Images of Waikiki Beach and Honolulu – Oahu Hawai'i, taken in January 2016.

The island of Oahu is probably one of the most diverse places I have ever encountered. From the dramatic North Shore and the rest of the incredibly beautiful coastline to the tranquility of Pearl Harbor and the rugged inland mountains, there is an interesting assortment of varied sites and scenes. One of the most interesting is a small sliver of land, beach and sea surrounded by the city of Honolulu called Waikiki Beach.

This is, of course, the center of the tourism world as far as the Hawaiian Islands are concerned. Not to take away from any other island or resort but this is the place everyone wants to visit, and for good reason. There’s the beauty of the water, the beach and the sunsets that you can get all over the islands with the added backdrop of the Diamond Head volcano looming in the background; it’s iconic, photogenic and perfect in every way, a symbol of a vacation paradise that is known all around the world.

For all those reasons it is the “it” destination for most Americans and the number one vacation destination for people from Japan. The area caters heavily to all tourists with upscale hotels and resorts, and luxury shops from Gucci to Tiffany’s. For this reason the area is as crowded as any metropolitan area in the country but your state of mind is so relaxed and you are so immersed in the beauty of the area that it hardly matters…but it is interesting to observe. Probably more than any place I have visited people here are obsessed with the “selfie” and along with that the hand held technology that we all possess, the smartphone. Dodging people with selfie sticks in hand could become a sport here as I don’t believe I have seen them in such large numbers as this anywhere else. Now perhaps I should not throw stones at this obsession for I am an individual that walks around with a camera and camera bag everywhere I go and I’m probably the only person to come to Hawaii and not get into the water but since these are my observations (rants) I reserve the right to jot them down here!

As I noted before, none of that detracts from the experience of visiting Waikiki and it may even enhance it by making it even more interesting. And the heck with Big Foot or the Lock Ness Monster, as promised I am finally revealing my photographic proof that mermaids exist…Waikiki truly has it all!