Is Waikīkī more than just a tourist trap? In this week’s episode of Unpacked, AFAR senior deputy editor Jennifer Flowers explores the cultural legacies of this two-mile stretch of sand.
Read the transcript here: https://rebrand.ly/ah1fmi6
Discover more episodes of the Unpacked by AFAR podcast here: https://www.afar.com/podcasts/unpacked
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Read the transcript here: https://rebrand.ly/ah1fmi6
Discover more episodes of the Unpacked by AFAR podcast here: https://www.afar.com/podcasts/unpacked
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CONNECT WITH AFAR
Afar.com is a digital and print magazine that publishes travel tips, guides, news, and stories: https://www.afar.com
Get updates on the latest articles, travel news, and more from AFAR by signing up for the AFAR newsletter: https://afar.com/newsletters
Follow AFAR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AfarMedia
Follow AFAR on Twitter: https://twitter.com/afarmedia
Follow AFAR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afarmedia
Follow AFAR on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/afarmedia
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TravelTranscript
00:00 I'm Aislinn Green and this is Unpacked, the podcast that unpacks one tricky topic in travel
00:10 each week.
00:11 This week we have another episode in our series, If These Walls Could Talk, which explores
00:15 the stories and secrets hotels can reveal about the places we visit.
00:20 And this time, we are headed to one of the most iconic spots in Hawaii for hotels, Waikiki.
00:28 Our guide in this episode is Jennifer Flowers.
00:31 Jen is AFAR's senior deputy editor and she heads up all our hotel content.
00:36 She puts out things like our annual stay list and she's just very much steeped in the world
00:41 of hotels.
00:42 And she's been that way since, well, birth, I guess.
00:46 We actually call her AFAR's Eloise, really, because both of her parents were in the hospitality
00:51 industry and she literally grew up in hotels.
00:54 She also knows Hawaii really well, as you'll hear in a moment.
01:02 Hi Jen, how are you?
01:03 Hi, it's great to be here.
01:04 Yeah, I'm so glad to have you.
01:05 I mean, I'm excited about this story.
01:08 I think it's a really interesting look at Waikiki.
01:12 I'm curious to know what inspired you.
01:14 Why did you want to report this story?
01:16 Well, I've been going to Honolulu for as long as I can remember, and Waikiki has always
01:20 been this kind of phenomenon to me.
01:22 It's this kind of crazy, shiny strip with Gucci, Chanel, Prada stores lining it.
01:27 I also went there as a kid.
01:29 I used to play in the waves there.
01:31 So it's a place that kind of held two different kinds of meetings to me, like this sort of
01:35 outsider meeting.
01:36 And then of course, my family's from there.
01:37 So this sort of insider local meeting.
01:40 So I was always just kind of curious to know what it means to locals today and what it
01:44 has meant in the past.
01:46 And did you spend a lot of time there when you were a kid?
01:49 How often would you go to Waikiki?
01:51 So I grew up going there almost every summer to see my relatives.
01:55 My mom is actually from Hawaii.
01:57 She's Japanese American, third generation.
01:59 And my parents actually both worked in the hospitality industry there and met there.
02:04 And so we just used to kind of grow up.
02:06 I have these great memories of having picnics on the grass near Waikiki, actually.
02:11 And I have this big vision of this enormous bucket of Kentucky fried chicken that we used
02:15 to eat together.
02:16 My brother, my aunties, and my family friends on a lawn.
02:20 So it was always kind of part of the background, but just wanted to dig a little bit deeper
02:23 and figure out kind of like, what is Waikiki?
02:27 Like is it a place just for tourists?
02:29 Or is it a place where there is a true sort of authentic connection to local culture?
02:34 And I think as listeners are going to hear, like you really do speak with these people
02:38 who have these deep connections to Waikiki that maybe you don't always think about as
02:42 like a traveler or a tourist.
02:44 Yeah.
02:45 So I thought a lot about my parents' relationship with Waikiki, how they worked in the industry,
02:49 and also just kind of were not quite part of it.
