Uncle Diamond Head

Aloha & Welcome to Waikiki Olde and New

click on photos to enlarge Back in the day

“I love everything that's old, - old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wine”
Oliver Goldsmith


Where did those hotels come from?

“I hate vacations. If you can build buildings, why sit on the beach?”
Philip Johnson


“Babies don't need a vacation but I still see them at the beach. I'll go over to them and say, 'What are you doing here, you've never worked a day in your life!'.”
Stephen Wright


Kalakaua Avenue is full of crazy drivers.
LOOK OUT TOONSIS!

Rocks have a lot of presence.

"Mana" (spiritual energy) resides within this small Pohaku

(rock) as well as in great Diamond Head.

D.H.'s REAL name is Leahi: "Brow of the Tuna."

British sailors discovered calcite crystals within the crater and believed them to be DIAMONDS! Hence the name, memorial to an illusion.

"And in fancy I am led

back to dear old Diamond Head

Honolulu I'll be comin` back again"

An old song.

To our visitors, DH is a famous visual emblem. But it’s so much more than that to us. For example, we use it to describe seasonal conditions: “Look! Diamond Head is so green!” (Lots of rain) or brown (lots of no rain).

To locals it’s not only about the visuals. Ole DH is like a beloved uncle that we playfully climb all over.

We enjoy walking, running, driving, gawking, biking, and unloading our surfboards on Diamond Head Road.

We hike the trails and enjoy the view FROM atop Diamond Head Lookout(his shoulders).

We sit on his lap: DH Park One and Park Two, green oceanfront enclaves made peaceful and private by their lack of parking. Brides are photographed here as limos hover.

At the foot of the cliffs, below Diamond Head Road, are intimate little beaches where naturists and meditators can be left in peace.

So you see, we locals don’t just SEE DH; we play with it, smell the flowers, hear the surf and enjoy the birds. At the right time of year it’s the perfect place for spotting whales as they spout and splash out to sea.

A lookout on Leahi watched for Kamehameha's fleet of war canoes and lit the warning signal fire. Today Diamond Head Lighthouse maintains her own stoic vigilance; As do the F.A.A. folks guiding air traffic from within the crater.

Even the tightly scheduled tour van groups that pull into the lookout seem to hush at the majesty of the vista, as their harried drivers relax for a smoke. It's the perfect spot to “watch the submarine races,” or simply to loose the grip of hours and minutes. . . Yes, Diamond head is powerfully evocative, a profile world-famous for almost two hundred years. Paws in the surf, a sphynx of protection for this healing beach. . . Waikiki.

A L O H A! Cloudia