Concrete hotel towers stand close behind a wide sand beach, with palms along Kalakaua Avenue and Diamond Head at the far end.
What Waikiki looks like
Kalakaua Avenue is the main street of the strip, lined with tall concrete hotel towers and palm trees. Most of the high-end hotels and luxury designer stores are on it. The has concrete wings on each side that give it an H-shaped plan, and the Royal Hawaiian is a six-story pink stucco hotel.
The beach is wide and sandy in front of the towers, with palm trees along its edge. An outrigger canoe lies on the sand, and a catamaran sits offshore. Diamond Head sits at the east end of the strip.
Most of the condominiums date from the 1960s and 1970s. The Rainbow Tower at the has a ceramic tile rainbow mosaic on its facade, and the Hilton Grand Vacations Club Hokulani has a blue glass panel running up its front.
A multi-story building is lit in blue and white at night. A tall concrete tower stands beside palm trees on an asphalt road under an overcast sky, and towers stand along the marina under dark clouds. A red tour bus with tropical illustrations passes palms and hotel buildings on an urban street.
is a two-story hotel of six low-rise buildings centered around an outdoor sundeck and pool. is a 12-story residential co-op built in 1955.
Shot in Waikiki
The CBS series Hawaii Five-0 shot scenes at the Hilton Hawaiian Village from 2010 to 2020. The series used the Rainbow Tower and the resort's pool and lagoon. Hawaiian Eye, the ABC series that ran from 1959 to 1963, used the Hilton only for second-unit footage.
Lilo & Stitch, 2025
The live-action Lilo & Stitch shot on site on Waikiki Beach in 2025. Hotel towers stand behind the sand, and Diamond Head shows at the right edge of the frame.
What Waikiki can double for
Surfers Paradise in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Surfers Paradise is a beachfront suburb with high-rise apartments beside a wide surf beach. Its first high-rise went up in 1959, and many tall apartment buildings followed in the decades after. Australian road markings and signage give it away at street level, so use beach-side frames. Try searching beachfront high-rise apartments now.
Haeundae Beach in Busan, South Korea
Haeundae is an urban beach with beachfront high-rise towers, several of them visible from the beach. That is the same arrangement of towers and sand as Kalakaua Avenue. Korean signage gives it away in wider views, so frame tight on the sand and the water. Try searching beachfront high-rise towers now.
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