Until the Europeans came,
HONOLULU
was insignificant; soon so many foreign ships were frequenting its waters that it had become Kamehameha's capital, and it remains the economic center of the island. The city covers a long (if narrow) strip of southern Oahu, but
downtown
is a manageable size, and a lot quieter than its glamorous image might suggest. The tourist hotels, and most of Honolulu's hustle, are concentrated among the skyscrapers of very distinct
WAIKIKI
, a couple of miles east.
The setting is beautiful, right on the Pacific and backed by dramatic cliffs and the extinct volcanoes of
Punchbowl
(a military cemetery) and
Diamond Head
; but then beauty is not so rare a commodity on Hawaii, and you can see this sort of scenery in plenty of other places without a city in the middle of it. What attracts most visitors to stay in Honolulu, and especially Waikiki, is the sheer
hedonism
of shopping, eating and generally hanging out in the sun. It's also the center of an exemplary
public transportation
system, facilitating exploration of the whole island.
