Before the high-rises, Waikiki was wetland, taro fields and a playground of Hawaiian royalty. Here is how it became one of the world's most famous beaches.
The name Waikiki is usually translated as "spouting water", a reference to the springs and streams that once fed its wetlands. For centuries the area was farmed with taro and fishponds, and Hawaiian chiefs surfed its breaks long before visitors arrived.
Royal retreat
In the nineteenth century Waikiki became a retreat for Hawaiian royalty, who kept beach houses among the coconut groves. King Kalakaua created Kapiolani Park, and horse races and canoe regattas drew crowds from Honolulu.
The first hotels
The Moana Hotel opened on the beach in 1901, and the pink Royal Hawaiian followed in 1927, serving wealthy travelers who arrived by steamship. In the 1920s the Ala Wai Canal was dug to drain the wetlands, turning the area into buildable land and changing its landscape for good.
Jet age and statehood
Hawaii became a state in 1959, the same year jet service brought the islands within a few hours of the West Coast. Hotels multiplied through the 1960s and 70s, and Waikiki took on the skyline it has today.
The casino question
As tourism boomed, so did proposals to add gambling. Developers and some lawmakers have suggested a Waikiki casino many times, arguing it would lift tax revenue. Each time the idea has failed, and Waikiki has stayed a beach resort with no casino, while islanders who like to play built a parallel tradition in Las Vegas.
Waikiki today
Millions of visitors a year now stay in an area of about two square miles. Restoration of beaches, efforts to share Hawaiian culture more authentically and debates over how many visitors the islands can handle shape the neighbourhood's next chapter.
Top photo: The historic Moana Surfrider hotel on Waikiki Beach. Photo: Jeremy from Sydney, Australia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
