DISTANCE: 6 miles (10km) roundtrip walk
TIME: 2–3 hours
START: Duke Kahanamoku Statue
END: International Market Place
POINTS TO NOTE: Start early (before 9am if you plan to hike) or late (after 3pm, if you’re not intending to hike to the crater rim) to avoid the highest heat of the day.
Waikiki has a long history, and is so much more than simply a cluster of hotels. Work your souvenir shopping into this ramble around Waikiki, the heart of Hawai‘i’s tourism industry.
Duke Kahanamoku
Start at the famed Duke Kahanamoku Statue 1 [map] located along Kalakaua on Waikiki Beach at Uluniu Street. Behind the statue, surfers crowd the easy-learning waves of Canoes and Baby Queens, the perfect place for surf lessons, available from any of the beach stands.
Head east, and five minutes by foot towards Diamond Head is the 200-plus-acre (81-hectare) Kapi’olani Park 2 [map], embracing a zoo, aquarium, weekend art festivals, an outdoor concert venue (Waikiki Shell) and plenty of open space for playing. The Waikiki Aquarium 3 [map] (www.waikikiaquarium.org; daily 9am–4.30pm) is a short visit and home to endangered species, such as the Hawai‘ian Monk Seal.
Past the aquarium see the Natatorium War Memorial 4 [map], where Kahanamoku swam when training for Olympic gold. The pool is now closed, but still worth a look, as the building is a beautiful tribute. It’s future is uncertain – everything from beach volleyball courts to tearing it down to expand the beach has been proposed.
Duke Kahanamoku Statue
Tim Thompson/Apa Publications
Diamond Head
You’ll join the droves of runners and walkers that continue past the end of the park and up to Diamond Head Lookout 5 [map] to watch surfers year-round and whales in the winter. Continue up and around the crater, hugging Diamond Head Road, to the entrance to Diamond Head Crater 6 [map] on the left. For the ambitious, the hike up to the peak takes less than an hour and involves many stairs to the 761ft (232-meter) summit.
Waikiki Aquarium
Tim Thompson/Apa Publications
Continue along the road, which becomes Monsarrat Avenue, for beautiful views of Waikiki and into a sweet neighborhood market area. The acai bowls at Bogart’s Café, see 1, are famous with locals, and while open all day, breakfast here is the perfect reward for the hill you just climbed. The top bikini selection on island can be found at the quaint blue cottage called Beach House on your right.
Turn right onto Paki Avenue and catch a glimpse of the giraffes at the Honolulu Zoo 7 [map] (daily 9am–4.30pm), on your left, often surprising people by peering over the hedges. The zoo is ideal for kids, though always very, very hot. It doesn’t compare to zoos in other major cities, so skip it if you don’t have little ones to entertain.
Waikiki from the summit of Diamond Head
Steven Greaves/Apa Publications
Shopping Waikiki
Left onto Kanekapolei and back down to Kalakaua for some of the shopping that brings even the locals into Waikiki: Urban Outfitters in the Hyatt, Hawai‘i’s oldest and most authentic aloha attire company, Tori Richard in the Moana Surfrider, local favorite designers Fighting Eel in the Royal Hawai‘ian Center, and a plethora of modern shops at the rebuilt, once iconic, International Market Place 8 [map], no longer full of kiosks and bars, but still home to a banyan tree thought to be more than 100 years old. Once the site of Queen Emma’s getaway, the center is filled with historical tidbits – Don Ho got his start here and Duke Kahanamoku himself owned a bar here, too.
Finish your walk at Mai Tai Bar, see 2, in the Royal Hawai‘ian Hotel, Hawai‘i’s second oldest hotel, where the namesake drink is the best in the state and the view is like a postcard.
Food and Drink
1 Bogart’s Café
3045 Monsarrat Avenue; tel: 808-739 0999; www.bogartscafe.webs.com; Mon−Fri 6am−6.30pm, Sat−Sun 6am−6pm; $
Nestled at the foot of Diamond Head, this is a place where locals come together and smart visitors join them. The bagels with lox, smoothies and acai are all recommended.
2 Mai Tai Bar
Royal Hawai‘ian Hotel, 2259 Kalakaua Avenue; tel: 808-923 7311; www.royal-hawaiian.com/dining/maitaibar; daily 10am–11.30pm; $$–$$$
A truly casual beachside bar with a healthy dose of people-watching and live music at sunset. The bar backs up its name – its Mai Tai is the best.