INTRODUCTION Although Oahu is only the third largest of the Hawaiian islands – its six hundred square miles are dwarfed by the four thousand square miles of the aptly-named Big Island – it’s home to almost 900,000 people, or roughly three-quarters of the state’s population. Half of those in turn live along a narrow strip of Oahu’s southeast coast, in the city of Honolulu, while the powerhouse that keeps the whole Hawaiian economy going is even smaller and more crowded still – the tiny, surreal enclave of Waikiki, three miles east of downtown.
After a century of mass tourism to Hawaii, the very name of Waikiki continues to epitomize beauty, sophistication and glamour. Of course, squeezing enough tower blocks to hold 100,000 hotel beds into a mere two square miles leaves little room for unspoiled tropical scenery. The legendary beach, however, remains irresistible, and Waikiki offers a full-on resort experience to match any in the world. Around five million visitors per year spend their days on the sands of Waikiki, and their nights in its hotels, restaurants and bars; for many of them, barring the odd expedition to the nearby Ala Moana shopping mall, the rest of Honolulu might just as well not exist.
All of which suits the average citizen of Honolulu, for whom Waikiki is a small and seldom-visited suburb, just fine. Honolulu is a distinctive and remarkably attractive city in its own right. The setting is gorgeous, right on the Pacific Ocean, and reaching back into a succession of spectacularly lush valleys cut into the dramatic pali (cliffs) of the Ko‘olau Mountains. Downtown Honolulu, centered around a group of administrative buildings that date from the final days of the Hawaiian monarchy, nestles at the foot of the extinct Punchbowl volcano, now a military cemetery. As well as boasting top-quality museums such as the Bishop Museum and the Academy of Arts, it also offers superb rainforest hikes, especially in Makiki and Manoa valleys, just a mile or so away. Immediately to the west of downtown stands lively Chinatown, while five miles further is the airport, just before the sheltered inlet of Pearl Harbor.
Thanks to massive immigration, the population of modern Hawaii is among the most ethnically diverse in the world, and Honolulu’s status as a major international crossroads makes it an extraordinarily cosmopolitan city to visit. Only perhaps 2 percent of its inhabitants are pure Hawaiians, while another 20 percent claim at least some Hawaiian blood. The rest of the population includes the 26 percent who identify themselves as Caucasian, 16 percent Japanese, and 15 percent Filipino, though as over half of all marriages are classified as inter-racial such statistics grow ever more meaningless. In addition, almost as many tourists these days travel eastward to reach Hawaii, especially from Japan and Korea, as travel west from North America. Once there, you’ll find that almost everyone speaks English. As a rule the Hawaiian language is only encountered in the few words – such as aloha ("love"), the all-purpose island greeting – that have passed into general local usage.
