Waikiki Beach, the sand under your feet, is one of the most famous stretches of sand in the world, and its transformation from ancient Hawaiian royal playground to global tourist destination holds so much of Hawaii's modern history. The ali'i, Hawaiian royalty, prized Waikiki as a retreat for surfing, fishing, and leisure. The word 'Waikiki' means 'spouting water,' a reference to the springs and streams that once ran through this area.
In the nineteenth century, Waikiki was a patchwork of taro patches, fishponds, and rice paddies worked by Chinese farmers who had leased the land after leaving the sugar plantations. Robert Louis Stevenson came here in 1889 and stayed for months, writing under the trees. Jack London surfed these waves in 1907 and wrote about the experience for the American mainland, helping to launch the image of Hawaii as a paradise of wave-riding.
When the decision was made in the early twentieth century to drain Waikiki's wetlands for resort development, the taro fields and fishponds were buried forever, and a new chapter began. Today the beach is lined with high-rise hotels — but the waves are the same ones that Hawaiian kings rode centuries ago.