Paradise Cove Luau Review

I thought when we booked the luau it seemed expensive but it was a wonderful experience and well worth. I suck at throwing spears though.

Unless you really really want to see their dancing near the end of dinner, it's not worth it. The dancing was great, just the overall setting felt like a tourist trap and it's spendy. The food was fine, but nothing amazing.

Is there any way to give a "Zero Star" Rating??? This was complete and utter rubbish!!! More like "Commercialized Cove" than Paradise Cove...This is NOT a Hawaiian Luau! The food was not even close to 'Traditional' Hawaiian food - you could find the same at a cheap every day smorgasbord. The dances and performances were 'Ok' but they had a very cookie feel and didn't feel very 'Traditional'. In left feeling VERY disappointed and gypped. I don't Recommend this at all - don't waste your money!

My family and I went dec 20th. I have been going here yearly for 20 plus years and I have to say this year was the worse! It felt very rushed. We did not have time to participate in all the activities. The Emu Ceremony was first (always has been last) it was half as long as in the past(very pathetic) People were not seated before the Prayer before dinner. The main show was also shortened. There was another party next door which had a separate ceremony (very distracting) and not fair to all of us. The Fire Dancer was not at all entertaining. I am soooo disappointed this year. The only reason I gave a 3 is because the food was good. We paid FULL price and got HALF

They say drinks are included however you really only get 2

A little disorganized for the buffet and activities for young ones ... but excellent show.

Love the format and location of this luau. Activities before dinner and show are nicely set up and fun to enjoy. We got nice temporary tattoos, threw a spear at a target, watched the throwing and gathering of the fish nets and enjoyed a couple nice cocktails. Dinner had a good variety of food to choose from and was quite tasty. The lines for dinner moved quickly. The show was entertaining- a little brief and did not care for wasted time of audience participation on stage. Would prefer to see more dances and fire work from the performers. Overall a good experience. Would recommend checking it out!

A great evening looking into the Hawaiian culture. Great food and entertainment

Nice event with food, games, boat trips and of course hula dancing. The food was very good, unfortunately somewhat under time pressure. The dances from different Polish tribes were really good. Must have seen.

This was a great time. There were other actities happening at the same time.

Poor quality food, plastic chairs, and little to nothing to do while you wait before the main event

Fun time luau show with dinner.. get highest grade as we got treated like VIP

We took the short show. The activities leading up to the dinner and final show we're okay, but the final show was very good.

It's a really nice location and the dinner show was very entertaining.

Paradise Cove is located on Ko 'Olina, + - 1h from Waikiki, with room for 700 people, and the luau here offers a very cool hula-hula show, typical Hawaiian feasts and a beautiful sunset. .

This place is the best luau on Oahu, especially if you want a great experience without spending a whole day there. It's got a lot of hands on activities and the best food of all the luau.

The luau was amazing. Had so much fun that we even danced on stage

Absolutely loved this place!!!!! Kai was awesome, he made he bus fun and made hilarious jokes and took very good care of us. The sunset was spectacular and the food as well. Would love to go back there, Hawaii is truly the place to be.

It s a full suite of amazing experiences. No regret joining.

Fun games and crafts. Fantastic entertainment and delicious food. Pork, chicken and fish.

We got to eat but the show was cancelled because of rain.

Awesome entertainment family friendly and they have the most amazing shows and food. Also a great place for photos

This is an ok place.

But for the same price, go to the Polynesian Cultural Center, where you have a better luau, a richer cultural experience (with the villages, shows, and all cultural displays) and a wonderful show at Ha - Breath of Life .
In other words, at PCC you have a HOLE day full of great experiences, while at Paradise Cove you have a couple of hours (5 to 8pm) of a so-so luau.
Don t waste your money at Paradise Cove, go to the Polynesian CC.

Free Mai Tai upon entrance, plus one more you can get with a gift card they provided. $9 after that. You learn a tiny bit about the culture, but it's not overwhelming. Pulled pork buffet even had poi. Show was great

Overpriced, crowded, and confusing! The dinner show was fun... but the 2 hours leading up to it not worth the extra cost. The food was mixed. The pork was very good... but the fish was dry. And if you want a cold soft drink... plan on paying top dollar. I would not visit again.

We paid for the deluxe package and it was worth every penny. To miss this experience is to miss a major Oahu attraction. The couple next to were visiting for their second time.

