Waikīkī

Waikīkī
Neighborhood of Honolulu
Aerial view of Waikiki
Country	United States
State	Hawaii
County	Honolulu County
City	Honolulu
Area
• Total	3.4 sq mi (9 km2)
ZIP Code	96815
Area code(s)	808

Waikīkī (/waɪkiːˈkiː/; Hawaiian: [vɐjˈtiːˈtiː, wɐjˈtiːˈtiː]) (also known as Waikiki Beach) is a beachfront neighborhood of Honolulu, on the south shore of the island of Oʻahu, in Hawaii, United States. Waikiki's most famous for Waikīkī Beach, but it is just one of five beaches in the district, the other four being Kuhio Beach, Gray's Beach, Fort DeRussy Beach and Kahanamoku Beach.

Waikīkī is home to public places including Kapiʻolani Park, Fort DeRussy, Kahanamoku Lagoon, Kūhiō Beach Park, and Ala Wai Harbor.

The name Waikīkī means spouting fresh water in the Hawaiian language, for springs and streams that fed wetlands that once separated Waikīkī from the interior.

The area was a retreat for Hawaiian royalty in the 1800s who enjoyed surfing there on early forms of longboards.

A few small hotels opened in the 1880s. In 1893, Greek-American George Lycurgus leased the guest house of Allen Herbert and renamed it the "Sans Souci" (French for "without worries") creating one of the first beach resorts. Later that year Robert Louis Stevenson stayed at the resort; subsequently it became a popular destination for tourists from the mainland. The area at coordinates 21°15′49″N 157°49′17″W / 21.26361°N 157.82139°W / 21.26361; -157.82139 is still called "Sans Souci Beach".