Waikīkī (; ) is a
Honolulu
Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
neighborhood and the eponymous Waikīkī beach on its south shore, on the island of
Oahu
Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...
in the U.S. state of
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
. (Despite situational use of the spelling "Waikiki", typically in materials aimed at tourists, the spelling "Waikīkī" is official and common.)
Waikīkī Beach is one of six beaches in the district, along with
Queen's Beach
This is a list of notable Hawaii beaches sorted by island alphabetically, clockwise around each island, listed by beach name followed by location.
Hawaii Island (Big Island)
Kauai
Some of the beaches found in Kauai are:
Lānai
Maui
...
,
Kuhio Beach, Gray's Beach, Fort DeRussy Beach, and Kahanamoku Beach. The sandy beach is almost entirely man-made.

Waikīkī (Hawaii) is home to public places including
Kapiolani Park,
Fort DeRussy,
Kahanamoku Lagoon,
Kūhiō Beach Park, and
Ala Wai Harbor. Waikīkī was the first
capital
Capital and its variations may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital
** List of national capitals
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter
Econom ...
of the
Kingdom of Hawaii
The Hawaiian Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ɛ ɐwˈpuni həˈvɐjʔi, was an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country from 1795 to 1893, which eventually encompassed all of the inhabited Hawaii ...
from 1795 to 1796.
Etymology
The
Hawaiian language
Hawaiian (', ) is a critically endangered Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family, originating in and native to the Hawaiian Islands. It is the native language of the Hawaiian people. Hawaiian, along with English, is an offi ...
name means "spouting fresh water", for springs and streams that fed wetlands that once separated Waikīkī from the interior.
History
After the founding of the Kingdom of Hawaii, Waikīkī was its first capital, 1795–1796.
In the 1800s, the area was a retreat for Hawaiian royalty, who enjoyed surfing there on early forms of
longboards.
A few small hotels opened in the 1880s. In 1893, Greek-American
George Lycurgus leased the guest house of Allen Herbert and renamed it the "Sans Souci" (French for "without worries" or “carefree”) creating one of the first beach resorts. Later that year
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...
stayed at the resort; subsequently it became a popular destination for mainland tourists.
The area at coordinates is still called "Sans Souci Beach".
20th century
In the early 1900s, Waikīkī was home to many
wetland
A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
s, which were claimed to harbor disease-carrying mosquitoes. To get rid of the mosquitoes, developers created the
Ala Wai canal. The canal, originally known as the Waikīkī Drainage Canal, was created by a Hawaiian dredging company run by Walter F. Dillingham. The project took about seven years, 1921–1928.
Duke Kahanamoku
Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku (August 24, 1890 – January 22, 1968) was a Hawaiian competition swimmer, lifeguard, and popularizer of the sport of surfing. A Native Hawaiian, he was born three years before the overthrow of the ...
became a well-known
surfer in Waikīkī. Throughout his life and after competing in the Olympics, many people around the world wanted to learn to surf. Duke's influence made Waikīkī beach a surfing hotspot. "Dukes", a club in Waikīkī named for Kahanamoku, helped
Don Ho
Donald Tai Loy Ho (; August 13, 1930 – April 14, 2007) was a Hawaiian traditional pop musician, singer, and entertainer. He is best known for the song "Tiny Bubbles" from the 1966 album of the same name.
Early life, family and education
Ho ...
produce music and hosted the longest-running show in Waikīkī.
The first high-rise hotels on Waikīkī were built in 1955, including the
Waikiki Biltmore and
Sheraton Princess Kaiulani Hotel
The Sheraton Princess Kaiulani Hotel is a large resort hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The hotel is located on the site of ʻĀinahau, the royal estate of Princess Victoria Kaʻiulani, heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. The estate was d ...
. Development boomed due to demand, and the area became filled with large resort hotels, such as the
Hilton Hawaiian Village
The Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort is a resort hotel on Waikiki, Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii. The resort first opened in 1955, and since has grown to become the largest in the Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Hilton chain of hotel ...
,
Halekulani, the Hyatt Regency Waikiki, Marriott Waikiki,
Sheraton Waikiki. These complemented historic hotels dating back to the early 20th century such as the
Moana Surfrider Hotel and the
Royal Hawaiian Hotel
The Royal Hawaiian Hotel is a beachfront luxury hotel located in Waikiki in Honolulu, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. It is part of The Luxury Collection brand of Marriott International. One of the first hotels established in Waikiki, the Royal ...
.
