 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
RE/MAX Honolulu
338 Kamokila Blvd. Suite 206
Kapolei, HI 96707 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
| Everyone ventures to Oahu seeking
a different experience. Some talk about
wanting to find the "real"
Hawaii, some are looking for heart-pounding
adventure, some yearn for the relaxing
and healing powers of the islands, and
others are drawn by Hawaii's aloha spirit,
where kindness and friendliness prevail.
All kinds of memorable experiences can
be yours. Imagine yourself hovering
weightless over a rainbowed sea of tropical
fish, sitting in a kayak watching the
brilliant colors of dawn etch themselves
across the sky, sipping a mai tai while
you take in sweeping views of the south
shore and the Waianae Mountains, battling
a magnificent game fish on a high-tech
sportfishing boat, or listening to melodic
voices chant the stories of a proud
people and a proud culture that was
overthrown little more than a century
ago.
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| Lanikai Beach |
|
| "Breathtaking" is an understatement
when describing Lanikai Beach, located
on the Windward side of Oahu in Kailua.
Not only does the beach seem postcard-perfect—it
truly is.." |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Hawaii's largest city looks like any other
big metropolitan center with tall buildings.
In fact, some cynics refer to it as "Los
Angeles West." But within Honolulu's
boundaries, you'll find rainforests, deep
canyons, valleys and waterfalls, a nearly
mile-high mountain range, coral reefs, and
gold-sand beaches. The city proper -- where
most of Oahu's residents live -- is approximately
12 miles wide and 26 miles long, running east
to west, roughly between Diamond Head and
Pearl Harbor. Within the city are seven hills
laced by seven streams that run to Mamala
Bay.
Surrounding the central area is a plethora
of neighborhoods, ranging from the quiet suburbs
of Hawaii Kai to kamaaina (old-timer)
neighborhoods like Manoa. These areas
are generally quieter and more residential
than Waikiki, but they're still within minutes
of beaches, shopping, and all the activities
Oahu has to offer.
Waikiki
-- Some say that Waikiki is past its prime
-- that everybody goes to Maui now. If it
has fallen out of favor, you couldn't prove
it by us. Waikiki is the very incarnation
of Yogi Berra's comment about Toots Shor's
famous New York restaurant: "Nobody goes
there anymore. It's too crowded."
When King Kalakaua played in Waikiki, it was
"a hamlet of plain cottages . . . its
excitements caused by the activity of insect
tribes and the occasional fall of a coconut."
The Merrie Monarch, who gave his name to Waikiki's
main street, would love the scene today. Some
5 million tourists visit Oahu every year,
and 9 out of 10 of them stay in Waikiki. This
urban beach is where all the action is; it's
backed by 175 high-rise hotels with more than
33,000 guest rooms and hundreds of bars and
restaurants, all in a 1 1/2-square-mile beach
zone. Waikiki means honeymooners and sun seekers,
bikinis and bare buns, a round-the-clock beach
party every day of the year -- and it's all
because of a thin crescent of sand that was
shipped over from Molokai. Staying in Waikiki
puts you in the heart of it all, but also
be aware that this is an on-the-go place with
traffic noise 24 hours a day and its share
of crime -- and it's almost always crowded.
Ala Moana
-- A great beach as well as a famous shopping
mall, Ala Moana is the retail and transportation
heart of Honolulu, a place where you can both
shop and suntan in one afternoon. All bus
routes lead to the open-air Ala Moana Shopping
Center, across the street from Ala
Moana Beach Park. This 50-acre, 200-shop
behemoth attracts 56 million customers a year
(people fly up from Tahiti just to buy their
Christmas gifts here). Every European designer
from Armani to Vuitton is represented in Honolulu's
answer to Beverly Hills's Rodeo Drive. For
our purposes, the neighborhood called "Ala
Moana" extends along Ala Moana Boulevard
from Waikiki in the direction of Diamond Head
to downtown Honolulu in the Ewa direction
(west), and includes the Ward Centre
and Ward Warehouse complexes as well
as Restaurant Row.
Downtown
-- A tiny cluster of high-rises west of Waikiki,
downtown Honolulu is the financial, business,
and government center of Hawaii. On the waterfront
stands the iconic 1926 Aloha Tower, now the
centerpiece of a harbor-front shopping and
restaurant complex known as the Aloha Tower
Marketplace. The whole history of Honolulu
can be seen in just a few short blocks: Street
vendors sell papayas from trucks on skyscraper-lined
concrete canyons; joggers and BMWs rush by
a lacy palace where U.S. Marines overthrew
Hawaii's last queen and stole her kingdom;
burly bus drivers sport fragrant white ginger
flowers on their dashboards; Methodist churches
look like Asian temples; and businessmen wear
aloha shirts to billion-dollar meetings.
On the edge of downtown is the Chinatown
Historic District, the oldest Chinatown
in America and still one of Honolulu's liveliest
neighborhoods, a nonstop pageant of people,
sights, sounds, smells, and tastes -- not
all Chinese, now that Southeast Asians, including
many Vietnamese, share the old storefronts.
Go on Saturday morning, when everyone shops
here for fresh goods such as gingerroot, fern
fronds, and hogs' heads.
Among the historic buildings and Pan-Pacific
corporate headquarters are a few hotels, mainly
geared toward business travelers. Most visitors
prefer the sun and excitement of Waikiki or
choose a quieter neighborhood outside the
city.
