Waikiki Beach

Waikiki is a famous beachfront district located in the city of Honolulu on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. It serves as a major hub for tourism in the Pacific.

Waikiki Beach's status as a modern surfing center was heavily popularized by the legendary Hawaiian waterman Duke Kahanamoku. The Olympic swimmer introduced the ancient sport of surfing to the rest of the world in the early 1900s.

It is widely considered the birthplace of modern recreational surfing because of the Waikiki Beach Boys who taught tourists how to ride the gentle, rolling waves. This cultural shift turned an ancient Hawaiian practice into a global sport.

While originally a natural beach, the modern shoreline of Waikiki is largely artificial and requires continuous sand replenishment. Massive engineering projects over the decades have shaped it into the continuous, sandy tourist destination it is today.