Changes in the shoreline
Waikīkī developed erosion problems starting in the late 1800s, as hotels and homes were built too close to the natural shoreline, while seawalls and other structures blocked the natural ebb and flow of sand along the beach.
In the 1920s and 1930s, sand was imported from
Manhattan Beach, California
Manhattan Beach is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, on the Coastal California, Pacific coast south of El Segundo, California, El Segundo, west of Hawthorne, California, Hawthorne and Redondo Beach, and north ...
, via ship and barge.
Before 1950, Waikīkī beaches were continuous. Then
seawall
A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation, ...
s and groins began to appear. These helped build sand at one beach, but typically appropriated sand from others. They became separated into sections, some with sandy beach and others without. By 1950, more than 80 structures, including seawalls,
groins, piers, and storm drains, occupied the Waikīkī shoreline.
Following World War II, Waikīkī beach restoration efforts have occurred every few years. Sand was imported to this artificial beach from the 1920s to the 1970s, once by boat and barge from Southern California. of shoreline was replenished at a cost of $2.4 million following chronic erosion of more than a foot a year.
Importing stopped in the 1970s. In March 1971, the
Corps of Engineers Pacific Ocean Division, created a Draft Environmental Statement for the Kuhio Beach Sector of Waikīkī, which aimed to improve the overall quality and size of the fading and narrowing shoreline.
21st century
From October 29 through November 4, 2000, the first
FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships
The FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships, or more commonly "Open Water Worlds", was a bi-annual FINA (now World Aquatics) championship for open water swimming held in even years from 2000 to 2010, inclusive. Race distances were 5, 10, and 2 ...
were held in the waters off Waikīkī Beach.
A partial restoration was completed in the spring of 2012. The project imported sand from nearby
shoal
In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body ...
s and widened the beach by about between the
Royal Hawaiian Hotel
The Royal Hawaiian Hotel is a beachfront luxury hotel located in Waikiki in Honolulu, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. It is part of The Luxury Collection brand of Marriott International. One of the first hotels established in Waikiki, the Royal ...
concrete groin and the Kūhiō Beach crib wall. The project temporarily restored the beach to its 1985 shoreline.
Two aging sandbag groin structures were also removed that year.
In 2017,
beach erosion
Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward r ...
worsened with high-energy
king tide
A king tide is an especially high spring tide, especially the perigean spring tides which occur three or four times a year. King tide is not a scientific term, nor is it used in a scientific context.
The expression originated in Australia, Ne ...
s and elevated sea levels. Honolulu's mayor stated: "I'm not a scientist, but I'll get a jackhammer in there and remove all the concrete that's there creating this backwash and sucking out more sand, plus it's just downright dangerous."

The beach hosts many events, including
surf competitions, outdoor
performance
A performance is an act or process of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function.
Performance has evolved glo ...
s,
hula dancing, and
outrigger canoe
Outrigger boats are various watercraft featuring one or more lateral support floats known as outriggers, which are fastened to one or both sides of the main hull (watercraft), hull. They can range from small dugout (boat), dugout canoes to large ...
races. The many amenities, shops, and hotels enable Waikīkī to generate approximately 42 percent of Hawaiʻi's visitor revenue.
Geography
The neighborhood extends from the
Ala Wai Canal (a channel dug to drain wetlands) on the west and north, to
Diamond Head (''Lēahi,'' tuna brow) on the east. Waikīkī Beach is noted for its views of the Diamond Head
tuff cone
Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic landforms. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and s ...
, its usually warm and cloud-free climate, and its
surf break
A surf break (also break, shore break, or big wave break) is a permanent (or semi-permanent) obstruction such as a coral reef, rock (geology), rock, shoal, or headland that causes a Wind wave, wave to Wind wave#Wave breaking, break, forming a ...
.
The Waikīkī skyline is filled with high-rises and resort hotels.
Beaches
Waikīkī Beach
Before 1950, the beach in the Waikīkī neighborhood was continuous and known as Waikīkī Beach. Seawalls and other developments have since separated the coast into eight distinct beaches.
Since 1951, nearly of sand have been added to restore the beach in the region, but it is believed that little of the added sand remains. As of 2020 the family of beaches in the region are still referred to as "Waikīkī Beach", but most venues and addresses will use the name of a specific subsidiary beach.
From Waikīkī Beach the sunset in the sea is visible from mid-September to late March. Half of the beach is marked off for surfers. For some distance into the ocean the water is quite shallow, with numerous rocks on the bottom. The waves can have some force, particularly on windy days. The surf is known for its long rolling break, making it ideal for long boarding,
tandem surfing, and beginners.
