Bangkok expat, Trevor Ranges, muses upon how
Khao Sarn Road, Bangkok, Thailand is to Waikiki, Honolulu,
Hawaii.
To
a large degree Waikiki Beach is to Hawaii what Khao
Sarn Road is to Bangkok. To the uninitiated each may
appear suitably exotic and provide ample entertainment
in a geographically small area. These travelers, happily
ignorant, never leave the confines of these places,
while others, based on the disparaging things they
have heard, avoid them like the plague. Even many
locals tend to regard these two locales as over-produced
and inauthentic anomalies in otherwise majestic lands.
But, predictably perhaps, like Khao Sarn road, there
is more to Waikiki than its reputation proffers.
In
Waikiki, unlike Khao Sarn road, you are extremely
unlikely to stumble across backpackers dread-locking
their hair and purchasing bootleg DVD's. Waikiki typically
plays host to throngs of Japanese tourists burdened
with Prada shopping bags and obese, lobster-red Nebraskan
couples wearing matching, hideously patterned Hawaiian
shirts. Indeed, Kalakaua Avenue is a virtual Rodeo
Drive of upscale shopping boutiques interspersed with
stores hawking 10-for-a-dollar souvenir t-shirts and
dancing, dashboard hula dolls.
However,
both naysayers and supporters generally agree that
Waikiki Beach has a very tasteful atmosphere. Opposite
the storefronts, a recently beautified, meandering
sidewalk runs along the crowded, yet pleasant strip
of sand. Every hundred yards or so, statues of famous
Hawaiian Monarchs stand proudly amidst succulent smelling
flower gardens, and surfers and spear fisherman are
honored amidst spraying fountains of water. Towards
the end of the strip, in the foreground of Honolulu's
iconic Diamond Head Crater, a large movie screen is
erected each weekend where couples and families gather
on beach blankets to enjoy an evening film.
It
is here on the beach that Waikiki is best appreciated.
Waikiki is internationally renowned as one of the
best places in the world to learn to surf. You can
rent a surfboard from an old-skool Hawaiian "beach-boy"
who has been teaching visitors to surf since the most
recent renaissance of this sport of kings occurred
in the 1950's. Perhaps take a sunset sail on a catamaran
that serves up one dollar Mai Tais. Or better yet,
walk along the beach until you hear the music of Hawaiian
singer Henry Kapono rocking the Barefoot Beach Bar
at Dukes Canoe Club.
Named
for the famous Hawaiian Olympic swimming champion,
legendary surfer, and all-around hero, Duke Kahanamouku,
Dukes is the spot to chill out in Waikiki after a
day in the surf and sun. You can shower off the salt
water, sidle up to the bar in nothing more than your
swimsuit, and mingle with yuppie newlyweds, middle
aged mid-westerners, local beach bunnys, and bronzed
surfers. Dukes is a veritable utopia for people watching,
where you can knock back exotic cocktails while scores
of surfers glide in from the ocean that serves as
the backdrop for the band.
Obviously
if you were to spend your entire holiday within the
clearly tourist oriented areas of either Khao Sarn
or Waikiki you would come away with a mere glimpse
of the true beauty and adventure which lie beyond.
However, like Khao Sarn, Waikiki is another facet
of a unique and diverse travel destination. Acceptable
as a base of operations or enjoyable for a day or
two of convenience and familiarity, Waikiki offers
more than its stereotype suggests. Then get OUT of
there and see the real Hawai'i.
