Hawaii - Oahu

Getting there

Flights take ten hours to California, then another five to Honolulu, plus another flight if you want to explore the other island. United Vacations (www.unitedvacations.co.uk) offer fly-drive holidays to Oahu with optional island hops and sightseeing stopovers in California (LA and San Francisco are the usual airports en route).

Where to play

The pick of more than 30 courses on Oahu are Hawaii Prince and Waikele, both close to Pearl Harbour. Ko Olina is an excellent resort course on the south west coast that often hosts tour events. There are two courses at Turtle Bay. The Palmer Course (The Links) and the Fazio Course. Both layouts are challenging in tranquil coastal surroundings, with lots of sand, wind and water.

Ko ?Olau is a spectacular mountainside course carved out of tropical rain forest. Famously tough from the back tees and no pushover from further forward.

Where to stay

Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu is a luxury resort on the edge of five miles of white sandy beach. There?s also a spa to keep golfing widows happy.

Off Course

The Banzai Pipeline is the most famous surfing beach on the Hawaiian Islands, where the helmeted pros congregate for winter competitions with 20ft breakers. Surf rolls in from the north from November to March and from the south in summer. If you stay at Waikiki (south-facing beach) in winter, the sea is likely to be dead flat ? fine for swimming and outrigger canoeing, but no good for learning to surf.

Travel by US Navy shuttle boat to the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbour where this and other battleships were sunk on Dec 7 1941.

Contacts book

Visit www.go-hawaii.com for a comprehensive listing of hotels and golf courses.