For centuries Waikīkī was the playground of the aliʻi, who rode its long, gentle waves on koa-wood longboards — heʻe nalu, the sport of kings, born on these very shoulders of surf. It was a seat of power, too. In 1794 Kamehameha landed his war canoes on this beach in the campaign that would unite the islands, and after his victory Waikīkī served as the young Kingdom's first capital, in 1795 and 1796. He built a home at Helumoa and, in 1809, moved his court here — to the same grove where the Pink Palace stands today.
That name tells you what this place once was. Waikīkī, “spouting water,” was named for the springs and streams that gushed from the Koʻolau valleys — Makiki, Mānoa, and Pālolo — and spread across a broad coastal plain. The old ahupuaʻa, or land division, of Waikīkī was vast, reaching from Kou, the future Honolulu, toward Maunalua at the island's east end. Where high-rises now stand was once some two thousand acres of marsh and wetland, fed by mountain water and framed, then as now, by the crater of Lēʻahi — Diamond Head — at the end of the beach.
Why People Visit Waikīkī
Waikīkī offers a whole world in two miles of sand: the birthplace of modern surfing, royal history beneath the hotels, Diamond Head at the end of the beach, and the easy warmth of Hawaiian hospitality. It is the most famous beach in the Pacific — and for the surfers, paddlers, and families who live and gather here, simply home.
