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This blog is based on a trip which we took to Hawaii from December 16, 2007 to January 12, 2008
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Waikiki Beach - Getting Familiar

While waiting for dinner to arrive last night in Vancouver (February 4, 2008), I thought I would do a little research for this blog.

Out of the blue, I asked Barb to name five of her top dream beach destinations in the world.

I was waiting with baited breath as she launched her list.

No. 1 - Bali
No. 2 - The Maldives
No. 3 - Tahiti
No. 4 - Copacabana Beach

By this time I was starting to sweat. Was my little experiment about to go up in smoke?

And then it came.

No . 5 - Waikiki Beach

That proved my point.

The point being that Waikiki Beach is one of the world's most desirable and recognizable destinations.

As long as I can remember, I have been aware of Waikiki Beach and its capacity to evoke dreams of warm beaches, swaying palm trees and maybe even s in grass skirts doing the hula dance.

Or maybe in my younger years I just watched too many episodes of Hawaii Five-O (Hawaii was the 50th state).

The series ran from 1968 to 1980 and starred Jack Lord as Captain Steve McGarrett and James McArthur as his second in command Danny Williams. That led to the memorable phrase "book 'em Danno" by which the series is remembered.

I generally don't watch television other than news programs but I seem to be a sucker for TV programs based in Hawaii .

It was thus that I found myself watching "Dog the Bounty Hunter" starring Dwayne "Dog" Chapman whose program was based in Honolulu. I must admit I never remember him going to Waikiki Beach to nail one of his bail jumpers. Maybe people that jump bail don't hang out in Waikiki Beach.
I don't know what attracted me to this low brow program other than its setting in Honolulu. It couldn't't have been his well endowed bleached blond wife, could it?

Chapman or "Dog" is presently still licking his wounds from the abrupt cancellation of his program by the A&E Channel. A taped conversation with his son which exposed his less than stellar attitude toward a minority group was his undoing.

On the other hand, the "Dog" must be yelping with delight as a Mexican court has thrown out his extradition order to Mexico to face a possible jail term. It was the capture of a wealthy American bail jumper in Puerto Vallarta which resulted in the Dog breaking Mexican law . In Mexico bounty hunting is illegal.

Our air travel to Hawaii consisted of a one hour flight from Prince George to Vancouver with Air Canada Jazz and then a six hour flight from Vancouver to Honolulu with Air Canada

The price of the ticket was $550 per person, all inclusive.

So what was our impression of Waikiki Beach?

At first I was somewhat disappointed as I remembered the glitzy new hotels in Cancun and Acapulco which upon first impression seem to be absent here.

Waikiki seems older and more mature. This is perhaps not surprising since it has been around for a long time.

That "older and more mature" label can also be applied to the tourists. The young college students that may roam the streets and beaches of Daytona Beach are largely absent here.

The overwhelming impression of Waikiki is the abundance of Japanese tourists . I don't know where Japan's no. 1 tourist destination is but I would put my money on Waikiki Beach.

By way of a rough estimate, I would say that along the promenades that line Kalakaua Avenue, about 30% of the cast in the great sport of people watching are Japanese tourists.

There are about 5 million tourists who visit Oahu every year, the island on which the city of Honolulu and Waikiki Beach are located. Waikiki Beach is about 5 kilometers from the downtown area of the city.

Nine out of 10 visitors to this island stay in Waikiki Beach.

The beach, whose sand was imported from the island of Molokai, is pleasant but not spectacular like the beaches on the north shore of Oahu.

The beach is far from being crowded and the main attraction is the omnipresent surfers trying to catch the waves which are much smaller than I expected .

A caché in Waikiki Beach is the unique sight of surfers carrying their boards while impatiently waiting, at a red traffic light, to get to the beach.

There are lots of people who wear Hawaiian shirts which is a style that looks good here.

Because I knew that the wild patterns don't look that great back home I resisted buying a Hawaiian shirt till the last day of our stay.

Our activities on the first day were pretty much confined to walking up and down the beach and Kalakaua Avenue.

We stayed at the Waikiki Sands Hotel, a hotel which seems to have spent most of its money on creating an impressive lobby.

Coming Soon:

Waikiki Beach - It was a Scream and Other Activities