Waikiki is one of the world's finest resorts, writes Conor O'Clery, who jumped at a chance to go back, three years after his first visit
'ALOHA!" SAID THE car-rental clerk at Honolulu Airport. "Aloha!" smiled the receptionist at the hotel. "Aloha!" cried the seaside hula-dancer, stressing the "oh" so that the audience called back "Al-oh-ha!"
Hawaii is the only US state with two official languages, English and Hawaiian, and everyone in Hawaii, of whatever ethnic origin, uses the cúpla focal of the native language. They even start their e-mails with "Aloha!", which means both hello and goodbye, rather than "Hi!"
This habit, along with the Hawaiian shirts - after a lifetime of resistance, I wore one - the tall palms swaying in the trade winds, the intoxicating fragrance of tropical blooms, the multiethnic population and the slow pace of life, makes one realise that Hawaii is a place apart in the union of the United States.
The group of Pacific islands was annexed by Washington in 1898 and became a US state only in 1959, but no ethnic group dominates the capital, Honolulu, located on the small island of Oahu, where people of Hawaiian and other Pacific- island origin mix easily with Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and haole, or Europeans.
We spent eight days on Oahu, dividing our time between Waikiki Beach, just east of downtown Honolulu, and chasing other pursuits, of which there is an abundance. Overlooked by the extinct crater of Diamond Head, which appears in every photograph taken from a beach towel, Waikiki is one of the world's finest seaside resorts.
It has deep white sand, safe bathing and, just beyond a sandbar, permanently rolling surf. The surfers are out from dawn to dusk, bobbing about in long lines, waiting for the big ones. There are no hawkers, mosquitoes or, at least when we were there, jellyfish - the scourge of world resorts in these days of global warming. The midday temperature all year round is about 30 degrees.
Most of the hotels that line the beach were built in recent times, but some, such as the pink-turreted Royal Hawaiian, are redolent of the days when Waikiki was the preserve of Hollywood stars who arrived by ocean liner. Nowadays, instead, you have Japanese, Chinese, Russian and American tourists arriving every day by Boeing 747.
We spent a few glorious mornings on the sands, devouring the New York Times section by section and occasionally venturing out to bodysurf the bigger waves.
My wife, Zhanna, and I are not really beach people, and we spent more time exploring the island by hire car. We drove to Pearl Harbor, east of Honolulu, where on December 7th, 1941, hundreds of Japanese aircraft attacked the US Pacific fleet and propelled the United States into the second World War. The battleship USS Arizona took a direct hit and sank in nine minutes, trapping 1,177 crew, whose bodies were never recovered.
The wreck has been cut down, and little of the superstructure lies above the water other than the rusted circular barbette of one of the big gun turrets. Visitors form queues early in the morning to see a moving documentary about the attack and then ride out to the site on a boat manned by sailors in immaculate whites.
Now a national shrine, the Arizona lies beneath a graceful white memorial that contains a chapel listing the names of the dead. We could peer down through the turquoise water at the murky outlines of the barnacle-encrusted mass grave. Beneath us a small oil slick glistened in the sun. Sixty-seven years on, oil continues to leak from the Arizona, and it will continue to seep out, old-timers say, until the last survivor dies.
Just a few hundred metres away floats the decommissioned USS Missouri. We were able to wander around the decks and look into officers' quarters. A guide advised us on the best places for photographs, suggesting that the huge 16-inch guns might make a good backdrop.
The Missouri was the location chosen by President Truman for the Japanese surrender to Gen Douglas MacArthur in Tokyo Bay on September 2nd, 1945. MacArthur came out on deck to accept the surrender at 8.56am but retreated back inside when he saw that the Japanese representatives, led by the top-hatted foreign minister, Mamoru Shigemitsu, were just making their way on board. Unsurprisingly, he wanted to keep the enemy waiting rather then the other way around. The surrender ceremony began at 9.02am, broadcast live across the world. Shigemitsu went off to serve seven years in prison and on his release became Japan's foreign minister again.
One of the perks for US naval officers stationed at Pearl Harbor during the war was permission to visit the swimming pool of Doris Duke's secluded house, Shangri La, on the north shore of the island, although they were never invited by the tobacco heiress into the house itself. Few people ever were.
Duke, whose sexual conquests allegedly included Errol Flynn and Gen George Patton, built the exotic mansion in the late 1930s with only two bedrooms. She lived by her father's motto: "Trust no one."
Shangri La, which was opened to the public in 2002 and is accessible in small pre-booked tours, is a must for any visitor to Oahu.
We were taken in a minibus from Honolulu Academy of Arts for the 20-minute drive to the house. Built on a spectacular site overlooking Diamond Head, it incorporates Islamic art, metalwork, tiles and textiles that Duke collected during her travels to India, the Middle East and North Africa.
When she died, in 1993, she left a fortune to her alcoholic Irish butler, Bernard Lafferty from Donegal, whom she apparently did trust, although rumours persist that he did her in. He died three years later, aged 51, and was cremated in his favourite gold Armani jacket.
Both their ashes were scattered into the Pacific off Hawaii, and their story has recently been made into a Hollywood film, starring Susan Sarandon and Ralph Fiennes.
