Waikīkī's Royal Shore

Kūhiō Beach and the Prince Kūhiō Statue

The beach named for Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole, who opened his private shoreline to the public in 1918. His statue stands where his home, Pualeilani, once looked out over the water.

You're standing at the eastern end of Waikīkī, on a stretch of sand that was once the front yard of a prince. Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole was born on Kauaʻi in 1871, adopted by King Kalākaua and Queen Kapiʻolani, and given the title of prince. After the monarchy fell in 1893, Kūhiō joined an armed attempt to restore Queen Liliʻuokalani to the throne. He served a year in prison for it.

Then, remarkably, he was elected Hawaiʻi's delegate to Congress, where he served for twenty years and secured the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, which returned 200,000 acres to Native Hawaiians for homesteading. But the reason you're standing on this particular sand is simpler. In 1918, Prince Kūhiō took down the high wooden fence around his home, Pualeilani, and opened his private beach to everyone. He died in that house four years later, and the property was given to the city.

Kūhiō Beach Park was dedicated in 1940. The bronze statue of the prince, by sculptor Sean Browne, went up in 2001. He faces the water he gave away. Take a minute to look at the beach itself.

Before 1951, this end of the shore was called Stonewall, for the vertical seawall that held up Kalākaua Avenue. The shallow reef just offshore made it a natural wading pool, and the water here is still the gentlest along the whole Waikīkī strand. That's why the surf schools set up here.

Stones of Kapaemāhū

Four massive basalt stones carrying the mana of Tahitian healers who visited Waikīkī centuries ago. Buried under a bowling alley in 1941, they survived and were restored in 1997.

The four large stones inside this fenced enclosure are older than any hotel, older than the Hawaiian kingdom itself. They're called Nā Pōhaku Ola o Kapaemāhū, the living stones of Kapaemāhū. The story goes like this. Long before the time of Chief Kākuhihewa, in the 1500s, four healers sailed here from Raiatea in Tahiti.

Their names were Kapaemāhū, Kahāloa, Kapuni, and Kinohi. They were māhū, people of dual male and female spirit, and their healing powers became famous across Oʻahu. When it was time to return home, they asked the people to quarry four great stones from Kaimuki and bring them to Waikīkī. Through chant and ceremony, the healers transferred their mana into the stones and then departed.

For centuries, Hawaiian royalty came here to honor the stones. Princess Likelike and her daughter Kaʻiulani would place seaweed lei on them before swimming. But after the overthrow, the stones were neglected. In 1941, they were buried under a bowling alley.

They were rediscovered in 1963. In 1997, traditional healer Papa Henry Auwae led the effort to raise them onto this platform. A stone from Raiatea was placed inside as a gift from the healers' homeland. The largest of the four weighs about seven and a half tons.

Run your hand along the surface if you like, but stay outside the fence. These are not museum pieces. They're considered living entities.

Duke Kahanamoku Statue

The bronze Duke, draped in fresh lei every day, welcomes you with open arms. Olympic champion, father of modern surfing, and Hawaiʻi's first ambassador of aloha.

You're standing before the most visited piece of public art in Hawaiʻi. The man in bronze, arms open, is Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku. His friends just called him Duke. Duke grew up in Kālia, the area around the Hilton Hawaiian Village, where his Paoa family had lived since King Kamehameha III deeded them the land in the Great Māhele of 1848.

He learned to swim the old way: his uncle threw him into the ocean. By 1910, he'd broken the world record for the 50-yard sprint. In 1912, he won Olympic gold in the 100-meter freestyle. He won again in 1920, and at age 34, took silver in 1924.

But swimming medals aren't why his statue is here. Duke took surfing to the world. He traveled to California, Australia, and New Zealand with a heavy wooden board under his arm, giving demonstrations that planted the seed of modern surf culture. He was one of the original Waikīkī Beach Boys, the watermen who taught visitors how to ride a wave and paddle an outrigger canoe.

You can still see Beach Boys working this stretch of sand today. The statue was unveiled in 1990, on the hundredth anniversary of Duke's birth. Notice the fresh lei around his neck and arms. Someone drapes him every single day.

The statue faces Kalākaua Avenue, not the ocean, because the city wanted him to greet the public. Critics said a waterman should face the sea. Look at the surfboard by his feet. The plaque underneath says 'Actual Size.' Duke was a big man.