Waikiki

Oahu is the third largest ( next to Hawaii and Maui) and the most populated of the Hawaiian Islands.

The attractions of Oahu are varied. Over thirty sunny golf courses, the Polynesian Cultural Center, the Hawaii Nature Center, the $350-million Hawaii Convention Center and Waikiki Beach.

Resorts are spreading beyond Waikiki, however, the world is still most familiar and most attracted to this bustling section less than 500 acres in size located on the island's southern coast.

Waikiki has developed unabashedly in order to accommodate the millions of tourists that come every year. Besides its natural attributes such as a white-sand curve of a beach, the nearby extinct Diamond Head volcano and a blue Pacific Ocean, Waikiki offers visitors some of the world's finest resorts and cuisine.

Honolulu, the state's capital city and major port, and Pearl Harbor, the nation's important military base are located in Oahu. Honolulu, although not a destination city with most visitors, has a noisy Chinatown, the ostentatious Iolani Palace where the Hawaiian royal family once lived, and plenty of gift shops, restaurants and special walking paths for joggers and hikers. Pearl Harbor offers a somber reminder of the acts of war.