The Haunted Moana Surfrider Hotel
The Haunted Moana Surfrider Hotel
The Haunted Legacy of Waikiki’s First Lady
The sea whispers to the shore at Waikiki, but beneath the lull of waves lies something older… something watching.
Often dazzled by its grand columns and ocean views, guests at the Moana Surfrider Hotel rarely suspect they’ve stepped onto sacred and blood-soaked ground. Nicknamed The First Lady of Waikiki, the Moana opened in 1901 and brought with it a tide of tourism that forever changed the islands. Royals and celebrities passed through its halls—Edward, Prince of Wales, and aviator Amelia Earhart among them. But some visitors, it seems, never left.
The hotel’s security log (kept quiet, but very real) details decades of paranormal sightings, cold spots, and inexplicable sounds, making the Moana Surfrider Hotel one of the most haunted hotels in Hawaii.
One name echoes often: Jane Stanford. The co-founder of Stanford University died under mysterious circumstances, poisoned by strychnine in 1905. Some say her final days brought her here, seeking rest after a previous attempt on her life, but she got much more than she bargained for. Many people claim that her spirit returned after death. Guests and staff whisper of a woman in Victorian-style dress drifting down hallways, vanishing before she reaches the banyan tree.
But Jane Stanford’s ghost is not alone.
Long before the Moana’s verandas overlooked the Pacific, this site held Oahu’s most important heiau: Apuakehau. It was here that Kaihikapu a Kakuhihewa, younger brother to Oahu’s high chief, exacted a brutal revenge against the Maui ali‘i. After defeating the invading forces, he executed their leader, Kauhiakama, and left his body on the sacred altar as a warning. Because a person’s bones contain his mana, his spiritual essence, this was a great dishonor. Even worse, Kauhiakama’s bones were turned into fishhooks and ceremonial tools. His skull, a vessel for waste—the ultimate insult.
Today, Apuakehau is gone, buried beneath concrete and colonial grandeur. But something remains. Guests have reported glimpsing a tall Hawaiian man in an ‘ahu‘ula, a grand feathered cape, standing near the edge of the grounds, just at the corner of one’s sight. Regal. Silent. Watching.
Janitors refuse to clean certain parts of the hotel at night. One saw the figure by a column and dropped his mop, never to return. Is it Kauhiakama, condemned to walk the place of his desecration? Or some other aliʻi spirit, restless beneath the weight of a forgotten history?
Waikiki may glitter with the promise of paradise, but the haunted Moana Surfrider Hotel holds more than luxury behind its doors. The ghosts here don’t perform. They linger. They remember.
And if you stay long enough… you just might see them, too.
The Secrets of Haunted Honolulu Linger On
If stories of ghostly guests and ancient warriors have stirred your curiosity, it’s time to experience the real thing. Join us on a Waikiki Night Marchers ghost tour and walk through the shadows of haunted Waikiki, where echoes of the past still linger. Stories from haunted resorts in Hawaii to the chilling presence of night marchers, our tours reveal the truth behind supernatural Honolulu. Discover the spirits that roam haunted hotels in Hawaii and explore the most haunted places in Honolulu—each stop steeped in legend, mystery, and local truth. Let Mysteries of Hawaii guide you through the unseen.
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*You can read more about the murder of Jane Stanford here at Stanford Magazine and SFGate.