Summer Sessions at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa
Visitor's Guide to Hawai‘i
O‘ahu – Beyond the Campus
The following information is presented by area name. There is an overview of what to expect and also what events, sites, and institutions that may be of interest. Calendars and guides to such are usually available at any given venue. The local newspapers and magazines also publish listings of upcoming events. In addition, throughout the summer Outreach College presents free public lectures by UH, community, and national scholars and experts.
Direction terms in Hawai‘i:
makai = toward the ocean
mauka = toward the mountain
ewa = to the west
diamond head = to the east
Upper Manoa
At the Manoa Marketplace, you will find supermarkets, banks, drug stores, boutiques, bookstores, restaurants, and more. Eateries abound—delight your taste buds at Hawaiian, continental American, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Korean and, for those from the mainland U.S., familiar fast-food restaurants. Nearby is the Manoa Valley Theatre, which focuses on staging recent Broadway and off-Broadway productions. This usually means that this is the show's Hawai‘i premiere.
Farther up in the valley, nestled in the natural beauty of Hawai‘i, is the University-affiliated Lyon Arboretum. Purchase plants or take a tour, some of which end with the eating of edible flowers. Some of the fauna have unusual histories and significance, for example, there is a bodhi tree grown from the very one Buddha sat under.
Mo‘ili‘ili
Makai of the Manoa campus, at the intersection of University Avenue and King Street, you will find supermarkets, health food stores, copy centers, boutiques, bookstores, internet cafes, restaurants, and more. Eateries abound—delight your taste buds at Hawaiian, continental American, Chinese, Greek, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, vegetarian, and, for those from the mainland U.S., familiar fast-food restaurants.
Varsity Theatre, which was once used as a lecture hall for the University, features foreign and independent films.
The Japanese Cultural Center mounts historical and cultural exhibitions.
Farther Afield: Other Sites on O‘ahu
For those that wish to make a day of it and with access to car rentals or bus schedules, there are other places that may pique your interests.
Waikiki
Mention Waikiki and what may come to mind are sun-drenched beaches, bikinied bodies, and opulent hotels and trendy shops lining Kalakaua Avenue. However, the area also holds an educational opportunity. Though not common knowledge, the Waikiki Aquarium is a University affiliate. If you want to see Hawai‘i marine life then the aquarium is for you. The aquarium holds the distinction of being the third oldest public aquarium in the US, and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. The Aquarium has the first successful coral farm in the world, exhibits of fish native to these waters, examples of Hawaiian rock pond fisheries, Hawaiian monk seals, and a touch pool, where visitors can actually handle, with care, left-handed hermit crabs (found only in Hawai‘i), sea cucumbers, and sea urchins.
The Honolulu Zoo is the only zoo in the U.S. created from a king's grant of royal lands to his people. It can also claim to be the largest zoo in a 2,300-mile radius.
Just across the street is the 500-acre Kapi‘olani Park. It is on the State's Historic Register as many of its exceptional trees are over a century old. Every Sunday afternoon, at the Kapi‘olani Bandstand, you can find the Royal Hawaiian Band performing a live, free concert. Also in the park is the Waikiki Shell. In the evenings, the Shell plays host to outdoor concerts and shows.
Nu‘uanu
The Pali Lookout is where, in 1795, King Kamehameha I fought one of his last battles to unite the islands into one kingdom. During that battle, Kamehameha's army pressed the opposing army back until many fell from the thousand-foot cliff. This is the macabre history of the cliff that offers one of the most breathtaking views of Kane‘ohe Bay. Be warned that the Pali is equally famous for its gusting winds. Before visiting, remove all headgear and hold onto small children; the winds can quite literally sweep you off your feet.
Tour the Queen Emma Summer Palace. Once used as a retreat from life in Honolulu by Queen Emma and her husband King Kamehameha IV, it is now a museum. It is one of the last remaining examples of Greek Revival style architecture in the islands.
King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma created the Royal Mausoleum as a final resting place for their son. With the completion of the 3-acre sacred burial ground, the remains of Kings Kamehameha II, III, IV, and V, King Kalakaua, and Queen Lili‘oukalani were transferred there from the first Royal Mausoleum, located at ‘Iolani Palace, for interment.
