Oahu is called the "Gathering Place" because it is the crossroads of the Pacific and home to Honolulu, the capital. Roughly 800,000 people live here and five times that many visit annually. Honolulu International Airport is the hub.

The names Pearl Harbor, Waikiki and Honolulu evoke images in everyone's mind. Yet first time visitors are invariably impressed with the diversity of experiences. There are museums, aquariums, gardens and multicultral classes.

There is a major university, sporting events, historical sights and a cosmopolitan atmosphere in an exotic setting. Diamond Head looms over Waikiki, a feast for the senses. On the other side of Diamond Head is a different world.

There is Koko Head Crater, Hanauma Bay, an underwater park, Sea Life Park, and that's just a start. The surfing is at the North Shore, there are bedroom communities on the windward side, temples in the hills, views around every turn in the road.