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What is best Luau on Oahu?

riverdees05

riverdees05

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What is the best Luau In Oahu? Taking two daughters to Oahu at the end of May and want them to experience one.
 
riverdees05 said:
What is the best Luau In Oahu? Taking two daughters to Oahu at the end of May and want them to experience one.
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We went to the Luau @ Ko Olina (which is held on Tuesday nights) and it was excellent!

Not cheap, but it's all you can eat and the show was fabulous. No regrets at all.





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We were told the Cheifs Laua is the best and we're going there in Nov.
 
We have only been to Paradise Cove, twice. I wouldn't go again. Too lame. I have heard good things about the luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Though it could be a long drive back to your resort after.
 
The luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center is well presented, and the show is good, but the entire experience for me was pretty underwhelming and "safe." Food was very bland, and served at room temperature. (Or maybe it just had gotten cold by the time we made it through the very long serving line.) For the $80+ per person to attend, I felt it was much ado about not very much. Also, if it matters to you, they don't serve alcohol, because it's run by the Mormon Church. If I was going to do another Oahu luau, I'd look for another location.

The Polynesian Cultural Center itself, however, is well worth seeing.

Dave
 
If in Waikiki, the Hilton is easy to do. Maybe not the best, but the others are a long drive or bus ride from Waikiki. Also, the show on Friday night around the pool is worth a look.
 
Haili's Hawaiian food used to be at the ward farmers market. I understand that it now provides the food for the Diamond Head Luau. We really enjoy the food from Haili's. :whoopie:
DHL is a relatively new comer to the luau scene and it has a few advantages: 1) it's at the Waikiki Aquarium and the ticket could include admission to the aquarium; 2) the food is made by Hailis; and 3) there's a Groupon. My niece and her husband attended and, except for the super sweet mai tais, had a good time. I haven't been but just providing options.
 
zora said:
Haili's Hawaiian food used to be at the ward farmers market. I understand that it now provides the food for the Diamond Head Luau. We really enjoy the food from Haili's. :whoopie:
DHL is a relatively new comer to the luau scene and it has a few advantages: 1) it's at the Waikiki Aquarium and the ticket could include admission to the aquarium; 2) the food is made by Hailis; and 3) there's a Groupon. My niece and her husband attended and, except for the super sweet mai tais, had a good time. I haven't been but just providing options.
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I didn't know about this. It looks better than the Hilton, or it is cheaper than the Hilton with a nicer setting and should be more friendly with a smaller crowd than the one at Hilton. The video is worth a look.

http://www.diamondheadbeachluau.com

To me, if you are staying in Waikiki, the ride out to the other side of the island and being herded around like a bunch of cattle takes a lot of fun out of the evening. if you are in Waikiki, do this or a dinner show at one of the other hotels in Waikiki. If you are at the Marriott or Disney resort go to a Luau out there. If at Turtle Bay go to Polynisian Culture Center.
 
One other thing is to maybe wait and buy tickets during the day of the show or one day in advance after you know the weather is good. We have been to a lot of these on different islands and got rained on a couple of times. They don't cancel and the Luau continues with umbrellas held high.
 
Chief's Luau was great experience for us

It was held at Sea Life Park and we had a rental car. Our party was myself, my mom, sister, niece, brother and brother in law. Our ranges were 5-65 and we all enjoyed this a lot. The following is from a couple years ago, but I hope it helps you. We were there in January 2013 and this was from my TripAdvisor Review:

I felt the Chief was humorous, talented and genuine. The show was fantastic, and the food was good. Definitely enjoyed what was served, and the advice to bringing a light sweater should not be over looked, if you get chilled easily. I was fine, but my mother was freezing. The views, the fire dancers and the hospitality were all excellent. (side note: Fire dancing is not Traditional to Hawaiian Culture)

We had the Royal package, but I think unless you would like to be brought up on stage, the additional expense wasn't necessary. Table service, was just plates made from the buffet for you, so I could have picked what I wanted rather than not eating some of what they brought me.

Truly happy to have experienced this and would return to this luau as it felt more intimate and like family.
 
WaggesAZ said:
It was held at Sea Life Park and we had a rental car. Our party was myself, my mom, sister, niece, brother and brother in law. Our ranges were 5-65 and we all enjoyed this a lot. The following is from a couple years ago, but I hope it helps you. We were there in January 2013 and this was from my TripAdvisor Review:

I felt the Chief was humorous, talented and genuine. The show was fantastic, and the food was good. Definitely enjoyed what was served, and the advice to bringing a light sweater should not be over looked, if you get chilled easily. I was fine, but my mother was freezing. The views, the fire dancers and the hospitality were all excellent. (side note: Fire dancing is not Traditional to Hawaiian Culture)

We had the Royal package, but I think unless you would like to be brought up on stage, the additional expense wasn't necessary. Table service, was just plates made from the buffet for you, so I could have picked what I wanted rather than not eating some of what they brought me.

Truly happy to have experienced this and would return to this luau as it felt more intimate and like family.
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We also enjoyed the Chief's Luau experience very much but also the show at the Polynesian Cultural Center. We never really care for the Luau buffet style dinner and the one we had this year in Maui was really disappointing nor did I like the show but the OP is not asking for Maui.

Since we didn't have a car in Oahu, we did a bus tour for both of them several years apart. One tour mainly went to the Cultural Center in the afternoon and evening for the show and the other bus tour did a circle island tour which was also very interesting because of different stops.

Many years ago we took a regular bus and did a complete loop around the island and stopped where we wanted to stop. It took all day because we had to wait for another bus but we had the time. I don't believe you can do this anymore today but need to take one bus one way and another bus goes the other direction. It may not be a complete loop anymore. You can Google the schedule as it keeps on changing.

It is true that the shows go on in rain or shine. We had so much rain the day we went to the PCC that we had to almost swim to get back to our bus in the big parking lot but we stayed dry during the evening show. The poor dancers, on the stage, were drenched but the torches stayed on during the fire dance performance. I really liked both shows so cannot recommend one over the other.
 
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