Site Index    

 Best of Oahu   Oahu Attractions   Oahu Beaches   Waikiki Beach    

Oahu offers the opportunity to explore the culture and history of Hawaii from prehistory to the present. A number of historic parks highlight Hawaii's distant past and proud heritage. Great heiaus (temples) dot the island, and the Bishop Museum in Honolulu provides a great overview history of the Hawaiian people. Several significant cultural attractions in the downtown area highlight the history of the Hawaiian monarch from the time of Kamehameha I, first king of united Hawaii, to statehood and the end of the monarchy in the twentieth century. Closer to modern times, Honolulu was also the site of the attack on Pearl Harbor, one of the most significant turning points of World War II and indeed the entire twentieth century.