This story was originally published on Sept. 26, 2017. Beginning in the 1850s, as the sugar industry grew and plantations began to multiply throughout Hawaiʻi, plantation owners—many tracing their ancestry to English and American missionary families—began importing contracted laborers from outside the Islands to supplement Hawaiian laborers. By the early 20th century, thousands of […]
*This story was originally published on May 19, 2020. Every surf break on Oʻahu, even the ones that only emerge during historic swells, has a name. And these backstories can be intriguing, clever—or downright hilarious. Here are some of the stories behind Oʻahu’s surf breaks, thanks to the manaʻo (thought, belief, theory) of historian John
At HAWAI‘I Magazine, we love being your window to the Hawaiian Islands and their vibrant history, culture and landscape. With each issue, we strive to offer gorgeous photos, tips on how to experience the best the Islands have to offer, strategies on planning for new vacations or, if you’re a former Hawai‘i resident, ways you
It’s January 14, 1973. Elvis Presley takes the stage at the Honolulu International Center—now known as the Neal S. Blaisdell Center—to make history. Wearing a gem-studded white jumpsuit and a hip-length cape, Presley performed a 22-song set and said aloha, in a way only the king of rock-and-roll can, not just to the hundreds of
There’s nothing quite like driving from Honolulu to the east side of Oʻahu—especially if you’re using the Interstate H-3. Literally cutting through the Koʻolau Range using a series of tunnels and positioning drivers high above the treeline of Haʻikū Valley, the route reaches its crescendo as commuters come out of the tunnel’s eastern exit and
Most of us know the story behind the name Diamond Head, the iconic volcanic crater on Oʻahu that was so named by British sailors, who, while exploring the beach below in 1825, found calcite crystals sparkling in the sand. They thought they were diamond fragments and called the mountain Diamond Hill. (It was later changed to Diamond
As a traveler, there are some things I’ll never do. I won’t eat whale or turtle meat, I won’t surf alone at an unfamiliar break and I won’t jump off a cliff into a body of water. I tried to do that last one, standing at the edge of Ka Lae, or South Point, on
There are many things Hawaii is known for: pineapples, sandy beaches, Duke Kahanamoku and surfing, to name a few. Oh, and cowboys. You heard us correctly. Cowboys, or paniolo in Hawaiian. Few realize that long before cowboys made their way across the Wild West, paniolo were wrangling wild cattle—known for their often-deadly combination of aggression
Beginning in the 1850s, as the sugar industry grew and plantations began to multiply throughout Hawaii, plantation owners—many tracing their ancestry to English and American missionary families—began importing contracted laborers from outside the Islands to supplement Hawaiian laborers. By the early 20th century, thousands of laborers from China, Portugal, Japan, the Philippines, Korea, Puerto Rico
