Lost was filmed almost entirely on Oahu, and many of the show's stars still call the island home. Oahu's thick rainforests and picturesque beaches are prominently featured, and many Honolulu locations served as a stand-in for other areas (including the United States, Australia, United Kingdom, and South Korea).

What is now beautiful Waikiki was once a swampy area full of rice paddies, taro fields, and mosquitoes. To get rid of the mosquitoes, islanders created the Ala Wai canal. The project took about seven years, from 1921 to 1928. Once the canal was completed, the marshland was drained.

Duke Kahanamoku was born to a minor noble family less than three years before the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. A powerful swimmer, he easily qualified for the U.S. Olympic swimming team, winning gold medals in 1912 and 1920. Between Olympic competitions, Kahanamoku traveled internationally to give swimming exhibitions. It was during this period that he popularized the sport of surfing, previously known only in Hawaii, by incorporating surfing exhibitions into his tour.

The island constitutes the bulk of Honolulu County, and the state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast.

At 4,003 feet (1,220 m) above sea level, the flat summit of Mount Ka'ala is the highest peak on Oahu. Summiting this peak is no easy task as it requires a brutal 7 mile hike. The FAA maintains an active tracking station at the summit, which is closed to the general public. The tracking station can be clearly seen from afar as a white domed structure.