02:51 I didn't realize though, as I started digging into things, how deeply the cultural and historical
02:56 roots went.
02:57 Waikiki actually has a lot of historical meaning for people in the past and also today.
03:03 It's a place where a lot of locals say they actually want tourists to stay, which is really
03:07 interesting.
03:08 So we'll hear in the podcast from Dylan Ching, he's the restaurateur who runs the Duke's
03:13 Waikiki restaurant, a very, very famous place in Waikiki.
03:16 He actually told me that many locals want people, want tourists to stay in those resort
03:20 areas in Waikiki rather than in like Airbnbs in their community, which can be very disruptive
03:25 and lead to skyrocketing rent and kind of impact the culture of the place.
03:30 So it's actually a place that has that kind of commercial importance, but again, that
03:34 kind of deep historical cultural root that it turns out visitors can tap into, which
03:40 I thought was very exciting.
03:42 And it's exactly what I discovered when I went there with that mission in mind.
03:51 Today we're heading to one of the most famous beaches in the world, Waikiki in Honolulu,
03:57 Hawaii.
03:58 Every year, 4 million tourists visit this two mile beach on the island of Oahu.
04:02 My mom was born and raised in Honolulu as a third generation Japanese American, and
04:06 she started her career in hospitality in the city like so many locals do.
04:11 Honolulu is also where she met my dad, who moved here from Seattle to work at a hotel.
04:17 I've spent many summers visiting my relatives in Honolulu and playing in the waves on Waikiki
04:21 beach, which is of course ground zero for tourists.
04:25 The area is lined with luxury shops and it has some of the most beautiful hotels in the
04:29 islands.
04:30 While spending time on the beach is always fun, for as long as I can remember, the whole
04:35 thing has always felt a little bit like a tourist bubble and, well, a little inauthentic.
04:41 I was thinking about all of this on a recent trip to Honolulu.
04:44 I had read that Waikiki had been a sacred place for the native Hawaiians long before
04:49 the first beach umbrella appeared.
04:51 In the 19th century, this was where Hawaiian royals, including the famous King Kamehameha,
04:57 vacationed.
04:58 It's also where they surfed, which is something that at the time, only royalty was allowed
05:02 to do.
05:03 Waikiki was also known as a place of healing.
05:08 There are freshwater springs that flow into the ocean here, which according to local tradition,
05:12 can cure illness and ease pain.
05:15 It got me wondering, what happened to that legacy once hotels started arriving on the
05:19 scene?
05:20 Do those deep Hawaiian roots still exist in Waikiki?
05:24 And if so, can Waikiki's hotels truly connect visitors to these roots?
05:29 Fortunately for me, a few people in some of Waikiki's most famous hotels were willing
05:33 to meet and do what locals do, talk story.
05:38 My first stop is the famous Royal Hawaiian, which opened in 1927.
05:42 If you've been to Waikiki, you might recognize it.
05:45 It's that big rose-colored hotel constructed in a Spanish Morris style with these grand
05:49 arched entryways.
05:51 No surprise that its nickname is the Pink Palace of the Pacific.
06:00 The hotel is surrounded by 15 acres of sand and surf.
06:04 It's so peaceful in fact, that the Navy used it as a recuperation center during World War
06:08 II.
06:09 Now, it's home to one of the most famous luau's in Waikiki.
06:13 I'll admit that I've never been to a luau.
06:15 It's just not something my family ever thought about doing, especially in Waikiki.
06:20 So I have a big learning curve ahead of me.
06:22 I need someone to explain that this isn't just a tourist trap.
06:25 Luckily, I found the perfect person.
06:28 What was so beautiful about this place was the abundance of water that came down from
06:35 the three valleys above.
06:37 So whenever you have an area that is near to water, that is where the villages thrived.
06:45 That's Misty Thompson Tufono, Executive Vice President of Te Hati Productions, which runs
06:50 the Aha'aina Luau at the Royal Hawaiian.
