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Built on a reclaimed swamp,
Waikiki
is very nearly an island, all but separated from Honolulu between the
sea and the Ala Wai canal (which provides the drainage to make its
incredible highrise profusion possible). Once home to Kamehameha the
Great, the site may be venerable, but these days its raison d'être is rampant commercialism. You could, just
about, survive here with very little money, buying snacks from the
omnipresent ABC convenience stores, but there would be no point -
there's nothing to see, and the only thing to do apart from surf and
sunbathe is to stroll along the seafront Kalakaua Avenue
and shop.
The most striking thing about the parallel
Waikiki Beach
is how narrow it is, a thin but nonetheless attractive strip of
shipped-in sand. Compared to other Hawaiian beaches, it's overcrowded
and small, but the fact that it's lined by a pedestrian walkway, with
several pleasant gardens en route, make this, relatively speaking, a
refuge from the resort frenzy nearby.
Two possible diversions on the eastern fringes of Waikiki are
Honolulu Zoo
(daily 8.30am-5.30pm; $6), where you can walk through a mock African
savannah set against the magnificent backdrop of Diamond Head, and the
more expensive oceanfront Waikiki Aquarium (daily 9am-5pm; $7) which, as well as
holding sharks and monkfish seals, has a tank devoted to the many-hued
reef fish of Hanauma Bay.
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Waikiki 
