?Mauka? means ?towards the mountains? or ?inland,? and ?makai? means ?towards the ocean.? ?Diamond Head? means ?towards Diamond Head,? a prominent landmark on the island of Oahu, and ?ewa? means ?towards Ewa Beach,? an area located in West Oahu.

How are they used?

In everyday conversation, the word ?mauka? is roughly equivalent to ?north.? Let's say you and your family are staying in a hotel one block away from Waikiki Beach. Your hotel room, then, is one block mauka of Waikiki Beach. (Incidentally, the first syllable ?mau? is pronounced like the English word ?cow? and sounds very similar to the first half of the word ?mountain? which is a handy way to remember the word's meaning.)

Rather than ?south? or ?southern,? locals generally use the word ?makai,? as in, ?The Duke Kahanamoku Statue is located on the makai side of Kalakaua Ave? or, in other words, the side of the street closest to the ocean.

Generally, the word ?ewa? corresponds to ?west.? For example, Pearl Harbor is located ewa of Waikiki, or you might hear one of the workers at your hotel say, ?The entrance to the hotel parking structure is on the ewa end of the building.?

?Diamond Head,? the opposite of ?ewa,? roughly equates to ?east? in everyday terms.
For instance, setting out from Waikiki one heads ?Diamond Head? to get to Hanauma Bay.

And There You Have It - Until next time,

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