Sorry one vote against polynesian cultural center. It's not really a cultural center more of a theme park. The show is not very professional but similar to a college production, well it is a college production. I have taken people to PCC twice now both times people considered the evening performance a waste of time. One guest grew up on the big island and one guest was from Britain and had no background at all in Hawaiian culture. I enjoyed walking around on the grounds during the day but did not find the hefty entrance fee was warranted for this experience alone. You won't appreciate the food and I have never found the show worth while.

You are doing fine with your selection on Maui. I have only heard good things about OLL.

Old Lahaina Luau does not have a fire knife dancer. For that reason alone, I would skip it.

Polynesian Cultural Center's evening show 'Horizons' is the best show in all of the islands.

Admission to PCC is $50. It includes 'Horizons' a canoe pageant, IMAX, seven villages with shows/demonstrations.

For $30 more, you can get the Ali'i Luau package. It is a good luau, not the best. But with the luau package comes upgraded seats for 'Horizons'.

There is a coupon for $27 in the Entertainment Book for PCC.

So for PCC, you can get two luau package tickets for $133 ($66.50 each).

Thanks for the info on the luaus. It's so hard to decide when one person says something is bad and the next says it was great. I'm considering the Drums of the Pacific show at the Maui Hyatt. Read somewhere on-line that the food is really good...and they have the fire dancing. We don't care if it is authentic Hawaii...we just want good food and the fire dancing. How does the Hyatt luau compare?

My choice on Maui would be Drums of the Pacific.

Sarah: The PCC Luau Show was pretty good, not great, but the Horizons show was outstanding to me! Very proffessionally done!

That said, I disagree with Dusty in that I prefer no fire or knife dances....although amazing in Horizons, the safety girlscout in me gets nervous watching that!
I think guys prefer that more than most of us southernbelles! Ha!

OLL was more my style...relaxing and beautiful beach/water ambience. (Although I still recommend PCC...and I did pay exactly what Dusty said with the coupon!).

Belle.

I'm not trying to burst anyone's bubble here, as I know many visitors enjoy experiencing a luau while in Hawaii. So my point of view is one of a resident as opposed to a visitor.

Someone once asked if I took the Moulin Rouge show tour or something like that when I went to Paris. My reply was why would I do that, it's like traveling to Hawaii, getting on a bus and attending a commercial luau.

As a resident I would much rather go to Chai's Bistro, Kapono's or even the lounge at the Moana Hotel and listen to real Hawaiian music. I think two 20 somethings might enjoy that a lot more. Likewise for dining I would rather go to Ono Hawaiian Food, Helena's or Leong's and eat authentic Hawaiian food. Just my 2 cents for what it's worth.

Other than that it sounds like you have a terrific vacation planned, have a great trip.

curiousgeo - Your suggestion is also good. Duke's is my favorite.

pianograd - You can use the $27 coupon for PCC for any priced admission. So if you want to buy the $50 tickets, you can get them for $36.50 each. That's a great deal for several Polynesian shows including 'Horizons'.

curiousgeo: That is a good idea, but why can't you plan to do both...that's what we did! Since it was our 1st time to HI, I really wanted to do OLL and PCC!

Having experienced both of them AND multi smaller hula dance celebrations (almost all the hotels and some other places seem to offer this experience), I was alittle hula'd out by the end of the vacation. Always with the same or similar menu.

That said, we did enjoy some local cuisine and would probably spend more time doing that next time...but I don't regret anything we did!


Belle

Old Lahaina is an amazing luau in a gorgeous setting with interesting buffet style food. Here's your chance to try poi (just kidding around). Arriving early you can watch them dig up the pig. The show is of outstanding quality. They offer non-alcoholic beverages along with cocktails (I don't imagine this much effects the price of the event overall).

As mentioned the Polynesian Cultural Center is a Mormon church money making venture, that is a problem for some of us. Fire eating or not, I would skip this one because it is too expensive and too Disney-esque IMO.

Suze - I like your posts over the past several months, especially considering both of us always recommend Oahu.

But I do have a question.

Why do you not like the Mormon religion (I am not religious at all)? PCC supports kids trying to get a college education that otherwise may not be able to attend college.

To me, the Mormon church is no different than any other church. (I don't like any of them). But they all have a place and for the most part give value & virtue to our society. (except for a few really crazy so called religions)

PCC is a nice inexpensive place where anyone can experience Polynesian dancing and other aspects of Polynesian countries for 1/2 the cost ($36.50 with the Entertainment coupon) of any other of any other venue. And with PCC's luau package, it is still the same or less than many luaus.

Dusty - I mean no offense here, but your constant touting of PCC over any other luau/Polynesian show in the islands is becoming akin to advertising. I know your wife and daughter work(ed) there, and I also agree with you that the show is excellent, but their food [-X has always been mediocre to terrible at best. So to be fair, perhaps you should also mention that when you push PCC.

