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A contemporary masterpiece of glass and soaring white columns, the Convention Center, across the Ala Wai bridge from Waikīkī proper, was dedicated in 1998 and contains dozens of artworks and more than a million square feet of meeting space. Lecture tours are held on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

It’s been called “Waikīkī’s best-kept secret” – a well-designed free museum celebrating the U.S. Army’s many-faceted history in the Pacific. It covers Hawai’i’s “Go for Broke” 100th Infantry Battalion, Waikīkī as a Vietnam War R & R center, and more.

Teaching Cha-do, the Way of Tea, a ceremony meant to both relax and focus the mind, is the mission of this center endowed by the Urasenke Organization in Kyoto. Tea ceremonies are held Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10am; wear comfortable clothes but not shorts.

The 50+-year-old Market Place, originally a fanciful shopping area and cultural park, is undergoing a $150 million renovation project through 2007. Expect pathways beneath spreading trees and across ponds that recall the area’s illustrious past, when it was Queen Emma’s garden. Performance areas, a low-rise shopping and food hall, and spots for hula, artisans, and storytellers are also planned.

This unassuming strip of white sand covered with half-clothed bodies, surfboard racks, and gawking tourists is what the beach is all about. You might think only visitors use it, but you’ll see surfers, daily exercisers, canoe clubs, and other locals enjoying Hawai’i’s best-known beach, too. Dawn and dusk are ideal times to visit.

The four misshapen slabs at Kūhiā Beach represent four mysterious historical figures called Kapaemahu (“people of a changeable nature”). These men came to Hawai’i from abroad and lived with the islanders, curing and educating them. The stones were erected in their memory and have since occupied various locations, currently gathered at the beach formerly known as Ulukou.

Once known as Hamohamo, this area was the location of Pualeilani, the beach home of Queen Kapi’olani and later her adopted son, Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana’ole, a delegate to the U.S. Congress. During his lifetime he opened the beach near his home to the public, and left it to the city when he died.

Kūhiō Beach

This tiny exhibit on the grounds of St. Augustine’s Church displays treasured artifacts from the life of Blessed Damien de Veuster, the Belgian priest who gave his life to Hansen’s disease sufferers on Moloka’i in the 1870s and ’80s.

The current, vaguely Victorian stone structure – a spacious circular stage with a peaked roof held up by a series of pillars – is the fourth incarnation of a band-stand first built in the 1880s. It’s a popular venue for concerts and often used for informal jam sessions.

Hawai’i’s most-recognized landmark watches over Waikīkī, its sculpted slopes shadowy green in rainy season, parched brown at other times. In addition to the trail within the crater, a three-mile loop walk allows you to see the changeable peak from a full circle. Start where Monsarrat Avenue meets Diamond Head Road and proceed in either direction. (see Diamond Head Trail).