Polynesian Cultural Center, Oahu

The Polynesian Cultural Center is located on Oahu’s northeastern coast near the town of Laie and consistently rates as one of Oahu’s top tourist attractions. This 42-acre (170,000 m²) open-air park offers visitors an exciting day chockfull of adventure, education and entertainment.

 

The Polynesian Culture and Dances

 

Visitors can walk through the park grounds, which is like a living museum, and learn about the following eight Polynesian cultures that are featured at the Center: Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, the Marquesas, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and Hawaii. Traditional villages are located throughout the park that represent each culture; and as visitors make a stop-over in each village, they can view and take part in the varied cultural demonstrations. Visitors can explore educational exhibits, witness live dance performances and take a leisurely canoe ride in the park’s lagoon. Those who are seeking a more-hands-on experience can learn how to make traditional arts and crafts, get a temporary Polynesian tattoo, take a mini hula-dancing lesson and much, much more.

 

Every day from 2:30-3:00 pm, the Polynesian Cultural Center showcases a stunning dance performance called Rainbows of Paradise, in which local islanders dressed in traditional costumes perform a variety of Polynesian dances. After the show, visitors can hop over to the center’s 600-seat IMAX™ Theater to watch Coral Reef Adventure, a breathtaking hour and forty-five minute long 3-D film, which features the magnificent coral reefs in the South Pacific. The film is shown four times a day (once in Japanese) on a screen that measures 65 feet in height and 95 feet in width.

 

At 5 pm, as evening approaches, the Polynesian Cultural Center hosts its nightly luau, a traditional Polynesian feast that no visitor to Hawaii should miss. This particular luau is renown throughout Oahu for both its delicious cuisine and its great entertainment. Those who have a taste for adventure can sample the mouthwatering exotic fare, including kalua pig (roasted in an underground oven), lomi lomi salmon, mahi mahi (island fish), poi (a Polynesian island staple made from taro roots) and haupia (coconut pudding). American food is also available for those with less adventurous palates. Alternately, visitors may also choose to dine at the Center’s restaurant.

 

After sufficiently gorging themselves on luau food, visitors can conclude their Polynesian evening by watching Horizons, a world-famous, award-winning night show that takes place in the Polynesian Cultural Center’s Pacific Theater, which seats 2,800 viewers. The show lasts 90 minutes and features a cast of 100 performers, making it the largest night show Oahu has to offer.