O'ahu is with nearly a million inhabitants the most populated Hawaiian island. The island is nicknamed the Heart of Hawai'.

Honolulu, the state capital  is located at the southeast side of O'ahu.

It's deepwater port Pearl Harbor is home to the mighty US Navy Pacific Fleet.

 

The Kingdom of O'ahu lasted from the 11th till the end of the 18th century, after which it fell to Kahekili II of Maui and shortly after that to Kamehameha I who founded the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1810.

 

O'ahu is known for  the infamous Pearl Harbor attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy in December 1941 and the famous Waikiki Beach.

 

A lesser known fact is that with 200 days, Oahu holds the world record for longest continuous rain period. That puts the other nickname 'Rainbow State', in another perspective.

 

We were on O'ahu in Feb 1995 and visited the USS Arizona Memorial and the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum.

 

To top it off we watched a really spectacular sunset at Waikiki Beach.