A bronze statue of the renown Hawaiian waterman and Olympic swimming champion Duke Kahanamoku (1890-1968) stands along the shoreline of Waikiki where Duke grew up surfing, swimming, and paddling outrigger canoes.
The 9-foot (2.7-m) bronze statue shows Duke welcoming and in with open arms, symbolic of his lifelong theme of sharing Hawaii’s aloha with the world.
The Duke Kahanamoku Statue is located on Kalakaua Ave. along Waikiki Beach across the street on the east (Diamond Head) side of the Waikiki Beach Center next to the Waikiki Police Station and from the Hyatt Regency.
Duke Kahanamoku began the rebirth of Hawaiian surfing in 1905 and later introduced it to other places around the world including Europe, Australia and the United States.
In addition to winning Olympic gold medals in swimming, Duke was also a Hollywood movie actor from 1925 to 1933 and the Sheriff of Honolulu from 1934 to 1960. Duke Kahanamoku was designated as Hawaii’s official “ambassador of aloha.”