Canoe sailing through the canal that runs through the park. Polynesian Cultural Center. O'ahu. O'AHU, THE MYTHICAL ISLAND IN HONOLULU WAIKIKI BEACH. In the days when the chief Kamehameha I arrived on the island, back in 1795, Waikiki was a large fish pond shared with farm fields where cultivated taro, a Polynesian typical plant very much in Hawaiian cuisine.