USA

Despite Honolulu's skyscrapers and traffic jams, it's one of the most relaxed urban centers in America. Add sandy beaches, waving palms and the balmy weather of Waikiki and you've got a great mix of sun-fun and culture, best enjoyed with a multi-ethnic plate lunch.

Before the 20th century

Around the time the first Europeans laid eyes on the archipelago, the Hawaiian Islands were under the control of a handful of chiefs who were fighting for dominance of the island chain. One of the main contenders was Kamehameha the Great, chief of the island of Hawaii. In 1795, Kamehameha swept through Maui and Molokai, conquering those islands before crossing the channel to O'ahu. On the quiet beaches of Waikiki, he landed his fleet of canoes and marched to meet the king of O'ahu. Under Kamehameha's command, a handful of Western sharpshooters picked off the O'ahuan generals and blasted into their ridgetop defenses. Kamehameha's taking of O'ahu marked Hawaii's emergence as a united kingdom.

As foreign ships found their way to Honolulu, the port became a focal point for merchant ships plying the seas between North America and Asia. In 1809, Kamehameha moved his royal court from Waikiki to the Honolulu Harbor area, which by then was a village of almost 1800 people. Intent on keeping an eye on all the trade that flowed in and out of the harbour, Kamehameha firmly established Honolulu as Hawaii's centre of commerce.

By 1820, whaling ships plying the Pacific had begun to pull into Honolulu for supplies, liquor and women. To meet their needs, taverns and brothels sprang up around the harbour. Much to the ire of the whalers, their arrival was soon followed by that of Christian missionaries, who befriended Hawaiian royalty and made swift inroads. After Queen Kaahumanu became seriously ill, Sybil Bingham, one of the chief missionaries' wife, nursed the queen back to health. Kaahumanu showed her gratitude by passing a law forbidding work and travel on the Sabbath.

In time, the missionaries gained enough influence with Hawaiian royalty to have more effective laws enacted against drunkenness and prostitution. By the peak whaling years of the mid-1800s, most whaling boats had abandoned Honolulu, preferring to land in Lahaina on Maui, where life was not so wholesome. Back in missionary hands, downtown Honolulu soon became the headquarters for the emerging corporations that eventually gained control of Hawaii's commerce. It's no coincidence that their lists of corporate board members - Alexander, Baldwin, Cooke and Dole - read like a roster from the first mission ships.

In 1845, the last son of Kamehameha the Great, Kamehameha III, moved the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii from Maui to Honolulu. Here, Kamehameha III established Hawaii's first national legislature, provided for a Supreme Court and passed the Great Mahele land act, which established religious freedom and gave all male citizens the right to vote. In an 1853 census, Honolulu registered 11,450 residents, a full 15% of the Hawaiian kingdom's population.

In the decades that followed, Honolulu began to take on a modern appearance as the monarchy erected a number of stately buildings in the city centre, including St Andrew's Cathedral, 'Iolani Palace and the Supreme Court building Aliiolani Hale. By the mid-19th century, Honolulu had a prominent foreign community comprised largely of American and British expatriates. As the city continued to grow, Westerners increasingly wrested control over island affairs from the Hawaiians.

King David Kalakaua, who reigned from 1874 to 1891, was Hawaii's last king. A great Hawaiian revivalist, he brought back the hula, reversing decades of missionary repression against the 'heathen dance', and composed the national anthem, Hawaii Ponoi, which is now the state song. To many influential whites, however, the king was perceived as a lavish spender, too fond of partying and throwing public luaus. As Kalakaua incurred debts, he became increasingly unpopular with the sugar barons whose businesses were now the backbone of the economy. They formed the Hawaiian League in 1887 and developed their own armies which stood ready to overthrow the kingdom.

In January 1893, Kalakaua's sister and successor, Queen Liliuokalani, was preparing to proclaim a new constitution strengthening the throne when a group of armed US businessmen occupied the Supreme Court and declared the monarchy overthrown. They announced a provisional government, led by Sanford Dole, son of a pioneer missionary, and immediately appealed to Washington for annexation, while the queen appealed to the same powers to restore the monarchy. Democrat president Grover Cleveland ordered that the US flag be taken down and the queen restored to her throne. However, the provisional government turned a deaf ear, declaring that Cleveland was meddling in 'Hawaiian' affairs.

