After touring Pearl Harbor, we decided to have a late lunch in Waikiki. ***Make sure you have a good map that shows all the one-way streets, and make sure you stay on the Hwy 1 (and off the Nimitz Hwy) as long as possible. The traffic is truly shocking (and I live in West Los Angeles!).

We chose the Moana Surfrider's Banyon Beach Bar as our place to see the sights. We had a table next to the sand, under the beautiful Banyan tree. The amount of people in the water and on the very short stretch of sand was mind-boggling. We were very happy watching the surfers, swimmers, and sunbathers while sipping mai tais and having lunch. The lunch, by the way, was pretty pricey and nothing spectacular. However, the view and the location were worth every penny.

We would have liked to stay and shop a while--the shopping in Waikiki did look very enticing--but the mai tais were strong, and the peace and solitude of our beautiful Kailua Beach was calling.

Having had lunch practically ON the beach at the Moana Surfrider, we accomplished two tasks--filling our starving tummies and seeing the famed Waikiki Beach. Definitely worth it!

We preferred to plant ourselves on the less crowded western stretch of the beach early in the day, but later, make your way down towards the Sheraton Hotels and Outrigger Waikiki for cocktails and a beachside seat of the sunset.

If you're arriving into Honolulu on a later flight and are wondering what to do, an evening cocktail at Dukes (the Lava Flows are not only pleasing to the eye, but very tasty!) is a great way to start off your vacation. . . with a moonlight stroll along the shore and the backdrop of the cities famous twinkling lights.

It's amazing to think that this stretch of beach once was a swampy marshland and that much of Waikiki is on land reclaimed only at the beginning of the 20th Century.

Tourism began from 1901 with the building of the spectacular colonial style Moana Hotel, the 'First Lady of Waikiki' which was the area's first luxury hotel. Things accelerated in the '20's with the opening of the coral-pink Royal Hawai'ian Hotel, which entertained a steady stream of the rich and famous.

Today this thin strip of sand is the magnet that attracts millions of tourists to the Hawai'ian islands and, given the sheer numbers that visit its shores, it is a surprisingly beautiful and pleasant beach with its soft golden sands sweeping around the shallow bay towards the imposing bulk of the extinct Diamond Head Volcano.

with some of the safest waters in Hawai'i it is not difficult to see why this is such a prime location, which can often get crowded nearer to the famous hotels.

One of the major attractions here are the surfing 'schools', where you can learn to follow in the footsteps of 'The Duke', Duke Kahanamoku, who first popularized the Hawai'ian pastime of he'e nalu, or 'wave sliding', by giving demonstrations around the World and becoming the father of modern surfing. A statue of the Duke commemorates his achievements along the Kuhio beach foreshore.

As well as the obvious attractions of sand, sea, and surf, the Waikiki beachfront takes on a romantic air with the spectacular sunsets giving way to a waterfront lit up by the flickering flames of the many torches that illuminate the promenade. It is at this time that a stroll along the waterfront is best enjoyed.