San Francisco Chronicle:  Obama among wave of world leaders heading to Hawaii
Jeanne Cooper, Special to SFGate

At first blush, the Nov. 7-13 Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Meeting, or APEC for short, seems like any other really large conference to hit the Hawaii Convention Center: 10,000 participants, another 10,000 family members happy to go with them and a sudden increase in the population willing to show them a good time.

But add in 21 heads of state — from President Barack Obama and W's good buddy Putin to less headline-hogging leaders from Papua New Guinea, "Chinese Taipei" and New Zealand —and you also suddenly have a need for greater security than the, say, 10,000 attendees of the American Psychiatric Association who were there in May, or the 1,400 there now for the Society of American Foresters. And the latter haven't had their every move covered by 2,000 members of international media, who are also expected in Honolulu for APEC.

The lagoon facing the JW Marriott Ihilani and the new Disney Aulani resort (center) will be restricted to guests only during the Nov. 13 APEC meeting of world leaders, but it's normally open to the public.

Photo: Jeanne Cooper / SFGate