Oʻahu (usually Oahu in English) "Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous island in the State of Hawaiʻi. Including small close-in offshore islands such as Ford Island and the islands in Kaneohe Bay and off the eastern coast, it has a total land area of 596.7 mile. In greatest dimension, this volcanic island is 44 mi long and 30 mi across. The length of the shoreline is 227 mi. The island is the result of two separate shield volcanoes: Wai ʻanae and Koʻolau, with a broad "valley" or saddle (the central Oʻahu Plain) between them. The highest point is Mt. Kaʻala in the Waiʻanae Range, rising to 4,003 ft above sea level.
The island is home to about 900,000 people (approximately 75% of the resident population of the state) and partly because of this, Oʻahu has for a long time been nicknamed "The Gathering Place." However, the term Oʻahu has no confirmed meaning in the Hawaiian language other than that of the place itself. Ancient Hawaiian tradition attributes the name's origin in the legend of Hawaiʻiloa, the Polynesian navigator credited with discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. The story relates that he named the island after his son son.Oʻahu was apparently the first of the Hawaiian Islands sighted by the crew of HMS Resolution on 18 January 1778 during Capt. James Cook's third Pacific expedition. Escorted by HMS Discovery, the expedition was surprised to find high islands this far north in the central Pacific. Oʻahu was not actually visited by Europeans until 28 February 1779 when Captain Clerke aboard HMS Resolution stepped ashore at Waimea Bay. Clerke had taken command of the ship after Capt. Cook was killed at Kealakekua Bay (Island of Hawaiʻi) on February 14, and was leaving the islands for the North Pacific.
The city of Honolulu is the largest city, the state capital, and the main deepwater port for the State of Hawaiʻi. An interesting fact is as a jurisdictional unit, the entire island of Oʻahu is the City & County of Honolulu. The Honolulu district is only a portion of the southeast end of the island. Well-known features found on Oʻahu include Waikīkī, Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, Hanauma Bay, Kāneʻohe Bay, and the North Shore.
Kamehameha III moved his capital from Lāhainā, Maui to Oʻahu in 1845. ʻIolani Palace, built later by other members of the royal family,is still standing. This is the only royal palace on American soil.The opening battle of the Second World War for the United States was the Imperial Japanese Navy surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Oʻahu. This date, December 7, 1941, This date has been burned into American history with the flames of Battleship Row. This attack was aimed at the Pacific Fleet of the United States Navy and its defending Army Air Corps and Marine Air bases. The Japanese damaged or destroyed twelve American warships, destroyed 188 aircraft, and killed 2,403 American servicemen and 68 civilians. It also united a nation with the warcry "Remember Pearl Harbor!"
For millions of service men and women Oahu was the jumping off point for three wars and many conflicts. And to this day it is a strategic part of the defense of America.
Today, Oʻahu has become a tourism and shopping haven as over 5 million visitors (mainly from the American mainland and Japan) flock there every year to enjoy the quintessential island holiday experience that the Hawaiian Islands and her multicultural people now personify.
Some of the more interesting sites to visit are:
* Ala Moana Center* Diamond Head
* Hanauma Bay
* Honolulu Academy of Arts
* North Shore
* Pearl Harbor
* Polynesian Cultural Center
* USS Arizona Memorial
* USS Missouri
* Waikīkī
* Sea Life Park
* Valley of the temples
* Dole Pineapple Plantation
For more information on places to visit, check out these links...
- Oahu travel guide from Wikitravel
- Beautiful spots to visit Collected by a long time Hawaiʻi Resident
- Photos of Oʻahu - Terra Galleria
- Hawaiimode---Hawaii Travel Information
- Hawaiʻi State Vacation Planner
- Hawaiʻi Beaches This website is shared by a lifelong Hawaiʻi resident through favorite ocean activities like fishing, diving, bodysurfing, bodyboarding, windsurfing, and kayaking.
- A history of Oahu's Harbors
Enjoy your stay on Oahu, mahalo and aloha.