West (or Leeward) Oahu has the island's "second city"—the planned community of Kapolei, where for years the government has been trying to attract enough jobs to lighten inbound traffic to downtown Honolulu—then continues on past far-flung resorts to the Hawaiian communities of Nanakuli and Waianae, to the beach and the end of the road at Keaweula, aka Yokohama Bay.

Oahu's central plain is a patchwork of old towns and new residential developments, military bases, farms, ranches, and shopping malls, with a few visit-worthy attractions and historic sites scattered about. Central Oahu encompasses the Moanalua Valley, residential Pearl City and Mililani, and the old plantation town of Wahiawa, on the uplands halfway to the North Shore.