06:53 Misty tells me that Waikiki wasn't just a 19th century vacation spot for royals.
06:57 Many Hawaiians relied on Waikiki for sustenance, too.
07:00 These grounds at one time were full of lo'i kalo, that's taro patches, that would feed
07:07 literally tens of thousands in this Waikiki area.
07:11 And then the shoreline that we're looking at was laced with loko'ia, which is fish ponds.
07:16 So it was natural resources that the Hawaiians had managed so incredibly well that fed thousands
07:24 in this area.
07:25 That's what makes Waikiki so special, it's a very bountiful place.
07:29 We're sitting by the Royal Hawaiians' historic Monarch Room near the outdoor area where Te
07:33 Hati's performance is about to start.
07:35 Misty's company, Te Hati Productions, is the largest, longest-running entertainment
07:39 company in the state.
07:40 It started more than 50 years ago.
07:43 Te Hati focuses on Hawaiian and Polynesian entertainment in the form of luau's and other
07:47 cultural shows.
07:48 The founders are Misty's parents, her Samoa-born father, Jack Te Hati, and her mother, Charlene
07:53 Thompson, a celebrated hula dancer.
07:56 Now Te Hati is run by Misty and her brother, Afatia Thompson, who is president.
08:01 The company acts as an ambassador for Hawaiian culture outside of the islands, too.
08:05 Te Hati has performed for three U.S. presidents, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.
08:11 The latter invited them to perform at the White House.
08:14 Today Te Hati remains a local business, employing more than 600 area dancers, singers, MCs,
08:19 musicians, technicians, and more.
08:21 We're here because Hawaiian artists elevated the world's view of what Hawaiian artistry
08:29 looks like.
08:30 And so we take that real seriously.
08:33 We carry that kuleana, or responsibility, to do the same, our very, very best, so that
08:38 visitors who leave here will say, "It wasn't just a tiki-taki luau.
08:42 It was really talented people that were telling really important stories in the funnest way
08:48 possible."
08:49 That's not an easy thing to do.
08:51 Misty says that while the purpose of a luau in a tourist setting is to entertain, it's
08:55 also an opportunity to teach visitors about Hawaiian culture with as much authenticity
08:59 and integrity as they possibly can.
09:01 Tens of thousands of visitors who may not know and may not care about our culture and
09:07 history, but by the time they leave our luau, they care a little bit, and they wonder a
09:12 little bit, and maybe they look it up a little bit.
09:14 Misty says that the values she grew up with, cultural integrity and hospitality, remain
09:19 a huge part of the more than 2,000 shows they host each year.
09:22 Through each luau, they can also connect with Waikiki's roots.
09:25 As Misty shares this history, we hear a beautiful and haunting sound that she says indicates
09:30 the beginning of a show.
09:31 That's the blow of the conch shell.
09:33 The conch shell, in all of Polynesia, is always used to direct attention to something.
09:38 Most times it was because an ali'i was coming, a royal was coming, or this is the sound that
09:47 tells us that something is about to begin.
10:06 After learning so much from Misty, I'm actually excited to see my first Waikiki luau.
10:11 The skies above me are still blue as the hula dancers take to the stage.
10:15 The backdrop, the blue waters and the white sand beaches of Waikiki.
10:20 The show is three hours long, and it reveals different eras of Waikiki.
10:23 I feel breezes from the ocean as I watch a fun segment about the Beach Boys, the local
10:27 watermen who appeared on the scene at the turn of the 20th century.
10:30 They introduce tourists to their surfing lifestyle in exchange for tips.
10:34 And then, as the sun sets and the skies grow inky, the hula skirts get brighter and the
10:39 dancing even more dramatic.
10:41 A display of fire knife dancing lights up the sky and I'm dazzled.
10:46 But the show isn't just about dazzling visitors.
10:48 As the fire dancers throw their flaming blades in the air, the MC explains that it's called
10:52 Siva Awhi and it's a Samoan art.
10:55 This balance between entertainment and cultural accuracy is exactly what Tehati aims for with
11:00 every performance.
