Bicentennial Medals

Exploring Honolulu – A Potpourri Of Fascinating Attractions

Planning a vacation in Honolulu? Ideal for anyone looking forward to taking a break as the place refreshes the stressed mind. Learn about numerous places to explore, from fun-filled beaches and lagoons to science museums and memorials, making your vacation a memorable one with fun and excitement.

Honolulu, located in the state of Hawaii, draws a beautiful picture of pristine waters, long stretch of white sand coast and world’s biggest waves. Apart from the scenic beauty and beach activities, Honolulu has much more to offer. With a wide variety of things to do, this place has museums, memorials, dormant volcano, Waikiki Aquarium, Queen Kapiolani Park and many more places to explore. With a remarkable history and diverse culture, Honolulu has attractions like no other place in the world.

Some of the must visit spots in Honolulu are –

Waikiki Beach

Running along the southern shore of the O’ahu Island, Waikiki Beach is one of the most popular beaches of the Hawaiian Islands. It is a world famous surfing spot, with a huge portion of the beach being marked for surfers. The key attraction of Waikiki Beach surfing is its long rolling break. It makes it an ideal spot for beginners, apart from surfers fond of long boarding and tandem surfing. The beach is also home to places like Kuhio Beach Park, Ala Wai Harbor, Kapiolani Park and Kahanamoku Lagoon.

Waikiki Aquarium

Located adjacent to the living coral reef along the Waikiki shoreline, this marine aquarium flaunts more than 3,000 organisms representing around 500 species of marine flora and fauna. The aquarium also takes pride in being the third oldest public aquarium in the entire USA. It will be interesting for you to note that the aquarium was designated a Coastal Ecosystem Learning Center. It witnesses more than 400,000 footfalls every year, which reflects its status as a landmark tourist destination in Honolulu.

USS Arizona Memorial

Located at Pearl Harbor, the Memorial marks a notable historical legacy of this spot. The spot where the Memorial stands as the final resting place of a huge number of brave US sailors of USS Arizona, who espoused martyrdom after their ship was drowned during the infamous Pearl Harbor Attack by Japan. Highly popular among tourists, the Memorial is visited by more than one million people every year. Tourists visit the spot traveling in a boat, which crosses above the sunken hull of the hapless battleship without touching it.

Aloha Tower

A gorgeous lighthouse, Aloha Tower is housed at Pier 9 of Honolulu Harbor (a.k.a. Kulolia and Ke Awa O Kou), Honolulu’s main seaport. Once the tallest structure in the entire Hawaii, the Tower was famous for the Hawaii Maritime Center located in an old royal pier near it. Hawaii Maritime Center was the principal maritime museum in the entire Hawaii Islands, and was naturally a huge center of attraction.

Bishop Museum (Bernice P. Bishop Museum)

The largest museum in Hawaii, this museum of History and Science takes pride in being the world’s largest storehouse of Polynesian cultural and scientific artifacts. It also boasts of a huge entomological collection of more than 13.5 million specimens, which happens to be the third largest of such collection in the USA. This pride of Honolulu was built by famous Hawaiian banker and philanthropist Charles Reed Bishop. He set up this museum in memory of his beloved wife Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last scion of the former ruling family of Hawaii.

Diamond Head

A part of what geologists call Honolulu Volcanic Series, Diamond Head is a volcanic tuff cone that enjoys the status of a United States State Monument, apart from being a popular hiking destination flocked by hiking enthusiasts both from within and outside Honolulu. The hiking expedition ends inside a coastal artillery observation platform. From the summit above this observation platform, you can have a breathtaking view of the surroundings, including that of the Pacific Ocean.

Honolulu Zoo

Located in the Queen Kapiolani Park, this zoo covers an area of 42 acres, playing home to more than 1,000 animals roaming around specially designed habitats. The species of animals in the zoo include even the ones which are completely foreign to Honolulu or Hawaii such as elephant, rhino, lion, giraffe and camel. Some of the other species that the zoo flaunts are llama, hedgehog, red-footed tortoise, pot-bellied pig, chimpanzee, sun bear, etc. It also has a rich collection of birds and reptiles. The popularity of the zoo can be gauged from the fact that it witnesses over 600,000 footfalls in a year.

National Memorial Cemetery of The Pacific

A place with a great emotional appeal, this cemetery located in Punchbowl Crater serves as a memorial to those valiant people who devoted their lives to the service of the United States Armed Forces. Thousands of people visit the place every year to pay their homage to the immortal souls of these great patriots. It may be noted that the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific was the pioneer in installing Bicentennial Medal of Honor headstone, i.e. the medal insignia defined in gold leaf.

You will love to know that Honolulu offers a variety of transportation services, helping you to comfortably travel around the place. A good idea for you will be to book a limousine service from the Honolulu Airport itself. In fact, most of the tourists find it convenient, and prefer to travel around by arranging in advance for a limo Honolulu can be best enjoyed if one books a luxurious limo.

About the Author

The author is currently associated with Honolulu Airport Shuttle, the organization that helps tourists to travel to the town from the airport by hiring limousine Honololu is highly dependent on such service providers who help tourists with transportation.

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