Sveta & I arrived in Honolulu in the early afternoon. After getting our rental car we made a beeline for the Waikiki beach. It was like paradise to these two winter weary souls from Alaska. We were sort of in a daze for the first day taken by the beauty of this place. We were not really sure if we were dreaming all this or if it was really before our eyes. We walked down the beach exploring, went swimming, and watched colorful sunsets. I especially like the sunset photo in row 3 col 3.

Row 1 col 2 & 3 show photos from on top of Diamond Head mountain. This was quite a trek for me to make. There are several steep sections and even some tunnels that you need to go through. It is wise to take a flashlight to find your way through the pitch black tunnels on the way up this mountain. After much huffing and puffing, and a few breaks along the way we reached the top and was offered a spectacular view of Waikiki & Honolulu. It was worth the hike to witness this view.

There are mini parks all along Waikiki beach. Just last year I was told they did a multimillion dollar upgrade that installed these parks, benches, covered areas, grassy places with nice landscaping & torches that are lit during the evening hours. Many people come here to play instruments, play chess, just hang out and watch the beach crowd & for conversation over morning coffee. The sound of the waves & surf are ever present all along the Waikiki strip.

This is an international destination. I saw lots of Japanese with many eating places catering to their tastes & language. The road signs are all in Hawaiian. Sveta and I always had a laugh trying to pronounce them. Some of the Hawaiian street names were so long the signs almost seemed to extend all the way across the street. Walking down Waikiki beach you hear many different languages being spoken.

Waikiki seemed to have constant activity 24 hours a day. From sunrise to sunset the surfers were out in the water catching waves all day long. People were up early in the morning running and walking along the beach getting their morning exercise. There is a constant ebb and flow of people all day into the evening constantly moving along the beach. During the evening various artist will set up along the street trying to sell to the crowds of people that constantly flow by like some endless river of humanity.

Even with all these people there was still plenty of room to enjoy your own little part of Waikiki. Our hotel ( The ParkShore Hotel ) was situated on the east side of Waikiki where we had one view looking at the ocean and the other view looking at Diamond Head mountain. The beach was just across the street and was never very crowded where we stayed. The Honolulu Zoo was also right across the street towards Diamond Head. From our balcony we could see spectacular sunsets at the end of each day.