“I’m better than a tour guide… who knows what I am?”… “YES! A REAL Hawaian!”
That’s what he said. And then:
“Best Luaus on the island, who wants to know what they are?”… “Hands down, the best Luau on Oahu is at the Polynesian Cultural Center on the North Shore.”
That’s what he said.
Having been and returned, we are still scratching our heads trying to think of what exactly we saw that would have been the best of it’s kind on Oahu…
The Polynesian Cultural Center is about an hour North of Waikiki on the North Shore. The bus ride is about 2 hours and the cab, which unfortunately and stupidly we took, is about an hour and 10.
The center is huge, kind of like a theme park of little rides, shows, and exhibitions of each of the Polynesian islands in the pacific: Tonga, Samoa, New Zealand, Fiji, Tahiti and of course Hawaii. Imagine a Disneyland of Island Culture with less rides but equally as many tourists. That’s about what you’re getting at the PCC.
When the guy first told us, hearing the name Polynesian Cultural Center I made the mistake of thinking it might be the most authentic most traditional Luau on the island. But no, it not only isn’t, the reverse is true. It would have to be the least authentic, most touristy Luau on the island.
Let me try to quickly give you the experience.
The Luau is not on a beach, but in an auditorium of sorts, with a stage at the front and a seating area full of tables that seats probably 1000 people. We thought it was more like a big cheesy cabaret show than any kind of cultural experience.
The entertain was so so, some of the child dancers were cool, very skilful for their size, but it wasn’t a stage spectacular. The opening “procession” recreating the tribal tradition of the king and queen entering was just very forced, like they had to do it as part of the show, not with any real appreciation of the cultural significance.
The food was ok. Some nice tender pork that was supposedly from the pig that they took from the underground “imu” traditional oven (but we aren’t even sure that actually happened), some decent chicken and some nice coconut pudding, but that’s about it.
All of this took place in a setting of at least one table of senior citizen, uber un appreciative token American tourists complaining that their Hawaian traditional meal didn’t come with any mash potato and their red Koolaid wasn’t tasty enough.
And on top of that, we paid $75 each for it, more than what 2 awesome dinners with drinks at some of the local Waikiki Restaurants would have cost.
At the end of the day, here’s the verdict:
- The Polynesian Cultural Center is certainly not any kind of “traditional” or authentic Luau, BUT if you go there knowing what to expect (that is some mega touristy action), you could enjoy it probably just enough to make it worth your money.
- This isn’t a young people’s experience. Another thing we didn’t realize. This is for old peoples and families.
- If you’re staying at Waikiki, I don’t think it’s worth the hour drive or 2 hour bus trip no matter how old you are.
- I find it REALLY hard to believe that this is actually, in any way the best Luau on Oahu.
There’s so many great things to enjoy on Oahu that unfortunately, for us, the PCC wasn’t worth the time or money. If you’re like us, don’t be concerned if you have to skip it.
