Aloha
to you.
A gallery for Duke Kahanamoku, inside the hotel where he and his friends named their surf club.
The gallery
One room on the ground floor of the Moana, a few hundred steps from his statue, and the only gallery authorized to carry his name.
Photographs from Duke’s life run down the long wall. Wooden boards stand in the arched windows. A short film plays in the alcove, with chairs for anyone who wants to sit down and watch.
He grew up at the far end of this beach. He carried surfing from Waikīkī to the world, and then he came home and spent the rest of his life welcoming people to it. This room tries to do the same.
Come in off Kalākaua. Stay as long as you like.
Walk through the galleryInside
Three reasons to come in
The exhibition
Photographs from his life, framed and lit down the long wall. Swimmer, surfer, sheriff, and the man who welcomed the world to Waikīkī.
The boards
Koa and other island woods, leaned rather than hung, the way boards were kept. Some are shaped by island makers and carry their names.
The film
A condensed cut of Waterman, the documentary of his life, runs in the alcove. About ten minutes. There are chairs.
Duke Paoa Kahanamoku · 1890 to 1968
He carried surfing to the world.
Born in the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, raised at Kālia on this shoreline. Olympic swimmer, surfer, Sheriff of Honolulu, and Hawaiʻi’s Ambassador of Aloha.
From the gallery
Carried in the room,
and online
Duke’s creed of aloha
In Hawaiʻi we greet friends, loved ones or strangers with ALOHA, which means with LOVE. ALOHA is the key-word to the universal spirit of real hospitality, which makes Hawaiʻi renowned as the world’s center of understanding and fellowship. Try meeting or leaving people with ALOHA. You’ll be surprised by their reaction. I believe it and it is my creed.
ALOHA to you,Duke Paoa Kahanamoku
- Where
- Moana Surfrider
2365 Kalākaua Avenue, Lobby Suite 3
Waikīkī, Honolulu - Call
- 808.382.5618
- Entry
- Free. You do not have to buy anything.