11:02 We celebrate our Polynesian cultures, but what I really want people to know is as we
11:07 celebrate those things, recognize there's a difference, that that is not Hawaiian, that
11:13 that is an influence from another South Pacific culture that definitely has ties to Hawaii,
11:19 but is not Hawaiian.
11:20 For example, people often see Samoan fire knife dancing and Tahitian drumming and think
11:24 those things are Hawaiian.
11:26 So Missy takes care to include those elements in her performances in a high quality way
11:30 and makes their origins clear in their production.
11:33 Another segment of the show covers the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom and the imprisonment
11:37 of Queen Liliuokalani, the last reigning monarch queen in the late 19th century.
11:43 An actress glides across the stage in the role of Queen Liliuokalani.
11:48 She wears a beautiful red and white dress accented in gold.
11:51 As I watch, the MC explains that she was dethroned and imprisoned in 1893.
11:57 The queen became known for enduring one of the greatest injustices to Hawaiian people
12:01 with dignity, pride, and aloha.
12:04 Now that's so morbid.
12:06 That's like, what?
12:08 You're going to tell that on a luau?
12:10 But we did from the angle of the instructions of our own queen who said, if we are going
12:17 to forge to the future knowing that the foreign influences have come and have taken over,
12:25 then we're going to do that with aloha because that's our anchor.
12:29 That's our cultural value.
12:31 MC tells me about the famous song that Queen Liliuokalani wrote, Aloha Oe, a beautiful
12:37 melody that has made its way into pop culture.
12:46 Many people think it's a farewell song, but it actually isn't.
12:50 The story goes that the queen saw a couple embracing and it inspired her to create a
12:54 love song that embodied the concept of aloha, which translates into love, peace, mutual
13:00 respect and compassion.
13:02 For many Hawaiians, the meaning of Aloha Oe has since evolved into this idea that the
13:07 spirit of aloha can survive, even during times of turmoil, the kind that the Hawaiian people
13:12 were facing when she wrote the song.
13:14 My next stop is the Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort, home to the famed Duke's Waikiki
13:38 Restaurant.
13:40 This is a go-to brunch spot whenever my local relatives need to impress out-of-towners with
13:45 an upscale vibe and Waikiki beach views, although my auntie Elaine always complains about the
13:50 parking here.
13:51 It's got a great setting on the beach, and it's actually got really good Portuguese
13:55 sausage, a local specialty, on the brunch menu.
13:57 There's a reason why kings and queens vacation here.
14:01 The weather, the ocean, the vibe, you know, the water, everything is so special.
14:07 So for me, I was just fortunate that I ended up here and got to just be part of my DNA
14:13 being in Waikiki.
14:14 That's Dylan Ching.
14:16 He was born in Oahu, raised in Maui, and is now the vice president of operations for TS
14:21 Restaurants, which includes Duke's Waikiki.
14:24 So I always feel like Duke's is the place in Waikiki where locals and visitors can kind
14:29 of be right next to each other at the bar, and it feels comfortable.
14:33 You're not in a local bar in, you know, Pearl City, where visitors might feel out of place,
14:38 and you're not in maybe a hotel restaurant where locals might feel like it's not really
14:42 built for them.
14:43 The restaurant is named after Duke Kahanamoku, the late surfer who made the sport famous
14:47 around the world, and surfed the very Waikiki waves you're hearing.
14:51 A native Hawaiian waterman, Kahanamoku won three Olympic gold medals for swimming in
14:56 1912 and 1920.
14:58 Today there's a nine-foot bronze sculpture on Waikiki that honors Kahanamoku.
15:02 Dylan is taking me around the restaurant, which doubles as a museum to both the Duke
15:06 and the sport of surfing.
15:08 He's my definition of a Hawaiian.
15:12 I mean, he was very dynamic in so many ways.
15:15 I mean, surfer, beach boy, swimmer, Olympian, actor.
15:22 He was truly an ambassador of aloha, but also ambassador for Hawaii.
