"Here are two
special reasons why I like and live in Waimanalo. 
The “Ohana” or Family Culture
If you live in Waimanalo it is a very special experience; the entire community operates as a family with most of your friends being addressed as cousins or “Cuz”. The elders are called “Uncles” and “Aunties” by all of the younger people, regardless of blood relations. These titles actually represent respect for the elders by the young folks. A typical greeting between two people, no matter the age, is a hug and kiss, male to female and vice-versa. The men usually greet each other with a full clasp handshake and a pat on the back simulating a half-hug. In the greeting, they may address each other as “Brada” for brother and “Sista” for sister. The tradition for meeting and greeting each other is a very sincere and warm “hello”.
With this relationship in mind, the neighbors are very close knit with each other, walking in or through another person’s yard without opposition. On occasion, if a person is working in his or her yard, it is not strange for a neighbor or friend of the family to come into the yard and start working, inviting them to help with the chores.
Many of the families hold a large Hawaiian festival or “luau” to celebrate a number of special occasions like marriage, a one-year old baby party, graduation from high school or college or someone’s birthday or funeral. For most occasions, you do not have to be formally invited to the party to attend. The host may just call your family and say, “We are having a party and you are all invited.” Or, if the noise of the party is too loud, you would walk over and invite yourself instead of suffering the loud, party noise in the isolation of your own home.
Sometimes when people shop at stores, they buy “extras” and then walk over to the neighbor’s home and share what they have. Or, the wife may feel inclined to bake for the family and in turn, will bake extra items to share with the neighbors. Special days like Thanksgiving find many neighbors inviting each other to share in the dinner, for no special reason except to share. When needed, the term “Neighbors” take on a special meaning when a person’s home is damaged by a storm and repairs are done by many of the residents coming to help a friend in trouble.
The idea behind all of this dialogue is that you would do all of these good deeds for members of your own family or “Ohana”, the Hawaiian word for “Family.” For reasons such as this, many residents never move away from the neighborhood if they own their homes. All of my neighbors have been there for the past sixty years, in a neighborhood whose age is about 65 years old. We have watched many people pass on and new ones take their place. I guess you can call this the Waimanalo “Life Cycle.”
Waimanalo Beach
This is a long, white, pristine beach on the coast bordering Waimanalo and extends from Makapu’u Beach Park down to Bellows Air Force Station, approximately 4.5 miles long. The beach is composed of soft sand that becomes a comfortable sand chair or bed, covered by a towel. You can dig for sand crabs, sand turtles or wade on the shore for sea shells that roll in with the tide.
The water temperature is approximately 75 degrees for most of the entire year, making it a very attractive place for swimming or sun tanning all year long. You can swim as far as two miles out in clear water before you hit the reef and the not-so-deep green water then turns to a deep blue ocean. If you know the fishing spots, you can dive for a variety of fish or squid using a Hawaiian Sling spear. If not, you can join the many patient fishermen who cast their lines from the shore and wait patiently for the fish to bite.
Depending on the tide, the water may be listless and low, or, may be rough and excellent for body surfing in the high tide. The tide may also vary along the same shore, bringing in your surfers, body surfers, and swimmers for exercise, kayak paddlers, one-man canoes and canoe regattas twice a year depending on the association that is hosting the contest.
I live directly across the street from the beach so this is where I learned to swim, dive for fish, body surf and dig for crabs. The beach provides a very exhilarating walk in the early morning, pre-sunrise hours. It also makes for a romantic, moon-lit reflection on the water as you walk with your special companion be it your spouse or just a friend.
Waimanalo is a very special place to live. There are many more reasons why I love to live here; these have just been two of them."
Wilson Kekoa Ho, Branch Manager, American Savings Bank and Chairperson (10 years), Waimanalo Neighborhood Board.