Waikiki Yacht Club exterior by D Ramey Logan

Ala Wai HarborDOBAR - Hawaii.gov Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation
/ref> is the largest small boat and

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

harbor in Hawaii. The harbor is situated in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

at the mouth of the

Ala Wai Canal The Ala Wai Canal is an artificial waterway in Honolulu, Hawaii which serves as the northern boundary of the tourist district of Waikiki. It was created in 1928 to drain the rice paddies and swamps which would eventually become Waikiki. It also ...

, between Waikiki and downtown Honolulu. To the east are Waikiki and Diamond Head; to the west, Magic Island and the Honolulu waterfront. The harbor has 699 berths, 85 moorings, one boat ramp, and 22 dry storage spaces. It can accommodate vessels up to in length. The TransPac sailing race begins in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and ends at the harbor, an event that takes place every two years. It is one of the world's longest-running ocean races. Many Waikiki hotels are in the area, but the Prince Waikiki Hotel and the

Hilton Hawaiian Village The Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort is a resort hotel on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii. The resort first opened in 1955, and since has grown to become the largest in the Hilton chain of hotels, and one of largest hotels in t ...

are essentially adjacent to the property, and the

Ilikai Hotel The Ilikai Hotel & Luxury Suites is a landmark oceanfront high rise hotel and condominium at the western end of Waikiki in Honolulu, Hawaii. When it opened in 1964, the Ilikai was the first luxury high rise hotel in Hawaii. The Ilikai is also we ...

is built on harbor land, paying rent into the boating special fund. The harbor is home to the Waikiki Yacht Club and the Hawaii Yacht Club, which host junior sailing clubs, waterman programs to include surf ski and Hawaiian outrigger canoeing, weekly sailing races, and fishing tournaments. Boats from around the world find shelter in state harbor berths, and yacht club berths. There are no fuel facilities and the harbor is prone to crime as the dock gates are not locked on the state docks.

Origins

Following dredging to widen a path to sea for the Ala Wai Canal through the reef, the Territorial Government initially constructed the Ala Wai Boat Harbor in 1935 at the mouth of the canal with purported financial support from the Hobron family, who had purchased land in the Kālia area. Soon after, the Waikiki Yacht Club (founded in 1944) and the Hawai‘i Yacht Club (originally founded in 1901 by King David

Kalākaua Kalākaua (David Laʻamea Kamananakapu Mahinulani Naloiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua; November 16, 1836 – January 20, 1891), sometimes called The Merrie Monarch, was the last king and penultimate monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, ...

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...

) would establish their headquarters in the Harbor. In 1886 at the

San Francisco Yacht Club The San Francisco Yacht Club is a yacht club located in Belvedere, California. They were formerly located in San Francisco. History Founded in 1869, the San Francisco Yacht Club is the oldest club on the Pacific Coast. The original anchorage ...

, King Kalākaua, an avid waterman, pitched the idea of a 2,225 nautical mile race to Hawai‘i. This sparked the Transpacific Yacht Race, one of the world's most enduring long-distance sailing contests. The global attention of the Transpac incentivized much of the expansion of the Ala Wai Harbor; in 1967, a 1,460-foot-long breakwater was constructed to accommodate mooring of yachts, and in 2008, Hawai‘i Gov.

Linda Lingle Linda Lingle (''née'' Cutter; June 4, 1953) is an American politician, who was the sixth governor of Hawaii from 2002 until 2010. She was the first Republican governor of Hawaii since 1962. Lingle was also the state's first female and first J ...

approved $6 million for infrastructure improvements citing "the economic value of prestigious yachting competitions".

References

{{Coord, 21.2841, -157.8415, type:waterbody_dim:800_region:US-HI, display=title Ports and harbors of Hawaii Waikiki 1935 establishments in Hawaii

Origins

See also

References