There are lots of other attractions in Oahu, notably the 'Iolani Palace - the only royal palace in the US - where Queen Lili'uokalani resided before the overthrow of the monarchy, in 1893; the Bishop Museum, which has the world's finest Polynesian anthropological collection; and Honolulu Academy of Arts, where the restaurant seems to be a favourite with Honolulu ladies who lunch.
We drove one day to the Dole pineapple plantation in the heart of the island and took a little steam train around the vast fields of pineapples. The plantation is a popular attraction, with beautiful bromeliad gardens and the "world's largest maze", with more than two kilometres of pathways.
I had been to Oahu once before, three years ago, when researching a book on the Irish- American philanthropist Chuck Feeney, who made much of his fortune here in the duty-free business. DFS (Duty Free Shoppers), the company he once co-owned, was the biggest single enterprise in Hawaii for many years, raking in profits from consumerist Japanese tourists who were bussed by travel agents straight from the airport to the big DFS store in Waikiki even before checking into their hotels. Times have changed. Now the DFS Galleria is but one of a number of upscale and designer stores that line Waikiki's smart Kalakaua Avenue.
The occasion for my visit this time was to give a talk to coincide with the opening of a library at Chaminade University, which attracts many, mainly indigenous youngsters from Hawaii and other Pacific islands. Located on a steep hillside overlooking Waikiki, the university was rescued from bankruptcy by Feeney's foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies. The library was co-funded by Feeney and the family of the late Maurice J Sullivan, an entrepreneur who left Ireland at the age of 18 and founded the Foodland store chain, Hawaii's equivalent of Superquinn.
We were all draped with leis, or garlands, made from interwoven plumeria and lehua blossoms, for the opening ceremony, which was marked by a display of Irish dancing in honour of the Irishness of the co-benefactors, a Chinese dragon dance, a Polynesian song and a delightful hula performed by an ensemble of heavy but graceful Hawaiian children.
One of the attractions of Hawaii is its ethnic mix, exemplified by these young people. The arrival of Capt Cook, in 1778, followed by New England missionaries from 1820, brought an influx of Europeans, Chinese and Japanese to this natural paradise. This inevitably had an adverse impact on native Hawaiian culture.
After the islands were annexed by the US their language was officially discouraged, and, just as in Ireland, many locals preferred English as the language of advancement. Hawaiian survives today as a primary tongue only on the privately-owned island of Niihau (population 250).
In the past 20 years, however, schools have been allowed to teach Hawaiian again, and there are a number of immersion schools, like the Gaelscoileanna in Ireland.
Today there are college graduates who speak the native language fluently. You may also hear a Hawaiian Creole, particularly among beach attendants, which is sometimes mistaken for the native language.
Common to all Hawaiian, Creole and English speakers is the greeting "aloha!" The word also means affection, love, peace, compassion and mercy. In my experience it signifies a genuinely warm welcome for visitors.
Go there
Continental Airways (www.continental.com) flies from Dublin to Honolulu via Newark. Aloha Holidays (www.project-travel.ie, 01-2108391), which specialises in weddings and honeymoons, arranges packages from €1,349 for a week. American Holidays (www.americanholidays.com, 01-6733840) and
Tour America (www.tour america.ie, 01-8173500) also sell Hawaii packages.
Where to stay, eat and go on Oahu
Where to stay
We spent our first three nights on Oahu courtesy of Waikiki Parc Hotel (www.waikikiparc.com, 00-1-808-9217272), a block from the beach. Chic and comfortable, it charges just over $200 (€130) a night for a double room, including taxes - a good deal less expensive than the seafront luxury hotels nearby and a bargain if you're paying in euro. It also has a trendy Nobu Japanese restaurant. Like other Waikiki hotels, the Parc suffers from noise pollution, especially before dawn, when beeping trucks back up to delivery bays.
Where to eat
Honolulu has scores of restaurants. We enjoyed the crab cakes and coconut shrimp at Holokai Grill (226 Lewers Street, Waikiki, www.holokaigrill.com, 00-1-808-9247245).
Try the grilled tuna and fresh sardines at the more expensive Taormina Sicilian Restaurant just across the road (227 Lewers Street, Waikiki, www.taormina restaurant.com, 00-1-808- 9265050).
Where to go
Spend some time in Waikiki, Hawaii's prime destination for bathing, surfing, shopping, nightlife and evening street entertainment.
Just east is Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve (www.co. honolulu.hi.us/parks/facility/ hanaumabay), the most popular snorkelling spot in Hawaii. Oahu has 50 white sand beaches if you want to get away from the crowds.
Visit the Bishop Museum (www.bishopmuseum.org), Honolulu Academy of Arts (www.honoluluacademy.org), 'Iolani Palace (www.iolani palace.org) and Doris Duke's mansion (www.shangrila hawaii.org). Book the mansion tour well in advance, as only small groups are allowed, on specific days.
Spend a morning at Pearl Harbor, (www.hawaii web.com). Book a ticket first thing for a boat trip to the USS Arizona, then, during a wait for your turn on the boat (up to three hours), visit the USS Missouri, the battleship on which Japan surrendered.
What to avoid
Driving in Honolulu at rush hour.
To find out more
Visit www.gohawaii.com, the state's tourism site.