Punchbowl Crater
Along with Arlington National Cemetery, the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (also Punchbowl National Cemetery) is one of the most prominent national cemeteries in the U.S. This is where are buried those that fell in the Pacific arena.
Makapuu Point
Though the eponymous beach is one of Hawai‘i's natural beauties, the main attraction is, arguably, Sea Life Park. It offers free shows, exhibited creatures, and beautiful aquascapes. You can also experience marine life intimately with the park's "Swim With" series: Kiss a dolphin, stroll underwater along a coral reef while feeding its denizens, snorkel with the stingrays, frolic with the sea lions, or mingle with the penguins.
Civic Center District
Within a couple of city blocks, in downtown Honolulu, are the centers of political power in Hawai‘i, both past and present. Visit and tour the beautifully refurbished ‘Iolani Palace, the seat of power when Hawai‘i was a kingdom. It is one of three palaces in the nation, and all three are in Hawai‘i.
Within sight of the palace, are the State Library, the Mission Houses Museum, Kawaiaha‘o Church, the World War I Memorial, and the famous statue of King Kamehameha fronting the Judiciary building.
Adjacent to the palace are a number of other sites: the State Capitol; Washington Place, which is the governor's mansion; the Hawai‘i State Art Museum, housed on the second floor of the historic Hemmeter Building; and the Eternal Flame (a sculpture with an actual flame burning in memory of fallen soldiers).
Chinatown
In the nearby business district, enjoy the daily-offered walking tour of Chinatown with its unique architecture—turn-of-the-nineteenth-century two-story brick-and-mortar buildings with Chinese motifs. Shop and peruse open markets, sidewalk stalls, cafes and bistros, and antique shops. Take a picture with the Sun Yat-Sen statue or visit the Kuan Yin Temple. Or wander through the many art galleries on Nu‘uanu Avenue north of King Street.
At night, Chinatown transforms. For the adventurous, there is the raucous experience of First Fridays, which occur, fittingly, on the first Friday of every month. In the evenings, between Chinatown and the central business district, a collection of art galleries and venues stay open after-hours for a unique freeform experience. Through the night, guide yourself and friends through live music, street entertainment, and other events.
For a more educational-oriented night in Chinatown, there is thematic Third Thursdays. During after-hours, several galleries and other venues feature artwork and artists under the umbrella of a central theme. This is a rare opportunity to meet the actual artists for discussions and lectures on the creation and meaning of their art.
Kumu Kahua Theatre is a nonprofit theater affiliated with the University of Hawai‘i. It showcases original productions about life in Hawai‘i written by playwrights from Hawai‘i. The theater also hosts a Dark Night Series, single- or short-run plays and performances that deviate wildly from the norm.
Dubbed "The Pride of the Pacific," the Hawaii Theatre listed on both the State and National Registers of Historical Places. The restoration to its original 1920s art deco glory has won the theater awards, honors, and recognition on a national level. Presently, it is still a popular venue for national touring shows, theater troupes, films, and concerts. Take in a performance or schedule a tour.
Another icon of Hawai‘i, the Aloha Tower at Honolulu Harbor. For years this lighthouse, done in the Hawaiian Gothic style, greeted arriving immigrants much in the same way the Statue of Liberty does. At the base of the historic lighthouse, in the Aloha Tower Marketplace you can find a collection of boutiques, shops, restaurants, and nightspots. On the sea walls that surround the marketplace, you can find fish food dispensers to feed the fish living in the waters of the harbor. This is possible only because Honolulu Harbor is one of the cleanest harbors in the nation.
If you are lucky, or time it right, you can watch cruise ships larger than the Tower itself dock at an adjacent pier. Some of the other piers hold other attractions. At Pier 5 is the Falls of Clyde; commissioned in 1878 in Scotland, it is the world's only surviving iron-hulled, four-masted, fully rigged sailing ship. At Pier 7 is the Hawai‘i Maritime Center. Affiliated with the Bishop Museum, it documents the islands' maritime history spanning the early Polynesians to the present day.