Subsidiary beaches

Largely as a result of shoreline development, Waikīkī has eight beaches. They are Ft. DeRussy Beach, Duke Kahanamoku Beach, Halekulani Beach, Royal Hawaiian Beach, Kūhiō Beach, Kapiolani Beach, Queens Beach, and Kaimana Beach.
Thoroughfares
Waikīkī's main thoroughfare is
Kalākaua Avenue, named after
King Kalākaua
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by f ...
, which houses most of the high-end hotels (
Royal Hawaiian,
Sheraton,
Hyatt
Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational corporation, multinational hospitality company headquartered in the 150 North Riverside, Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchise ...
,
Marriott,
Moana Surfrider Hotel), most of the luxury designer brand stores (
Apple Store
The Apple Store is a chain of Retail, retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell, service and repair various Apple products, including Macintosh, Mac desktop and MacBook laptop personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad ta ...
,
Chanel
Chanel ( , ) is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. It is privately owned by French brothers, Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, through the holding company Chanel Limited, established in 2018 and headquarte ...
,
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier SAS, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ...
,
Prada
Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding ...
,
Burberry
Burberry Group plc is a British luxury fashion house established in 1856 by Thomas Burberry and headquartered in London, England. It designs and distributes ready to wear, including trench coats, leather accessories, and footwear. It is l ...
,
Dior
Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior, is a French Multinational corporation, multinational luxury goods company that is controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH. , Dior controlled around 42% of ...
,
Tiffany & Co.,
Fendi
Fendi Srl () is an Culture of Italy, Italian luxury goods, luxury fashion house producing fur, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, fragrances, eyewear, timepieces and accessories. Founded in Rome in 1925 by fashion designers Edoardo Fendi and ...
,
Harry Winston
Harry Winston (né Weinstein; March 1, 1896December 8, 1978) was an American jeweler. He donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 after owning it for a decade. He also traded the Portuguese Diamond to the Smithsonian in ...
,
Saint Laurent,
Gucci
Guccio Gucci S.p.A., doing business as Gucci ( , ), is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Florence. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and ...
, and
Hermès
Hermès International S.A. ( , ) is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house established in 1837. It specializes in leather goods, silk goods, lifestyle accessories, home furnishings, perfumery, jewelry, watches and ready-to-wear. Since the ...
), department store (
Macy's
Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...
), and popular surf clothing brand stores (
Quiksilver
Quiksilver is a brand of surf-inspired apparel and accessories that was founded in 1969 in Torquay, Victoria, but is now based in Huntington Beach, California. It is one of the world's largest brands of surfwear and boardsport-related equip ...
,
Billabong
In Australian English, a billabong ( ) is a small body of water, usually permanent. It is usually an oxbow lake caused by a change in course of a river or creek, but other types of small lakes, ponds or waterholes are also called billabongs ...
,
Volcom). Waikīkī's other main thoroughfare, Kūhiō Avenue, named after
Prince Kūhiō, is better known for its restaurants, cafes and grocers, along with its clubs, nightlife and
prostitution
Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...
.
Public art
In 1990, the bronze statue of
Duke Kahanamoku
Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku (August 24, 1890 – January 22, 1968) was a Hawaiian competition swimmer, lifeguard, and popularizer of the sport of surfing. A Native Hawaiian, he was born three years before the overthrow of the ...
by Gordon Fisher was installed at Waikīkī Beach, accompanied by a bronze replica of his surfboard, honorary spears, and commemorative bronze plaques. It serves as a culture and tourist locale with thousands of annual visitors and numerous cultural events.
Seven years later, Billy Fields created The Stones of Life (in Hawaiian: ''Nā Pōhaku Ola O Kapaemahu A Me Kapuni''), a sculpture incorporating
ancient basaltic stones, was installed nearby and is considered a local
monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...
.
A bronze sculpture in Kapiolani Park of
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...
by Stephen Lowe entitled "A Fistful of Salt" was a gift in 1990 from the
Gandhi Memorial International Foundation
Gandhi Memorial International Foundation, also known as the Mahatma Gandhi International Foundation, was a controversial non-profit organization run by Yogesh K. Gandhi, born Yogesh Kathari,"Investigation of Illegal or Improper Activities in Connec ...
and the Jhamandas Watumull Fund.
