Until the Europeans came, HONOLULU was insignificant; soon so many
foreign ships were frequenting its waters that it had become
Kamehameha's capital, and it remains the economic center of the island.
The city covers a long (if narrow) strip of southern Oahu, but downtown
is a manageable size, and a lot quieter than its glamorous image might
suggest. The tourist hotels, and most of Honolulu's hustle, are
concentrated among the skyscrapers of very distinct WAIKIKI , a couple
of miles east.
The setting is beautiful, right on the Pacific and backed by dramatic
cliffs and the extinct volcanoes of Punchbowl (a military cemetery) and
Diamond Head ; but then beauty is not so rare a commodity on Hawaii, and
you can see this sort of scenery in plenty of other places without a
city in the middle of it. What attracts most visitors to stay in
Honolulu, and especially Waikiki, is the sheer hedonism of shopping,
eating and generally hanging out in the sun. It's also the center of an
exemplary public transportation system, facilitating exploration of the
whole island.
The City
Downtown Honolulu is surprisingly small, set back a little from the sea
and centering around a spacious plaza on King Street that includes
Iolani Palace and the state capitol . The palace was built for King
David Kalakaua in 1882, but, apart from its koa -hardwood floors,
contains little that is distinctively Hawaiian (Tues-Sat 9am-2.15pm;
$15). Across the road is a flower-bedecked, gilt statue of Kamehameha
the Great.
To reach the nearby ocean, pedestrians have to negotiate fearsome
traffic. Although the sea may be turquoise, the shorefront is concrete,
not beach, and you can't wander along it for any distance due to
excessive recent construction works. The Aloha Tower on Pier 9 used to
be the city's tallest building; the area around its base has been
converted into an expensive shopping and dining mall, fronting onto the
city docks. The view from the top of the tower is little short of ugly,
but is good for orientation (daily: April-Sept 9am-7.30pm; Oct-March
9am-7pm; free). The Hawaii Maritime Center (daily 8.30am-5pm; $7.50),
just east of Aloha Tower, documents Hawaii's seafaring past in superb
detail, from ancient migrations through to white contact, nineteenth-century
trade and twentieth-century cruises. A stunning film from 1922 (with
Clara Bow in a bit part) shows the true-life drama of whaling, and
there's a wall of gigantic historic surfboards. In the adjacent dock are
the fully rigged four-master Falls of Clyde and the replica Polynesian
canoe Hokulea , whose voyages to Tahiti and New Zealand over the last
two decades have inspired tremendous interest in traditional methods of
navigation.
Though few tourists seem to know about it, Honolulu residents take great
pride in the stunning fine art on display at the Academy of Arts , half
a mile east of the capitol at 900 S Beretania St (Tues-Sat 10am-4.30pm,
Sun 1-5pm; $5). Highlights of the superb collection of paintings include
Van Gogh's Wheat Field , Gauguin's Two Nudes on a Tahitian Beach and one
of Monet's Water Lilies . The Academy also holds some fascinating
depictions of Hawaii by visiting artists, including a pencil sketch of
Waikiki drawn in 1838, and vivid, stylized studies of Maui's Iao Valley
and Hana coast by Georgia O'Keeffe, plus magnifi-cent ancient Chinese
ceramics and bronzes.
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Vacation Rentals in Honolulu |
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from $165.33
USD