Located within Honolulu city limits on the island of Oahu, Waikiki is the most popular destination in Hawaii for beach-bumming, shopping, dining, entertainment, and activities, and is packed with luxury resorts and hotels. And while most people have visited this tourist mecca at least once, not everyone knows about the canal that shaped this iconic neighborhood. 

Meandering along the length of Waikiki from just northwest of Kapahulu Avenue before turning southwest to enter the Pacific Ocean, the Ala Wai Canal drastically and forever changed Hawaii’s most famous tourist destination, Waikiki.
Eugene Kim/Flickr
Before the canal was created, Waikiki consisted of wetlands fed by streams running from Palolo, Makiki, and Mano valleys to the sea. A canal that would drain the wetlands — often described as unsanitary — was proposed in the early 1900s, but construction didn’t begin until 1921.
Travis.Thurston/Wikipedia
The artificial waterway was finished in 1928 in an attempt to drain the rice paddies and swamps that would eventually become Waikiki and now serves as the northern boundary of the tourist district.
Frank Farm/Flickr

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The canal’s creation shunted the flow of the streams directly into the ocean, resulting in the creation of several square miles of new real estate.
U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers/Wikipedia
Those who benefited from the development included those who had obtained and maintained small rice and bean farms in the area, and the reclamation of this land was considered pivotal in the eventual development of Waikiki as a tourist hotspot.
W Koscielniak/Flickr
Today, the two-mile-long canal drains up to 150 inches of rainwater annually that seeps down from the mountains above Waikiki and empties it into the Pacific Ocean at the Ala Wai Boat Harbor.
Panoramique/Wikipedia
Unfortunately, potential overflow due to heavy rainfall and water pollution are concerning, and while we’re unsure about the Ala Wai Canal’s future, we are grateful for its part in creating what is modern-day Waikiki.
Travis.Thurston/Wikipedia

Have you ever wandered along the Ala Wai Canal before? If you’d like to learn more about Waikiki, click here to discover 11 fascinating things you might not have known about this famous destination. 

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Ala Wai Canal, Honolulu, HI 96826, USA