Ward
While the mention of Ward usually conjures up the Victoria Ward complex, six-blocks and counting of specialty shops, restaurants, and a multiplex, there is another area of Ward that may interest the more studious visitor. All one needs to do is head mauka. Thomas Square, a banyan-shaded park, has on three sides, these points of interest.
There is the Honolulu Academy of Arts. As one of Hawai‘i's better-known museums, it houses several collections on permanent display and usually features traveling collections during certain seasons.
On the same grounds as the Academy is the Doris Duke Movie Theater, which screens foreign films and films with historical, political, or cultural merit. The theater is also the departure point for an exclusive tour of the Doris Duke estate. Duke's Shangri La is 5-acre waterfront estate strewn with Islamic art collected by the late heiress-philanthropist.
Next is the Linekona Art Center, which has a small gallery with revolving exhibits, which are rather unique. What you may also find on display are the works of art created by the children who enroll in Linekona's art classes.
Lastly, but certainly not least, you can enjoy a live concert or some other performance at the Neal Blaisdell Center.
Makiki
The Contemporary Museum is the only museum in Hawai‘i devoted to only contemporary art. The collection is housed in the historic Cooke-Spalding House. After the exhibits, you can eat at The Contemporary Café; check out a book at the Cades Library; peruse The Museum Shop, for one-of-a-kind gifts and souvenirs; or wander the award-winning, meditation and sculpture gardens, Nu‘umealani (Hawaiian for "Heavenly Terrace").
Kapalama
The Bishop Museum was by Charles Bishop his wife,. The museum created to honor Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, last scion of the royal Kamehameha family, is the largest in the State. It houses the princess's extensive collection of Hawaiian artifacts and royal family heirlooms, and in the years since its founding, has added millions of artifacts, documents, and photographs about Hawai‘i and other Pacific Island cultures, and has amassed one of the largest collections of natural history specimens in the world. It is the premier natural and cultural history museum in the Pacific.
[Include section on the Planetarium?]
Pearl Harbor Historic Sites
Embodied here are three milestones of World War II. You could take a short ferry ride to the USS Arizona Memorial situated above the wreck of the USS Arizona itself. Or get in line for the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park. Commissioned one year to the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, it was dubbed the "Pearl Harbor Avenger." An imposing exhibit is that of a WWII Japanese suicide missile. Also on display are artifacts dating to the Revolutionary War. Finally, you can ride the trolley across the Ford Island Bridge to the Battleship Missouri Memorial for one of the four different tours. Nicknamed the "Mighty Mo," the battleship is the site of Japan's signing of official surrender to the US and the end of WWII.
Waipahu
The Waipahu Cultural Garden Park brings the multicultural plantation era to life through Hawai‘i's Plantation Village, thirty homes in their original condition, from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century.
Windward Community College
On the affiliated campus, there is the Hokulani Imaginarium, a state-of-the-art planetarium and multi-media facility.
North Shore
The North Shore Surf and Cultural Museum has a vintage surfboard collection and other memorabilia reflecting the culture of the islands.
Honolulu Botanical Gardens
Plant lovers can revel in the flora at the Hawai‘i Nature Conservancy and the five Botanical Gardens: Foster (downtown Honolulu), Ho‘omaluhia (Kane‘ohe), Koko Head Crater, Lili‘uokalani (North Kuakini Street, Honolulu), and Wahi‘awa, where many of Hawai‘i's indigenous plant species are cared for and on display. And there is the Halawa Xeriscape Garden, where succulents and other plants suited for arid conditions grow.
- Summer Home
- Visitor Guide Links
- About Summer Sessions
- Transportation in Honolulu
- Points of Interest – Campus
- Points of Interest – Off-Campus
- Area Churches & Campus Ministries
- Useful Weblinks & Contacts
- What Time is it in Hawai‘i?
- Public Events
- Campus Service Links
- Bookstore
- Campus Center Complex
- Campus Security
- Computer Labs
- Disability Access: Kokua Program
- Health Services
- Housing
- Housing Application Form
- Libraries
- Meal Plans
- Parking
- Student Employment/Cooperative Education
- Schedule of Courses