15:27 Dylan says that Duke's is able to perpetuate the famous surfer's values through connections
15:31 with the community.
15:32 As we walk around together, he points out a wall of fame filled with framed photos of
15:37 locals who helped perpetuate Hawaiian cultural traditions.
15:40 I think what we do in the community really mimics who Duke was.
15:44 That's what we really try to do is support things that Duke would do.
15:47 The restaurant sponsors local events like surf contests and donates money to the community
15:51 center and schools in the area.
15:53 We feel like, hey, you know, obviously we're a busy place and we make a lot of money, but
15:56 we can go out into the communities, especially around us and really support, because it is
16:01 kind of hard to get to Waikiki for local people.
16:03 So we just take Duke's out to everybody else.
16:09 My exploration of surfing history in Waikiki continues with Auntie Luana Maitland.
16:14 Auntie Luana is the director of cultural experiences at the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort,
16:19 as well as its sister property, Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort, where Duke's Waikiki
16:23 is located.
16:25 She's worked at the resort for more than 20 years.
16:28 We meet in the Outrigger Reef's new A'o Cultural Center, where travelers can learn how to make
16:33 leis, try hula dancing, and even take Hawaiian language classes.
16:37 I'm intrigued by the artifacts in this room, some of which come from Honolulu's Bishop
16:41 Museum that's dedicated to the natural and cultural histories of Hawaii.
16:45 The Bishop Museum helped curate the displays, which include a ukulele and kalaau, or rhythm
16:51 sticks, and Hawaiian weapons, including a leomano, which is a club with shark teeth.
16:56 Nearby, a large screen is playing a video from the Polynesian Voyaging Society of an
17:01 enormous hokulea, a double-hulled canoe, sailing on the ocean.
17:06 That's the voyaging canoe that circled the world.
17:10 And as you can see, it's on larger scales, but in this area here is where provisions
17:17 were left, and they would top it off with a board, and that's where they would sleep.
17:22 We move to a glass case featuring a wooden model of the hokulea.
17:26 Auntie Luana explains that it would take sailors months to get from one destination to another
17:31 in these canoes.
17:33 This kind of a canoe is what Polynesian voyagers used to reach Hawaii as early as 400 CE, relying
17:38 on only the stars for navigation.
17:41 As we walk by the displays, Auntie Luana peppers in stories of her own memories growing up
17:45 immersed in Hawaiian culture.
17:47 As she shares her connection to all these traditions, it's clear to me that her role
17:52 here at the Outrigger is a calling and not a job.
17:55 I was fortunate enough to belong to a hula club at our church, and I was there with Grandpa.
18:01 My grandfather was a reverend.
18:03 They saw that I was interested in it, so I started to learn how to dance, and I danced
18:07 professionally when I was nine years old.
18:10 Auntie Luana tells me about the new Surfers in Residence program at the Outrigger Waikiki
18:15 Beach Resort that aims to capture the modern-day legends of surfing as they pass through Honolulu.
18:22 The resort invites surf icons to stay at the hotel, and Auntie Luana interviews them in
18:26 front of some of the hotel's surfing artifacts, live-streaming it on social media and inviting
18:31 guests to tag along.
18:33 Surfers in Residence have included Clarissa Moore, an Olympic gold medalist, and Luke
18:36 Shepardson who won the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational in 2023.
18:41 As luck would have it, world champion longboard surfer Bonga Perkins is in Residence the day
18:46 I'm there, and I join Auntie Luana as she interviews Bonga.
18:50 Later, we sit in the hotel lounge which faces the very waves he grew up surfing.
18:55 Bonga tells me all about the surfing icons he got to know in Waikiki, Buttons Kalohiokalani,
19:01 Larry Bertelman, Dino Miranda.
19:04 Those were the guys, the professionals that, if you look their name up, they were the forefront
19:10 of that part of surfing's life, you know, from the, probably like the 80s to like the
19:15 early 90s.
