Oahu - Island of Contrasts
The first experience of Hawaii for most visitors is the island of Oahu upon arrival at Honolulu Harbor or Honolulu International Airport. There was a time when Oahu with its Waikiki Beach meant Hawaii, but today many travelers elect to visit one of the less urban islands. Eighty percent of Hawaii´s inhabitants reside in Oahu, and Honolulu with its 831,000 population, its high-rises and free-ways has all the bustle and frenzy of any large urban American city. Nevertheless, many visitors come here to enjoy its pulsating nightlife, comfortable and reasonably priced accommadatioins, and its restaurants catering to any price range and taste. Honolulu is home of exotic Chinatown, a favorite of travelers. Waikiki Beach with its mile and a half of glittering white-sand, its luxury boutiques for the fashion concious, and its picturesque sunsets, remains a favorite for many.
Beyond the urban center, natural tropical beauty entices the visitor -- with 64 beach parks, two spectacular mountain ranges, three botantical gardens, an arboretum and a marine preserve.
For the advanced surfer, Oahu´s North Shore is the place to be during the winter months with the waves as high as 25 feet. During the summer, it reverses and the surf is to be found on the South Shore.
Near Honolulu is the naval station at Pearl Harbor. There are daily tours to this historic site which initiated America´s entry into the second world war.
The massive sugar plantations which once dominated Oahu´s interior Central Plain are fast disappearing and being replaced by resorts and hotels which hope to rival Waikiki in the future.
Honolulu´s International Airport, located 9 miles (15 km ) west of Waikiki, is the gateway from the mainland to the Orient, Australia, and the South Pacific. For travel to other islands, there is an Interisland Terminal for interisland jets and an Commuter Terminal for smaller propeller aircraft. Interisland flights average about $50 one way and depart every 30 minutes or so to Maui, Hawaii, and Kauai. Flights to Lanai and Molokai are less frequent. The primary interisland carriers are Aloha Airlines, Hawaii Airlines, and Hawaiian Air/Island Air. Taxi transportation to and from the airport is moderately priced -- about $22 a carload to Waikiki. There is also bus service to the Waikiki area -- the Waikiki Airport Express, $8 per person, and the City Bus system for $1 ( but no large luggage ). There are numerous car rental agencies and most have no milage charge. Oahu has an excellent bus system, The Bus, which goes throughout the island with a fare of $1.
For visitors needing to exchange money when the banks are closed, there is the A-1 Foreign Exchange in the Hotel Regency Waikiki and the Thomas Cook Foreign Exchange which is open until 1:30 a.m.
Oahu -- a unique blend of urban modernity and tropical exoticism.
