. Surfers use the park to access several surf sites at the edge of the reef, including ‘Aina Haina, Secrets and Toes. Windsurfers also frequent Toes during high tides and periods of strong trade winds.
Public amenities: parking, picnic tables, restrooms, showers.
Ocean activities: fishing, surfing, windsurfing.
Niu Beach
The narrow trail began at Niu and led through the valley of Kailiiliiki till it went up a Koolau mountain and down into Waimanalo. It was said that Hawaiians traveled on this trail from Waimanalo to Niu, and from Niu to Waimanalo. The population was large in these places in centuries past. It was about seventy-five years ago that the Hawaiians stopped using the trail.
Kuokoa, Hawaiian language newspaper
February 10, 1922.
Niu, or “coconut,” is one of three large coastal valleys on O'ahu's east shore between Kahala and Hawai'i Kai. Beachfront homes line the shore of the valley, but a public right-of-way on the west side of Niu Peninsula leads to the narrow sand beach. Fronted by a shallow reef flat, the beach is used primarily as an entry point for surfers heading out to Blue Hole and other surf sites at the outer edge of the reef.
Niu Peninsula is one of three former Hawaiian fishponds on the shore of Maunalua Bay. In 1932 Gilbert McAllister described the pond in his book Archaeology of Oahu:
Kupapa fishpond, Niu. The pond is now filled in and has been used for agricultural purposes. The wall, of waterworn basalt, was three feet high by eight feet in width and formed a semi-circle 2000 feet long. It enclosed several acres. The name was given to me by Kalaluhi Akana Kapiiohe.
Construction crews filled the pond in the 1950s to build Niu Peninsula.
Public amenities: none.
Ocean activities: fishing, surfing.
Paiko Beach
When Joseph Paiko died on June 1, 1942, the Honolulu Advertiser printed an obituary the following day titled, “Joseph Paiko, Son of Early Settler, Dies.” The obituary gave the history of the Paiko family.
“Mr. Paiko, kamaaina Honoluluan, was born in this city on July 19, 1852, and was almost 90 years old. His birth occurred two years before the death of King Kamehameha III, who was best known to his people as Kauikeaouli and who granted the great mahele or division of lands between the crown, the nobles, and the people.
“Death came to Mr. Paiko at 5:25 a.m. yesterday at St. Francis hospital after an illness of several years duration.
“Mr. Paiko's father, Manual Paiko, came to Hawaii as a whaler in the 40s of the last century. He was from the island of Pico in the Portuguese group of the Azores and became known here as “Manual do Pico,” the name in time becoming “Hawaiianized” into Paiko.
“The original Paiko, one of the first Portuguese to settle in Hawaii, in time acquired one half of the ahupuaa of Kuliouou, land which runs from the sea to the crest of the mountains which top Waimanalo. He engaged in cattle raising and was one of the first on Oahu to go into this business on a commercial scale.
“The elder Paiko's son, the late Joseph Paiko, after his father's death, engaged in shipping and at one time owned the schooner Domitila, which he sailed between the islands and engaged in freight carrying. Captain Paiko retired from active work 40 years ago.
Tags: Hawaii Oahu Beach History Culture Family Friendly Children Swimming Snorkle