19:17 There were also uncles, or elder surfers, who hung out at the beach who taught him how
19:21 to behave as a surfer.
19:23 Uncles like Sammy Steamboat, a first generation beach boy, and Rabbit Kikai, who counted Duke
19:28 Kahanamoku as one of his early surf instructors.
19:31 That guy kicked my butt a couple times.
19:33 His brother, Uncle Jama, that guy gave me good scoldings because I was in his way.
19:38 But it's okay because they scolded me but they gave me the reason behind it, not just
19:45 scold me and paddle the wave.
19:47 And so, you know, I took it and learned from it and next thing you know these guys are
19:52 just like on my team basically.
19:54 Like, "Yeah, good for you.
19:55 Hey, have a sandwich."
19:57 Bonga grew up without much, but he spent pretty much every day of his childhood on Waikiki
20:01 with his dad and surrounded by the elder beach boys who took care of him, sometimes even
20:05 fed him, and made sure he was attending school.
20:09 Like you're adopted, like 20 dads on this beach keeping an eye on you, making sure that
20:14 you're safe as well.
20:15 You know, if you got hurt or something, they'll be right there, making sure that your well-being
20:20 was good.
20:22 Bonga will be the first to admit that Waikiki has changed a lot since he was a kid running
20:26 around these shores.
20:27 There's a lot more tourism and a lot fewer beach boys, which many say is a dying culture.
20:33 But when Bonga comes back here with his five kids, all he wants to do is get them out into
20:36 the waves that hold so much meaning to him.
20:39 He even named one of his kids after a wave he surfed right here.
20:42 I was basically born in the sand here, you know.
20:46 So I have a lot of ties in all little different areas besides just not just the people, but
20:51 spiritually.
20:54 Bonga credits Waikiki with keeping him grounded despite his fame.
20:58 You go off and do it, but you come right back and you walk by and you say hi to all the
21:02 uncles and your friends that you grew up with.
21:05 And it just brings you right back to why I did this, why I started.
21:10 As I listen to Bonga's stories about Waikiki, I realize I would never have met him and heard
21:15 these incredible tales of bygone days if it weren't for the outrigger and Auntie Luana.
21:20 I see now that Waikiki isn't just a community of outsiders.
21:24 Yes, there are fancy shops, lots of tourists and impressive hotels, but some of those hotels
21:29 are where Waikiki's roots are the strongest.
21:32 They're places where people like Missy, Dylan, Auntie Luana and Bonga continue the traditions
21:37 that I was searching for.
21:39 Hawaiian culture lives on here with the help of a community that nurtures and supports
21:43 it.
21:47 Thank you for listening to this episode of If These Walls Could Talk.
21:50 We will link to all the hotels mentioned in this episode in our show notes.
21:54 You know, the Royal Hawaiian, the Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort and its sister property,
21:58 the Outrigger Reef, Waikiki Beach Resort.
22:02 You can follow Jen on social media @jenniferleeflowers.
22:06 And one thing you should definitely look out for on TikTok is her new series called 60
22:11 Second Conservationists.
22:12 She basically gives herself 60 seconds to tell you about why a particular species matters.
22:18 It's super cool and fun and I highly recommend it.
22:21 See you next week.
22:24 Ready for more unpacking?
22:26 Visit afar.com and be sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter.
22:30 We're @afarmedia.
22:31 If you enjoyed today's exploration, I hope you'll come back for more great stories.
22:36 Subscribing makes this easy.
22:38 You can find Unpacked on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
22:43 And be sure to rate and review the show.
22:45 It helps other travelers find it.
22:47 This season, we also want to hear from you.
22:50 Is there a travel dilemma, trend or topic you'd like us to explore?
22:54 Email us at unpacked@afar.com.
22:57 This has been Unpacked, a production of Avar Media.
23:00 The podcast is produced by Aislinn Green and Nikki Galteland.
23:04 Music composition by Chris Gawlin.
23:06 And remember, the world is complicated.
23:08 We're here to help you unpack it.
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