Waikīkī

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For the suburb of Perth, Western Australia, see Waikiki, Western Australia.

Waikīkī seen from the top of Diamond Head or Lēʻahi. Green area below is the lawn at Kapiʻolani Park.

Waikiki beach at night

Waikiki beach looking towards Diamond Head

Waikīkī (IPA: [ʋaikiːkiː]) is a neighborhood of Honolulu, in the City & County of Honolulu, on the south shore of the Island of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. Waikīkī extends from the Ala Wai Canal (a channel dug to drain former wetlands) on the west and north, to Diamond Head or Lēʻahi on the east. The name means spouting water in Hawaiian for springs and streams that fed wetlands that once separated Waikīkī from the interior. Waikīkī has long been a place of relaxation. In particular, the area was a retreat for Hawaiian royalty in the 1800s.

Today it is considered the center of the tourist industry in Hawaiʻi, with an abundance of both high-rise resort hotels (including the Hilton Hawaiian Village, the Halekulani hotel, the Hyatt Regency Waikiki, and the Sheraton Waikiki) and historic hotels dating back to the early 20th century (such as the Moana Surfrider Hotel and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel).

Since 2001, there have been free movies on the beach. Many tourists from around the world can view a movie on an outdoor 30 foot screen. This particular free movie event in Waikiki is called "Sunset on the Beach".

Waikīkī Beach is the shoreline fronting Waikīkī and one of the best known beaches in the world. The beach has had its problems because of groynes build-out from the shore. This has led to beach replenishment projects in the past. In the 1920s and 1930s sand was obtained from Manhattan Beach, California, and transported via ship and barges to Waikīkī. ^[1] One disastrous sand replenishment project involved a man-made sand that the gentle surf turned into a concrete-like surface.