At Kūhiō Beach and Queens Beach, three public artworks were installed in the early 2000s. The bronze statue of
Prince Jonah Kuhio by Sean Browne
and the children's story sculptur
''Makua and Kila''by Holly Young were installed in 2001. Robert Pashby's ''Surfer on a Wave'' was installed at Queens Beach in 2003.
Beach issues
Erosion

Waikīkī beach has had repeated problems with erosion, leading to the construction of
groin
In human anatomy, the groin, also known as the inguinal region or iliac region, is the junctional area between the torso and the thigh. The groin is at the front of the body on either side of the pubic tubercle, where the lower part of the abdom ...
s and
beach replenishment
Beach nourishment (also referred to as beach renourishment, beach replenishment, or sand replenishment) describes a process by which sediment, usually sand, lost through longshore drift or erosion is replaced from other sources. A wider beach c ...
projects. Imported sand came from California, local beaches such as Pāpōhaku Beach on Moloka‘i, and a sandbar from Oʻahu's Northern side near
Kahuku
Kahuku () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. In the Hawaiian language, ''ka huku'' means "the projection", presumably a reference to Kahuku Point nearby, the northernmost point of land on the island of Oahu. As ...
.
Officials look for ways to sustain the existing sand by eliminating loss due to tidal flow.
Erosion claims about of beach per year.
Local sources are sought for sand to replenish the beach.
Water quality
Waikīkī Beach had repeated contamination problems due to sewage spills in 2017.
Homelessness
Many homeless people settle around the beach because of the public shower and sanitary facilities available there.
The
Honolulu Police Department
The Honolulu Police Department (HPD) is the principal law enforcement agency of the Honolulu County, Hawaii, City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, headquartered in the Alapa'i Police Headquarters in Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu CDP.
Officially re ...
has increased patrolling in and around Waikīkī Beach with assistance from other city agencies and local businesses to prevent homeless people from making camp in this area.
Education
Hawaii state Department of Education operates conventional public schools throughout Hawaii. Thomas Jefferson Elementary School is located in Waikīkī proper, while Waikīkī Elementary School is located nearby, at the ''makai'' (seaward) edge of the Kapahulu neighborhood.
The
Hawaii State Public Library System
The Hawaii State Public Library System (HSPLS) is the only statewide public library, public library system in the United States.
The system has 51 libraries on all the major Hawaiian Islands: Hawaii (island), Big Island of Hawaii, Kauai, Kauai, ...
operates the Waikīkī Public Library.
Twin towns – sister cities
Waikīkī is
twinned with:
*
Freshwater, New South Wales, Australia
*
Bixby, Oklahoma
Bixby is a city in Tulsa and Wagoner counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma; it is a suburb of Tulsa. Its population was 28,609 at the 2020 census and 20,884 in the 2010 census, an increase of 36.99 percent In 2010, Bixby became the 19th lar ...
, United States
*
Rotorua
Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...
, New Zealand
Gallery
File:Surfboards in Waikiki.JPG, Surfboards in Waikīkī
File:Waikiki Diamond Head CC.jpg, Waikiki Beach facing Diamond Head, 1958
File:Waikiki Beach View.JPG, Waikīkī Beach view
File:Aerial view of Waikiki Beach and Honolulu, Hawaii, Highsmith.jpg, Aerial view of Waikīkī Beach and Honolulu
File:Rainbow Tower Waikiki (16178632002).jpg, Aerial view of Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon
File:Prince Kuhio statue in Waikiki.jpg, Statue of Prince Kūhiō in Waikīkī
File:Zebra Shark at Waikiki Aquarium.jpg, A zebra shark
The zebra shark (''Stegostoma tigrinum'') is a species of carpet shark and the sole member of the family Stegostomatidae. It is found throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific, frequenting coral reefs and sandy flats to a depth of . Adult zebra shar ...
swimming at Waikiki Aquarium
File:Waikiki Beach (51872593291).jpg, A view of the sunset
File:Waikiki As Seen From Departing Aircraft.jpg, View from aircraft departing Daniel K. Inouye International Airport
See also
*
List of leading shopping streets and districts by city
A shopping street or shopping district is a designated road or quarter of a municipality that is composed of retail establishments (such as stores, boutiques, restaurants, and shopping complexes). Such areas may be pedestrian-oriented, with ...
*
Save Our Surf
*
Waikiki Trolley
Notes
References
External links
Waikiki - Hawaii Tourism Authority
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waikiki
Neighborhoods in Honolulu