Warning: Table './sunshine_imh2/cache' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: SELECT data, created, headers, expire, serialized FROM cache WHERE cid = 'variables' in /home/sunshine61/public_html/includes/database.mysqli.inc on line 128

Warning: Table './sunshine_imh2/cache' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: UPDATE cache SET data = 'a:1314:{s:13:\"theme_default\";s:11:\"a3_atlantis\";s:13:\"filter_html_1\";s:1:\"1\";s:18:\"node_options_forum\";a:1:{i:0;s:6:\"status\";}s:18:\"drupal_private_key\";s:64:\"5ddf8335b212958291d21fab1076e409a463ed9256d2338c81821b5cf8821e86\";s:10:\"menu_masks\";a:33:{i:0;i:127;i:1;i:126;i:2;i:125;i:3;i:63;i:4;i:62;i:5;i:61;i:6;i:60;i:7;i:59;i:8;i:58;i:9;i:57;i:10;i:56;i:11;i:48;i:12;i:31;i:13;i:30;i:14;i:29;i:15;i:28;i:16;i:25;i:17;i:24;i:18;i:22;i:19;i:21;i:20;i:15;i:21;i:14;i:22;i:13;i:23;i:12;i:24;i:11;i:25;i:10;i:26;i:7;i:27;i:6;i:28;i:5;i:29;i:4;i:30;i:3;i:31;i:2;i:32;i:1;}s:12:\"install_task\";s:4:\"done\";s:13:\"menu_expanded\";a:1:{i:0;s:17:\"menu-taxonomymenu\";}s:9:\"site_name\";s:19:\"INDIAN CHIEF TRAVEL\";s:9:\"site_mail\"; in /home/sunshine61/public_html/includes/database.mysqli.inc on line 128

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/sunshine61/public_html/includes/database.mysqli.inc:128) in /home/sunshine61/public_html/includes/bootstrap.inc on line 636

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/sunshine61/public_html/includes/database.mysqli.inc:128) in /home/sunshine61/public_html/includes/bootstrap.inc on line 637

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/sunshine61/public_html/includes/database.mysqli.inc:128) in /home/sunshine61/public_html/includes/bootstrap.inc on line 638

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/sunshine61/public_html/includes/database.mysqli.inc:128) in /home/sunshine61/public_html/includes/bootstrap.inc on line 639
Oahu, Hawaii - Oahu Travel Guide - Oahu Tourism - Indian Chief Travel
UNITED STATES  |  Oahu, Hawaii Travel Guide
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
images

Oahu, Hawaii

Surfer on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii
Photo:
 

Oahu Travel Guide

Introduction

Oahu is Hawaii's "Aloha Island," its "Gathering Place," its melting pot. It's the hub of the islands where a majority of Hawaii's population resides. It has in it Hawaii's only metropolis, Honolulu, and one of the world's most famous beaches, Waikiki. It has hula girls and swaying palms, golden sands and misty mountains, mai-tais and kalua pigs, and some of the most spectacular surf breaks on the planet – think "Banzai Pipeline." It is also as American a tropical paradise as you'll ever find, the locale of such Hawaiian-American TV dramas as Magnum P.I. and Hawaii Five-O, where the good guys give chase to bad guys in loud, colorful Aloha shirts and, often enough, floral board shorts and flip-flops.


Oahu Highlights

Main Sights and Attractions

Top priorities in Oahu are of course the unabashedly touristy Waikiki Beach; the Pearl Harbor War Memorial, built atop the sunken USS Arizona; the hugely popular Polynesian Cultural Center which offers a complete island experience, with hula shows and luaus in an authentic Polynesian setting; Iolani Palace, which has the distinction of being America's only royal palace; the snorkeling mecca of Hanauma Bay; Bishop Museum, the richest museum in the Pacific, alternately known as the "Smithsonian of the Pacific"; the Ehukai and Sunset beaches on the North Shore, locales of world surfing competitions; and Byodo-In Temple in the misty Ko'olau Mountains on the island's windward coast. The island, besides, has more than 45,000 hotel rooms and rental condominium accommodations, over 750 restaurants, and a wealth of recreational possibilities – swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, surfing, windsurfing, sailing, biking, hiking, horseback riding, golfing and beachcombing, among others.

Oahu Basics

Orientation

Oahu is the third largest of the Hawaiian islands, encompassing 608 square miles. It comprises two distinct volcanic land masses, the Waianae Mountain Range and the Ko'olau Mountain Range, joined together by lava flows that form the flat, fertile Leilehua Plateau in the center of the island. The Waianae Range, which comprises the west side of the island (or the leeward coast) and has at its center Mount Ka'ala, the highest point on the island (elevation 4,020 feet), is largely dry, arid, and sparsely populated; while the Ko'olau Mountains along the east side (or the windward coast) are lush, and home to Kane'ohe and Kailua, important population centers. Between the windward and leeward coasts lies Central Oahu, with Honolulu and Waikiki just to the south of there and the North Shore directly to the north.

Location

Oahu lies approximately 25 miles northwest of the island of Molokai, 75 miles northwest of Maui, and 95 miles southeast of Kauai. From Los Angeles it is 2,550 miles distant, from San Francisco 2,360 miles, and from Tokyo, Japan, 3,830 miles.

Population

Oahu has a population of nearly 900,000, which represents approximately 75% of the entire population of Hawaii, and is by far the most popular destination in Hawaii, drawing around 4.5 million visitors annually.

© Indian Chief Travel Guides

Array
Last updated September 5, 2012
Posted in   United States  |  Oahu
No votes yet
Explore the Destination
Amenities and Resources
Trending Themes:

Guides to Popular Ski Resorts

  • Ischgl is a small mountain village turned hip ski resort, with massive appeal among the party-hearty young crowds. It is... Read More

  • Andorra la Vella is its own little world, and not just because it’s a 290-square-mile independent principality (a fifth the... Read More

  • Bariloche (officially San Carlos de Bariloche) is the place to be seen. It is to Argentina what Aspen is to the... Read More

  • Aspen is America's most famous ski resort. And that's an understatement. For, as a ski complex, Aspen is unsurpassed. Its... Read More

  • Zermatt is a small but glamorous mountain resort town, with a population of approximately 5,700. It is one of Switzerland's... Read More

  • St. Moritz is a glitzy, alpine resort town in the celebrated Engadin Valley of Switzerland, with huge notoriety as the... Read More

  • Lake Tahoe is the premier lake resort of America, and the largest alpine lake in all of North America. It is an absolutely... Read More

  • St. Anton, Sankt Anton am Arlberg in German, is Austria's premier ski-bum resort! It's actually a small village cum... Read More

  • Kitzbühel, a small, Tyrolian resort town in the Kitzbüheler Alps, comes with international renown and huge snob appeal, and... Read More

 

Copyright © 2010-2013 Indian Chief Travel Guides. Images tagged as (cc) are licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA license.