http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/12/travel/soaking-up-waikiki-surfing-to-sunsets-for-a-song.html 2014-10-07 20:02:16 Soaking Up Waikiki, Surfing to Sunsets, for a Song Tips for making the most of a budget-friendly visit to the beachfront neighborhood in Honolulu. === One of the This is all to say that the essential, seductive pleasures of Hawaii are still available to you for a song. Yes, the two-mile stretch of Waikiki’s beachfront is now lined with hotels, and the main promenade, Kalakaua Avenue, is largely reminiscent of an outdoor mall. But amid a sea of exorbitantly priced designer boutiques, I recently found that you can surf dawn patrol ($10), eat fresh pineapple ($3) and hand-pulled noodles ($3.75), bed down in a stylish hotel a block and a half from the beach ($119) and, of course, soak in million-dollar views (free). At the end of the day, I had my mai tai ($4) and drank it, too. Last month, I went to visit an old friend of mine who lives in Honolulu. Our first priority, as with many on the beach, was surfing. We rented boards at my favorite beach shack, You might be surprised, as I was, by the occasional platter-size sea turtle swimming beneath the lineup, where surfers are positioned to catch a wave. On the water, time passes not in hours or minutes, but in the space between waves, the lulls between sets. There’s time to notice the water curling, the reef skimming below, the other surfers paddling over the crest. After surfing, we were ravenous, so we headed to The zaru udon, served cold with a dashi dipping sauce, was $3.75 (we each got a “small” bowl, which is plenty hearty). As we moved along the à la carte assembly line, we also ordered chicken, shrimp and asparagus tempura (starting at $1.50 a piece) and Spam musubi, a Hawaiian staple ($1.75; wrapped up like a gift and presented still warm, it makes for a great takeaway snack). The noodles were perfectly chewy and filling, and I’ve never had better or crispier chicken tempura. Total for the two of us, with drink: $17.53. Walking is the best way to get around pedestrian-friendly Waikiki, but And don’t miss the second-floor Yataimura food court, which offers Tokyo street eats (ramen, bento, sashimi, tonkatsu) and a beer garden with happy-hour pints for $1 starting at 5:30 p.m. The pleasure of this store comes from all the eye candy on display, edible or not: I love how fish-scale patterns in the stationery section are echoed upstairs in the food stalls. As is often the case in tourist-heavy spots, lodging can be tricky. I recommend the new The panorama from the Shoreline’s roof consists mostly of air shafts and parking lots, so I went in search of better. A beachside happy hour with an astounding view of Diamond Head — the sloping volcanic tuff cone that is one of Hawaii’s most famous landmarks — can be found from 2 to 5 p.m. at the If you want to diversify your drinking, come back at 9:30, when the free nightly karaoke gets cranking, along with drink and bar food specials that include $4 draft beers (like Kona Longboard Lager), $5 well cocktails and house wines, and beef sliders with fries for $8.95 (throw in an extra buck and they’ll make the burgers with mahi-mahi). So-called Another good option is My favorite frugal picnic plan, though, involves roaming the I took it with me to go, because I didn’t want to miss the best thing in Waikiki: the sunset, which, of course, is always free.