Manoa Valley
-- First inhabited by white settlers, the
Manoa Valley above Waikiki still has vintage
kamaaina (old-timer) homes, the ever-gushing
Manoa Falls, and the 320-acre campus of the
University of Hawaii, where 50,000 students
hit the books when they're not on the beach.
To the East: Kahala
-- Except for the estates of world-class millionaires
and the luxurious Kahala Mandarin Oriental
Hotel (home of Hoku's, an outstanding beachfront
restaurant), there's not much out this way
that's of interest to visitors. |
|
|
|
Beyond Kahala lies East Honolulu and suburban
bedroom communities like Aina Haina, Niu Valley,
and Hawaii Kai, among others, all linked by
the Kalanianaole Highway and loaded with homes,
condos, fast-food joints, and shopping malls.
It looks like Southern California on a good
day. There are only a few reasons to come
here: to have dinner at Roy's, the
original and still-outstanding Hawaii Regional
Cuisine restaurant, in Hawaii Kai; to snorkel
at Hanauma Bay or watch daredevil surfers
at Sandy Beach; or just to enjoy the
natural splendor of the lovely coastline,
which might include a hike to Makapuu Lighthouse. |
|
|
The windward side is the opposite side of
the island from Waikiki. On this coast, trade
winds blow cooling breezes over gorgeous beaches;
rainsqualls inspire lush, tropical vegetation;
and miles of subdivisions dot the landscape.
Bed-and-breakfasts, ranging from oceanfront
estates to tiny cottages on quiet residential
streets, are everywhere. Vacations here are
spent enjoying ocean activities and exploring
the surrounding areas. Waikiki is just a quick
15-minute drive away.
Kailua --
The biggest little beach town in Hawaii, Kailua
sits at the foot of the sheer green Koolau
Mountains, on a great bay with two of Hawaii's
best beaches. The town itself is a funky low-rise
cluster of timeworn shops and homes. Kailua
has become the B&B capital of Hawaii;
it's an affordable alternative to Waikiki,
with rooms and vacation rentals from $60 a
day and up. With the prevailing trade winds
whipping up a cooling breeze, Kailua attracts
windsurfers from around the world.
Kaneohe
-- Helter-skelter suburbia sprawls around
the edges of Kaneohe, one of the most scenic
bays in the Pacific. A handful of B&Bs
dots its edge. After you clear the trafficky
maze of town, Oahu returns to its more natural
state. This great bay beckons you to get out
on the water; you can depart from Heeia Boat
Harbor on snorkel or fishing charters and
visit Ahu o Laka, the sandbar that appears
and disappears in the middle of the bay. From
here, you'll have a panoramic view of the
Koolau Range.
Kualoa/Laie
-- The upper northeast shore is one of Oahu's
most sacred places, an early Hawaiian landing
spot where kings dipped their sails, cliffs
hold ancient burial sites, and ghosts still
march in the night. Sheer cliffs stab the
reef-fringed seacoast, while old fishponds
are tucked along the two-lane coast road that
winds past empty gold-sand beaches around
beautiful Kahana Bay. Thousands "explore"
the South Pacific at the Polynesian Cultural
Center, in Laie, a Mormon settlement with
its own Tabernacle Choir of sweet Samoan harmony. |
|
|
|
Here's the Hawaii of Hollywood -- giant waves,
surfers galore, tropical jungles, waterfalls,
and mysterious Hawaiian temples. If you're
looking for a quieter vacation, closer to
nature, and filled with swimming, snorkeling,
diving, surfing, or just plain hanging out
on some of the world's most beautiful beaches,
the North Shore is your place. The artsy little
beach town of Haleiwa and the surrounding
shoreline seem a world away from Waikiki.
The North Shore boasts good restaurants, shopping,
and cultural activities -- but here they come
with the quiet of country living. Bed-and-breakfasts
are the most common accommodations, but there's
one first-class hotel and some vacation rentals
as well. Be forewarned: It's a long
trip -- nearly an hour's drive -- to Honolulu
and Waikiki, and it's about twice as rainy
on the North Shore as in Honolulu. |
|
|
|
Flanked by the Koolau and Waianae mountain
ranges, the hot, sun-baked Ewa Plain runs
up and down the center of Oahu. Once covered
with sandalwood forests (hacked down for the
China trade) and later the sugarcane and pineapple
backbone of Hawaii, Ewa today sports a new
crop: suburban houses stretching to the sea.
But let your eye wander west to the Waianae
Range and Mount Kaala, at 4,020 feet the highest
summit on Oahu; up there in the misty rainforest,
native birds thrive in the hummocky bog. In
1914, the U.S. Army pitched a tent camp on
the plain; author James Jones would later
call Schofield Barracks "the most
beautiful army post in the world." Hollywood
filmed Jones's From Here to Eternity here. |
|
|
|
The west coast of Oahu is a hot and dry place
of dramatic beauty: white-sand beaches bordering
the deep blue ocean, steep verdant green cliffs,
and miles of Mother Nature's wildness. Except
for the luxurious J. W. Marriott Ihilani Resort
and Spa in the Ko Olina Resort and the Makaha
Golf Course, you'll find virtually no tourist
services out here. The funky west coast villages
of Nanakuli, Waianae, and Makaha are the last
stands of native Hawaiians. This side of Oahu
is seldom visited, except by surfers bound
for Yokohama Bay and those coming to
see needle-nose Kaena Point (the island's
westernmost outpost), which has a coastal
wilderness park. |
|
|
|
|
|
