The Kahala Hotel & Resort: Luxury Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii

THE KAHALA HOTEL & RESORT opening its doors in 1964, The Kahala Hotel was and is still the Oahu escape for Hollywood stars. Signed portraits line the midcenturymodern halls, from The Rolling Stones and The Beatles to every U.S. president since Lyndon Johnson.

Minutes east of Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head’s volcanic cone, the 10-story icon is easily accessible yet exclusive. From elopements to grand receptions for 300, events can take place anywhere on property, whether under the lagoon waterfall with the hotel’s dolphins whooshing past or on the private “kissing point” facing Oahu’s south shore. 800.367 .2525, kahalaresort.com Vicky Hodges

The Kahala Hotel & Resort: Luxury Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii Photo Gallery

Between these two hillocks is a 7-metre deep valley, with steep walls covered in soft corals and about 50 metres long in an east-west direction. At the western end of the hillocks, the reef and valley carry on for a further 150 metres before terminating at the huge reef called Keen’ys Bus out in the centre of the bay. Except for the two submerged hillocks, most of the ground around the dive site is undulating, smooth, flat rock, but there are some smaller interesting reefs just south of here, containing a few holes and crevices. There are plenty of urchins, a few edible crabs, lots of velvet swimming crabs but very few lobsters. On a flood spring tide, the current can be fairly strong and runs towards the Northern Hares or south towards Crayford’s Gut, depending on where you happen to be on the dive site. It is, though, possible to dive at any state of the tide with care. A word of caution, though: do not moor the diving boat anywhere near this position if there happens to be a northerly swell, because waves of 2-3 metres suddenly build up and curl over the two submerged hills, especially on the lower half of the tide. A number of small rocky mounds covered in kelp, with little walls around them. Shallow depths of only 3-5 metres and with moderate currents at low water, but on the flood, during springs, the tide sweeps strongly towards and around the Northern Hares. Diving here at high tide on the flood is not recommended, because the current runs strongly in three different directions.