Waikiki Beach at Cape Disappointment, Washington, was named after a tragic maritime incident involving a Hawaiian sailor. In 1811, during an expedition by John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company, a Hawaiian sailor's body washed up on this small cove after his ship was wrecked while attempting to cross the treacherous Columbia River Bar.
In honor of this unnamed Hawaiian sailor, who was buried on the beach, the location became known as "Waikiki Beach", and is now a small cove within Cape Disappointment State Park. It has become a photographer's favorite spot for capturing spectacular wave crashes against the cliffs, with the picturesque Cape Disappointment Lighthouse in the background.