About your fixation with the Fire Knife Dancers...were you possibly a pyromaniac in a former life?(just kidding... :-d really...)
((S))((*))

Kamahinahoku
Neither my ex-wife nor my daughter has ever worked at PCC. Nor do I have any affiliation with PCC. Nor do I even know anyone who works at PCC.

My posts about PCC come from my own experience of seeing PCC as a whole entertaining day with several shows including Horizon and their Ali'i Luau.

I don't believe I have ever said much more about the Ali'i Luau other than it is a good show and with the luau package comes better seats for Horizons which is a great show.

I don't think I've recommended PCC any more than anyone else has with OLL.

I've made price comparisons, etc.

The show on Maui that my ex-wife and daughter worked at was the Maui Marriott and I have never recommended that show to anyone. I did mention that there are coupons in brochures and the Entertainment Book for the Marriott.

The show that I've recommended on Maui has been Drums of the Pacific at the Hyatt because I know many people that have recommended that luau because of the fire-knife dancing as being the best on Maui.

So, if you are to complain about my posts, at least be accurate about your statements.

pianograd: I think once you start exploring the islands, going to a luau will be far, far down on your to-do list. Especially if you two don't drink alcohol.

Good surf comes and goes year-round in Hawaii. Winter often brings monster waves to the north shores, which are fun to watch but are in no way surfable for mere mortals.

If you're looking for things to do early in the morning when you first arrive on Oahu, that's the best time of day to go up Diamond Head. By mid-morning the throngs arrive, and the experience is a lot less enjoyable. Actually early morning is a great time to see most tourist attractions (Pearl Harbor/USS Arizona memorial etc).

fdecarlo: Thanks for the comments. We agree that our plans will definitely change once we arrive, so that's why we're not so dead-set on planning an itinerary.

dusty: Your information has been so informative. Thanks for taking the time to give educated replies to all my stupid questions.

My friend and I sat down today to look through all the posts to my message on here and a couple of Hawaii books from the bookstore that I had already read. Here's our list of plans for our 10-day trip.

On Oahu:
(staying in a small beach house right on the water)
1. Go to Pearl Harbor and USS Arizona Memorial the day after arriving in Hawaii
2. Snorkel at Hanauma Bay one morning
3. Drive to the North Shore and spend the day at the beaches in that area
4. Possibly do a half-day activity at Kualoa Ranch, which is right near where we're staying
5. Maybe hike Diamond Head - not a must-see for us...we'll play that one by ear

Definitely plan to rent a kayak at some point and just enjoy another part of the water.

On Maui:
(staying in a condo in Lahaina)
1. Spend one day exploring the Road to Hana
2. Hike to Waimoku Falls
3. Go to the Drums of the Pacific luau at the Hyatt
4. Spend lots of time on the beach and in the water
5. Parasailing - definitely a must...neither of us have ever done it...where could it possibly be better than Hawaii!?
6. Maybe drive up to Haleakala, but again...we live in the mountains...we're going to Hawaii for the ocean and beaches...we'll do this if we really want to once we get there.

We return to Oahu for one night before leaving, and we're planning to stay at Outrigger Waikiki and do souvenir shopping around the area before leaving for the mainland late the next night. We wanted to plan a nice place to stay for our last night in Hawaii without totally blowing up our budget. $100 saved is $100 towards activities!

The only lingering question I have is about the rental car. We had reserved an SUV for Oahu and a convertible for Maui. Definitely will do the convertible so we can have the top down for the Hana trip. Are there places we can explore with an SUV that we can't with a regular car? Just not sure about the extra rental cost to step up to the SUV...plus the gas prices! We could spend so much extra just in gas for an SUV! Any suggestions?

Once again...thanks for so much help on this trip. We leave in 10 days with a lot of confidence in our plans, and loads of thanks and appreciation to each of you!

There may be some places on Oahu that you can drive an SUV where you cannot drive a regular car. But, I don't know of any.

Sorry Dusty - I wasn't really complaining about your posts. I rather enjoy them, actually. You're very concise and often offer excellent websites for comparison. I guess when I read your suggestions about luaus, I remember you touting PCC a lot. But if you say that's incorrect...I'll accept your word on that.

And yes, I was wrong about where your wife and daughter worked.

But I will admit to teasing you about your "obsession" with fire knife dancers...
((S))((*))

I totally forgot...I was going to buy the Entertainment Book for Hawaii, and it slipped my mind. Is there any way to purchase it last minute? It's Friday, and we leave on Tuesday for Honolulu. Would I be able to buy it once I get there?

dusty56438: do you know if there's any place that I can get an entertainment book once I get to Hawaii? too late now to order one.