Waikiki, Hawaii

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is the 2 mile/3.2km-long and about 2626ft/800m-wide heart of Honolulu, if not of the whole of the Hawaiian islands. It is bordered to the west by Ala Moana Park, to the north by Ala Wai Canal and to the east by Diamond Head.

Gathered in this small area is the largest choice of hotels. They are to be found either on the beach, on Kalakaua Avenue (which runs parallel to the beach), with views over the sea, only a stone's throw away in Kuhio Avenue (parallel to Kalakaua Avenue) or in the side streets. Accommodation consists mainly of tower blocks which have been developed rapidly over the last 30 years.

What is today known as Waikiki was originally marshland and was only completely eradicated at the beginning of the 1920s with the completion of the Ala Wai Canal.

The beach, however, was certainly a favorite bathing place for Hawaiians long before Hawaii was declared a kingdom at the beginning of the 19th c. - even if it took making Honolulu into the capital city in order to develop the beach. The kings who succeeded Kamehameha I had bathing houses built on Waikiki Beach and received foreign guests here.

Only after 1898 when the territory of Hawaii became part of the United States of America, was the first hotel built on the beach. The oldest hotel, the totally-white Moana Hotel (1901), now belongs to the Sheraton chain and has hotel skyscrapers on either side. Only at the end of the 1920s was a second hotel built, the pink-painted Royal Hawaiian, recently renovated but overshadowed by a hotel tower block, and the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center.

These two quite small hotels were sufficient for those visitors arriving by ocean liner, including the super-rich from the east coast and stars from Hollywood. The great turning point came in the 1960s when Hawaii became accessible from the mainland in only a few hours thanks to the age of the jet plane.

Countless hotels were built in rapid succession, each one bigger than the last. The "Manhattanisation" of Waikiki made quick progress. Mass tourism altered the face of Waikiki and some of the sparkle and attraction, which had made the resort so famous, was lost.

Only in the last few years have hoteliers - about one quarter of the hotels are owned by Japanese - concerned themselves with the tradition of Waikiki and invested millions of U.S. dollars in the restoration and renovation of existing hotels (work which is still being carried out) as well as building new hotels. Elegant shops opened their doors on Kalakaua Avenue and found themselves surrounded by cheap souvenir shops - a mixture still typical of Waikiki today. Waikiki is, however, not just a beach. It is also a city whose large number of tourists make it one of the world's most densely populated.

Waikiki has not simply one beach but a series of beaches, almost all ideal for swimming and all types of water sports. The beaches begin in the west with Kahanamoku Beach named after the famous Olympic swimmer, immediately in front of the Hilton Hawaiian Village, and extend to Sans Souci Beach at Diamond Head in the east. As they so smoothly overlap one another, tourists find them indistinguishable. Kahanamoku Beach is separated from Gray's Beach (originally called Kawekewehe Beach, meaning "opening" as a narrow channel is located here, now called Gray's Channel). This is followed by the Royal Hawaiian Beach (from the hotel of the same name to the Moana Hotel) - without doubt the most famous and crowded part of Waikiki. Next comes Kuhio Beach Park (the western part has a stone wall - Kapahulu Wall - built in front of it and is the only part of the beach unsuitable for swimming), followed by Kapiolani Beach Park and Sans Souci Beach.

Further beaches, located outside the true Waikiki, comprise the small Kaluahole Beach, Diamond Head Beach Park, Kuilei Cliffs Beach Park (made somewhat dangerous because of high waves), Kaalawai, Kahala Beach (where the Kahala Hilton Hotel is located) and Wailupe Beach Park on the western side of the artificial peninsula of the same name. For further information about Oahu's beaches see Practical Information section, Beaches.