Oahu Factoids

There are many ways to split up Oahu by region, with each guidebook and website drawing their own lines. Why is there such a disparity and how can it easily be described? Well, Oahu is a single county politically divided into six districts, starting in the north and moving clockwise: Ko’olauloa, Ko’olaupoko, Kona, Ewa, Wai’anae, and Wai’alua. Here you can see an image of the District Map.

It seems simple enough until you start to describe what's in each area and/or how to get to certain locations. For example, it makes the most sense to refer to the Kona district as the Waikiki and Honolulu region since it is highly recognizable and the hub of visitor activity. The same holds true for the Wai’alua district which we refer to as the North Shore because this nickname is widely known. To the modern day traveler the district names serve no practical purpose.

The remedy then is to find a way to divide the island into segments that are easy to recognize, describe, and access via the major roads of the island.

Our way is pretty simple and it's a method we've followed religiously in all of our physical guidebooks. We like to take the North, East, South, and West approach and we've stayed as true as possible to that format here online (see the map above). In general, we've adjusted some region names as needed and kept others to preserve common reference. For example, we refer to west Oahu's coast as 'Wai’anae (Leeward)' instead of 'West Oahu' because it is almost always referred to as such on the island.

Ultimately, we've divided the island in a manner that helps us group spots together so that they are easily accessible along the major routes of the island. This allows us to use our mile by mile directions to easily and accurately describe each spot here on our website.

The island can be divided into five regions: Waikiki and Honolulu, The North Shore, Central Oahu, Wai`anae (Leeward) Region and East (Windward) Region. Within these five areas is a diverse offering of beauty, history, culture and excitement which makes Oahu one of the most visited islands.

Oahu may be number three in size among its fellow islands in the Hawaiian chain, but it is first in population. Nearly 900,000 people share Oahu’s 600 square miles of mountains and beaches – that’s three-quarters of the state’s population. Almost half inhabit the bustling city of Honolulu and nearby resort town of Waikiki.

Oahu, also known as “the gathering place,” is made up of two separate but overlapping volcanoes, known as a volcanic doublet. Its asymmetrical butterfly shape is formed by two mountain ranges: the Waianae Range in the west and the Ko’olau Range in the east. Slicing through the center is the flat Leilehua Plateau. Recent, geologically speaking, volcanic eruptions in the southeastern portion of the island which formed the Diamond Head, Koko Head and Punchbowl craters can be blamed for Oahu’s uneven shape.