Okay, it's not Waikiki. It's Prince Kuhio Beach, looking eva towards Waikiki. Just a bit Daimond Head of Waikiki and makai of the zoo and Kapiolani Park, Kuhio Beach is actually much less crowded than Waikiki and far less touristy.

Kuhio Beach is named after the Hawaiian Prince, Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana'ole, who had a house here back in the early part of the 20th century.

What's all this about being 'eva' and 'Diamond Head' and 'makai' of the beach? Well, in Hawaii, directions are often given in terms of a place's location relative to well-known landmarks and your current location. Common landmarks are Eva' (on the other side of Pearl Harbor), mauka (toward the mountains), makai (toward the sea), Diamond Head (toward Diamond Head, of course). So if you're at Kuhio Beach and you want to go to the zoo, you go mauka (toward the mountains). Or you're at the University (in Manoa Valley) and you want to go to Waikiki, you go Makai. Ward Warehouse is eva of Ala Moana Shopping Center. And so on. Since you can usually see the cited landmarks, they are actually easier to understand than compass points. (Which way do you go when you don't know which way east, north, south or west are?)

Two other very common directions are 'leeward' and 'windward.' On O'ahu, these usually have to do with which side of the Ko'olau mountain range you happen to be, and refer to the near-constant tradewinds that blow across the islands from the northeast. Thus, leeward would be on the south/southwest side (the Pearl Harbor side) and windward would be the north/northeast side (the Kailua side). Strictly speaking, Honolulu is on the leeward side of the island, but I don't recall ever hearing the term applied to the city. Honolulu is just Honolulu, I guess.

Oh, this picture? Only the kids in the park just mauka of the beach.