Oahu, Hawaii
Honolulu is a harbor city at the southern end of Oahu, the most visited island of the Hawaiian archipelago. The city lies 2550 miles (4100km) southwest of Los Angles; 3860 miles (6220km) southeast of Tokyo; 5060 miles (8150km) northeast of Sydney; and 1470 miles (2370km) north of the equator. Not surprisingly, it's a major hub for trans-Pacific air travel. Downtown Honolulu contains all Oahu's state and federal government buildings, including the state capitol and Iolani Palace, once home to Hawaii's last few monarchs and still the only royal palace in the USA. Chinatown is a few blocks northwest of the palace; the Aloha Tower and cruise ship terminals are a few blocks west. Southeast of downtown, Waikiki is the epicenter of all things touristic: all the big resorts and much of the city's nightlife are found here. Just southeast of Waikiki, 760ft (230m) Diamond Head rises up as the city's favorite geological landmark. All of these sites are within the boundaries of greater Honolulu. H-1, the main south shore freeway, passes east-west through Honolulu, connecting it to the airport and all other freeways on the island. Interestingly enough, it's a US interstate freeway - no small achievement for an island in the middle of the Pacific. Honolulu International (HNL) is a 9 mile (15km), 25 minute drive northwest of downtown via Ala Moana Blvd/Hwy 92 (Nimitz Hwy) or the H-1. The Ala Moana Center, on Ala Moana Blvd just northwest of Waikiki, is the central transfer point for TheBus, the island's public bus network.
Makaha
While in Hawaii, I had the pleasure of playing golf at the Makaha Resort golf club in the city of Makaha on Oahu it's located some 37 miles outside of Waikiki. This Isolated city is not well know to tourists however the LPGA is played here. It is a very challenging course, and the scenic view is breath taking.
A boat ride a snorkel inside the volcano, this is what we were told as we set sail on Kaneohe Bay in the city of Kaneohe. This was once a volcano but the waters rose so high at a point where it filled in this now inactive volcano. The water is a beautiful torquois. However with this being February which is Hawaiian winter the water was only a cool 70%.
Kailua, Kaneohe and Waimanalo make up the windward side of the island, the side that the easterly trade winds reach first. You have to be a hearty person to appreciate the varied weather of this part of Oahu. The rest of Oahu is normally the typical balmy weather that people associate with Hawaii. The windward side, however, has mood swings. The moist trade winds reach the vertical two thousand foot walls of the Koolau Crater and have nowhere to go but up. When they do they cool and form clouds. The clouds rain in the mountains and provide Oahu with the purest rainwater on the Earth. This rain is the lifeblood of the islands and on Oahu has been stored for thousands of years in Mother Nature's under ground natural storage cisterns. Much of this rain falls on the windward side. This results in the luxurious tropical plant growth found there. This area was isolated from the rest of Oahu during the early 1900's because of the vertical Koolau Range. It was only serviced by a carriage road over the Pali that was completed in 1898. The Pali Tunnel was completed 1957 to Kailua and the Wilson Tunnel completed in 1960 are the first efficient roads to finally cross the mountains and open the windward side up to significant population growth. Even though still referred to as "country" the windward side has just experienced the opening of the new H-3 Freeway. This is the most expensive stretch of highway ever built by man. It links Kaneohe and Kailua with the airport, Pearl Harbor and the leeward side. Since there is very little land left to build on, real estate growth is limited to the current inventory. The erosion of the mountains on the windward side has created beaches that are always referred to when discussing the ten top beaches in the world.
Makaha 2
Makaha 3
Flowers of Hawaii
Germaines Luau
Captain Bob's snorkel 1
Captain Bob's snorkel 2
Budhist Temple 1
Budhist Temple 2
Tour 1
Tour 2
Ala Moana Shopping center
Ala Wai canal