December 26, 2018

Today we set aside an entire day in order to immerse ourself in Polynesian culture. We will be honest, we weren’t sure what to expect and we really didn’t think that we needed to spend the an entire day here. BUT! Seriously guys, we couldn’t have been more wrong.

The Polynesian Cultural Center is a really unique place where visitors get to learn about and experience the different Polynesian cultures in many different ways. The center is located on the North Shore of Oahu and is set up similar to a theme park. Although, I don’t like calling it that because it is so much more. But this is the best way I can describe it to someone who has never been before. This cultural center is so unique and amazing because it allows visitors to dive deep into the culture of six different Polynesian cultures through simulated traditional villages: Hawaii, Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, Aotearoa (New Zealand), & Fiji.

Here is a map of the center.

Also! They have a free app which is super easy to use and SUPER helpful for making sure you get the most out of your day.

There a number of different ticket options for getting into the center. Many of them include admission into the center, a buffet dinner or luau, and tickets to the evening show. There are different price ranges and also different luaus so you have to make sure you read though the details and pick the experience right for you. We did Ali’i Luau Package and added on transportation from and back to our hotel which was very nice. This package included tickets into the villages, seating at the biggest Luau they offer, and floor seating for the evening show which was aaaaaamazing (more on that later.)

So, our day started out around 10 am as a comfortable coach bus picked us up right outside of our hotel. We had a very nice tour guide on the bus who kept us very entertained along the hour ride drive. One thing he really did emphasize is how in Hawaiian culture family is very important. So, the entire time he was calling all of us his “cousins” and this actually really stuck with Gustavo as he literally was calling everyone his cousin the rest of the trip. What he also shared with us is, which is super awesome, is that a majority of the center’s employees are actually students at BYU-Hawaii and the profits from the center actually fund various scholarship programs at the college. So, as visitors go the center and get to experience all of the great activities it has to offer, they are even help send many people to school. Even more of a reason to visit this amazing place.

After hearing about all of the amazing things the center has to offer from our guide, we were eager to see it for ourselves! Once we got to the center we quickly realized it was going to be so much greater than what we expected. At the entrance are restaurants, small souvenir stores, and the amphitheater where the evening show is held. But if you keep following the yellow petals you come to the admission gate for the different islands. How it is set up is each of the major Polynesian cultures has its own section that is centered on a traditional village. This is what a typical island entrance looks like.

Within these sections, hourly performances and cultural learning experiences take place and visitors get to learn about traditions and the way of the life from people that are actually of that culture. What our tour guide did emphasize is that everything about this center is truly authentic. His example was “this isn’t like Disneyland where you walk up to meet Jasmin and she’s light skinned and from Anaheim.” (Que tourist laughs) And he wasn’t lying. When you walk into these villages and the meet the people of that specific island you can see how happy they are to share with you their culture. They are all dressed in traditional clothing of their island and there are many hands-on activities set up throughout each island for visitors to participate in and try.

This was on the island of Tahiti where Gustavo tried his hand at spear throwing. They had coconuts set up on poles and guests were able to try to get as close to the coconut as they could. (I say that because nobody I saw got even close to hitting the coconut 😂.)

In Hawaii they had samples of Poi for visitors to try.

We learned that Poi is a Hawaiian dish made from the Taro plant (known in Hawaii as Karo) and traditional poi is made by mashing the plant in this pounder. The lady told us how she loves to put it over chicken or beef and it is the go-to starch for many Hawaiians.

We spent more time exploring the section of Hawaii and these were some of the interesting things we saw.

My advice would be make time to see the cultural presentations for each island. They are VERY cool and teach you sooo much that you can’t really get by just walking around yourself.

One of the main events throughout the day was the “Huki” canoe show. It tells a story celebrating how the Pacific Ocean pulls us all together as one family and also showcases the signature dances of each Polynesian culture.

Around 6pm it was time for our Ali’i Luau (“Royal Feast”) and we enjoyed a beautiful buffet dinner accompanied with a show full of dance and song.

Finally, probably my favorite part of the day, is the evening show called “Hā – Breath of Life.” Make sure you purchase tickets to this show because it is literally so amazing and sends you on a journey like no other.

It is a live performance casted by many of the people you saw throughout the day and over 100 Polynesian natives. This show captures the importance of family, love, culture, & tradition and includes Polynesian dance, music, and fireknives.

Pictures or videos were not allowed during the show, and I wouldn’t want to ruin anything for you, but it was literally just too amazing not to capture the moment. So, here’s a sneak shot.

We also got to take pictures with some of the cast members after the show and congratulated them on such an amazing performance.

After the show we headed back on the bus and had a nice relaxing ride home. You really get to reflect on everything you learned throughout the day and everything that you just experienced all sort of sinks in. A single day was not close to enough time to get to explore the center as much as we would have liked and we left wanting to learn more. Gustavo also admitted that he may not have been the most excited about this activity when we left the hotel in the morning. However, by the end of the day he was just as grateful as I was for the entire experience.

Mahalo to all the people from the cultural center who allowed us the opportunity to dive deep into their culture. 💕🙏🏽💫

Gratefully,

Tavo & Esper