CENTRAL AND WEST OAHU:
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| Wahiawa pineapple fields |
Although neighbors, the fertile central plain of Oahu is a world apart from the laidback, rural Waianae Coast, home to a fiercely proud Hawaiian community that ekes out a lower-middle-class living on the dry leeward side. Central Oahu has been blanketed with fields of pineapple and sugar for decades, and Dole Plantation (1 on Map 6, B-1) keeps alive the memory of the days when pineapple shared the top economic position in Hawaii with sugar. The plantation, famous for the world’s largest maze, is a great spot for the whole family, offering a terrific souvenir shop (including world-class jewelry from Maui Divers) and tours aboard the Pineapple Express.
Created eons ago by the pooling of lava between the Koolau and Waianae mountains, this central plain’s second most important economic factor is the military presence, which includes historic Schofield Barracks (2 on Map 6, D-2), immortalized in James Jones’s From Here to Eternity, and Wheeler Air Force Base. Visitors with military identification can enjoy a tour of Schofield, and perhaps a drive up to Kolekole Pass, which made history when Japanese Zeros flew through the pass on their bombing mission to Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
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| Dole Plantation |
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The lookout from Kolekole offers a panorama of the Waianae Coast, which can be reached by backtracking to the H-2 Freeway, or on a slower, more scenic drive along Kunia Road (Highway 750). Before heading off to Waianae (which can also be saved as a separate day tour), take time to visit the Kukaniloko Birthing Stones (3 on Map 6, B-2), an important cultural site for Hawaiian alii (rulingclass members) long before pineapple and the military made their marks on this region. Plant lovers will want to pay a short visit to Wahiawa Botanical Garden (4 on Map 6, B-3), a 27-acre garden created in the 1920s by sugar planters as an experimental arboretum, filled with Hawaiian palms, tree ferns and other native plants.
The H-2 Freeway and Kunia Road connect to the H- 1 Freeway, which heads west to Oahu’s Second City, Kapolei (8 on Map 7 Inset, E-4).
Heading north, there is a series of marvelous sandy beaches and parks, from Maili Beach (2 on Map 7, C-1) to Makaha Beach (1 on Map 7, A-1), site of several world-famous surfing contests held in the winter months when surf picks up along this shore. It is recommended that visitors stop only at beaches where lifeguards are on duty. |
DRIVE GUIDES are provided free of charge by every rental car company in Hawaii.
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