Honolulu: More Than a Beach Holiday

Honolulu is genuinely one of the most complex American cities: a Pacific capital with a majority non-white population, a strong Japanese-American cultural presence, a living indigenous Hawaiian culture that pre-dates US annexation by centuries, and a tourism industry that can obscure all of this if you stay entirely within the Waikiki corridor. The best version of a Honolulu visit uses Waikiki as a base but gets out of it regularly.

Waikiki

Waikiki Beach is 2 miles of maintained sand fronting a dense hotel district. The water is warm, the surf is gentle enough for first-time surfers (lessons available from multiple operators at a consistent $50-70/hour), and the beach itself is pleasant without being remarkable by Hawaiian standards. If you want truly undeveloped beaches, Oahu has them but they require a rental car.

The value proposition in Waikiki varies wildly. The Hilton Hawaiian Village covers 22 acres and has its own Friday fireworks show, multiple pools, and the full resort experience. The Modern Honolulu has a better design sensibility and a more adult atmosphere. For budget travel, Hotel Waikiki and several hostels around Lemon Road offer reasonable rooms at rates that reflect the competition in the area rather than the premium location.

Diamond Head State Monument at the eastern end of Waikiki is a 0.8-mile trail (one way) up into the caldera rim of an extinct volcanic tuff cone, emerging at a World War II fire-control station at the summit. The 1.6-mile return hike involves about 500 feet of elevation gain, some tunnel sections, and a spiral staircase near the top. Views from the summit extend from the western reaches of Waikiki to the windward coast. Arrive before 7am to avoid both the worst heat and the parking scrum; the lot fills by 8am on most days.

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor is 8 miles west of Waikiki, and the complex covers three sites: the USS Arizona Memorial (the submerged battleship struck on December 7, 1941, with 1,177 crew members entombed), the USS Bowfin submarine, and the Battleship Missouri. The Arizona Memorial requires a short boat ride to the structure above the wreck and is the most emotionally weighted of the three; visitors sometimes cry. The oil slick from the ship’s fuel tanks still rises to the surface after more than 80 years.

Book tickets at recreation.gov well in advance; the Arizona Memorial specifically fills weeks ahead. The full complex takes a half-day minimum. The shuttle bus from Waikiki to Pearl Harbor runs from several hotels and costs around $25 round trip.

Chinatown and Downtown

Honolulu’s Chinatown, a short drive or long walk from Waikiki, has been revitalised over the past decade into the city’s most interesting food and nightlife neighbourhood. The grid of streets around Hotel Street has a mix of traditional herb shops, Vietnamese pho restaurants, art galleries, and small bars. Helena’s Hawaiian Food on School Street nearby serves traditional Hawaiian plate lunch (the local fast-food format: protein, two scoops of rice, macaroni salad) that has been winning awards since 1946. Their kalua pig, cooked in an underground imu oven, is the specific thing to order.

The Iolani Palace downtown is the only royal palace on American soil, built in 1882 by King Kalakaua with electricity and telephones before the White House had them, and the site where Queen Liliuokalani was imprisoned after the US-backed overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893. Guided tours run daily; the context the guides provide transforms what might be a routine palace visit into something considerably more complicated and worth sitting with.

Hanauma Bay

Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, 11 miles east of Waikiki, is the best snorkelling accessible without a boat trip on Oahu. The bay sits inside a collapsed volcanic cone and shelters a reef that has recovered substantially since the park began restricting visitor numbers. You now need to book an entry reservation online ($25 per person, released 2 and 7 days in advance at 7am Hawaii time). The reef is at its most active and uncrowded before 10am. Do not wear chemical sunscreen; mineral-only sunscreen is required to protect the coral.

Food Beyond the Beach

For non-tourist eating: Highway Inn in Kaka’ako neighbourhood (walkable from Waikiki) serves Hawaiian regional food in a no-frills cafeteria format. Oxtail soup, pipikaula (Hawaiian beef jerky), and poi pancakes are on the menu alongside the standard plate lunch combinations. Alan Wong’s in Makiki Heights serves inventive Hawaiian regional cuisine at the fine-dining end, influenced by Wong’s training in French technique applied to local ingredients like Hamakua mushrooms and Big Island goat cheese.

The Kona Brewing Company taproom in Kaka’ako (newer than the Waikiki location, bigger and less crowded) is the better place to drink their Longboard Lager alongside a decent pizza.

Day trips worth making: the Windward side of Oahu via the Pali Highway tunnel gives you a completely different climate zone (wetter, greener, culturally Hawaiian). Kailua Beach on the windward coast is better swimming than Waikiki and far less crowded; take the bus or rent a car.