Modern history

The Spanish-American War of 1898 and the acquisition of the Philippines marked the arrival of American expansionism in the Pacific. In short order, the annexation of Hawaii was adopted by the US Congress and, in 1900, US President McKinley appointed Sanford Dole the first governor of the Territory of Hawaii. Soon after annexation, the US Navy set up a huge Pacific headquarters at Pearl Harbor and in central O'ahu built Schofield Barracks, the largest US military base anywhere. The military quickly became the leading sector of O'ahu's economy.

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese staged a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that sank or seriously damaged 21 ships, killed more than 2300 people and catapulted the USA into the war. After the smoke cleared, Hawaii was placed under martial law and O'ahu took on the face of a military camp. Already heavily militarised, vast tracts of O'ahu's land were turned over to the US armed forces for expanded military bases, training and weapons testing. Much of that land has yet to be returned.

On August 21, 1959, after 61 years of territorial status and following a currently contested plebiscite in which 90% of islanders voted for statehood, Hawaii became the 50th state of the USA, with Honolulu as its capital.

Recent history

Although diverse sovereignty groups exist in Hawaii, a consensus on what form sovereignty should take has yet to emerge. In 2000 Senator Daniel Akaka first introduced the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act (Akaka Bill), which recognizes Hawaiians' indigenous status and allows limited self-governance. Subsequent revisions of the bill have repeatedly stalled in Congress.

Today, Honolulu is in the rare position of not having an ethnic majority - it is home to people from throughout the Pacific. It's also the state's centre of business, culture and politics, in addition to being one of the world's prime tourist destinations.

Top Accommodation

Top Restaurants

Honolulu's annual temperature graph resembles a ripple in a peaceful sea. Temperatures rarely fall beneath 19°C (67°F) and generally stay in the high 20s to high 30s (high 60s to high 80s) range - perfect sarong weather. Winters may be balmy, but they can get pretty wet.

Average weather

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Transport

Getting around

TheBus (www.thebus.org) is Honolulu's public bus network. Its routes branch across the island, with each line's destination written above the bus' windshield. The Ala Moana Center is the central transfer point.

O'ahu is not a big island, and few places are more than an hour's drive from Honolulu. If you plan on spending all your time in the resorts of Waikiki, forget about renting a car, but if you plan to get beyond the city limits, a car is the easiest way to do it.

Taxis wait at most major downtown hotels and at the airport. Otherwise, you'll need to phone for a cab. Bikes are available for rent in Honolulu and Waikiki, and most bike shops provide maps, helmets and locks.

A weekday commuter ferry called TheBoat runs between Aloha Tower in downtown Honolulu and Kalaeloa Pier at Barbers Point Harbor in Leeward O'ahu.

Getting there and away

Honolulu is a major Pacific hub and an intermediate stop on many flights between the US mainland and Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. Passengers on any of these routes are usually allowed to make a stopover in Honolulu, and because of Hawaii's central Pacific location, Honolulu can be included on most round-the-world and Circle Pacific tickets. There are frequent flights from Honolulu to the Neighbor Islands of Maui, Kaua'i, the Big Island, Moloka'i and Lanai.

There are several Hawaii-bound cruises that dock in Honoluu: the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, departing mostly from Vancouver; the Holland America Line, typically departing from San Diego, Seattle or Vancouver; and Princess Cruises, departing from Los Angeles, Vancouver, Tahiti and Australia.

Would-be smugglers should know that all luggage and carry-on bags leaving or entering Honolulu for the US mainland are checked by an agricultural inspector using an X-ray machine. You can take out pineapples and coconuts, but most other fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers are banned. Seeds, fruits and plants that have been certified and labelled for export aren't a problem. There are no departure taxes to pay when leaving Hawaii.

Health & Legal Requirements

Dangers and annoyances

Honolulu has a lower violent crime rate than most other US cities, but crime does occur. Some visitors have been stung by scams involving fake activity-operator booths that are fronts for timeshare realty sales. Salespeople at the latter will offer you all sorts of deals, from free luaus to sunset cruises, if you'll just come to hear their 'no obligation' pitch.

Rip-offs from parked rental cars are another annoyance. It can from a secluded parking area at a trailhead or from a crowded parking lot. Best Don't leave anything valuable in your car.

The Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii (www.visitoralohasocietyofhawaii.org) provides short-term (non-monetary) aid to tourists who are victims of crime while on O'ahu.

Drug activity is prevalent on the north side of Chinatown, particularly along Nuʻuanu Stream and the River St pedestrian mall. Avoid after dark.