My friend and I booked a reservation a week ago to attend this luau. We paid over the phone to a girl named Jamie, who seemed quite friendly at the time she was taking our money. We meet at the hotel for the shuttle to pick us up and take us to paradise cove. We maybe drove 30-45 min. The weather was rainy that day, but it always rains out there so we didn't really think much of it. When we finally got there we were told, as we were pulling in, that the luau was cancelled due to the storm. So our guide on the bus (who was great btw) tells us how to reschedule for another day or to get a refund call the number asap. Since we were leaving hawaii the next day we had to call the number for a refund. When I call back for the refund Jamie answers again. When I explain the situation to her, she isn't quite as friendly anymore. She just kept repeating over and over again in a snide way, "so you want to cancel then?" And I kept saying "no you guys cancelled, I just need a refund." Again she was " ok, so you want to cancel." I got so annoyed with this rotation, Jamie wasn't letting up I finally said "Sure!" After that she hung up on me. Just click! No thank you, sorry, ok we'll refund you. Glad we didn't go now. And probably never will now. And I don't care. Thanks Jamie

A very nice place to see the sun set. When we were watching beautiful Hawaiian sun set a man proposed to a girl!!!!! Everyone was applouding to them . That was so romantic and even magical!!!
Show is also very good. Dancing and the man with fire were interesting to watch.

My Family and I had a great time at Paradise Cove Luau, the sunset was Spectacular

The entertainment is top notch and the food is delicious. Friendly service, too.

Enjoy everything, starting off with host on the bus. She was very entertaining,& made our ride pleasurable. Luau was very nice food was good.

It was a very cool experience the food wasn't the best tho!

The food was good but if you are not into touristy attractions skip it ;)

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This has been our only Luau experience so I cannot comment on other luaus.

They offer bus transportation from Waikiki. We drove there, they do have free parking.

We arrived at 5pm, the entrance was easy, a short cue because they take your picture at the entrance. They have free alcoholic and a non alcoholic punch at the entrance.

Inside they have a gift shop, a cocktail bar and several little stations were you learn how to make a flower bracelet or take pictures with exotic birds or the ocean as a back drop.
They have the pork ceremony, which is just a dance and then they take the cooked pork around for everybody to see.
The food was okay. Not great not terrible.
Then the main show begins At about 7 and is an array of dances. The fire dance is the last and the best.
They also include de audience in the show and whoever wants to can go up on stage and try to hula dance with them.
At the end you can buy the pictures they took, 20 dollars each.

Depending on the package you get, you will get a card with 16 dollars to spend on gifts or pictures or drinks.

The setting is cheap, the food is average, the chair and plates are plastic, the dances are good.
We paid for the Orchid package which is the middle one, the difference with the cheapest one is that we sat in the middle of the stage and not on the sides, but you can see the stage from everywhere. So probably not worth the extra 30 bucks or so...

Overall I think a luau is something you need to do once if you come to Hawaii, however I was not very impressed.

Great experience better than the other luau experiences on the island

My very first luau was, awesome! Between the food, the Friendly's, staff. They had so many things for sale. And they even taught me how to make a way for my arm and a leg for my head. It's so awesome I can't wait to go back.

Dancing was great, food was over priced for a picnic, buffet. The area was interesting and the staff was top notch. I really liked hearing about the local customs and would have been interested in that more.

What a great experience! Well worth the money to upgrade. The staff and entertainers were top notch. Our guide, Emma was great. Kept everyone on the bus entertained. Beautiful sunset on the beach.

This luau is a ripoff. They invite people onto their property not to create a fun, memorable experience, but to gouge their visitors and patrons for as much money as they possibly can. It was truly the absolute worst luau experience I've ever had. And the customer service is atrocious and extremely unprofessional. Do not waste your money! Any other luau on Oahu would be a better option than this one.

It was very nice to learn of there history and the great food!

Had a blast at the Paradise Cove Luau! My friend has been there 5 times and highly recommended it! The show was amazing! Loved the activities available before the show started. The abundant food choices were wonderful and vegetarian friendly! Wish that there was more organization of the entry process though. There was no signage for what the drinks were they were handing out in line so we almost took alcohol until we asked what the difference was between drinks! After the entry picture with performers we were released to explore then joined a random group when an employee was asking people if we drove there. Only some groups (not ours) were given instructions of what was offered for activities. We were ushered in our random group to get assigned a seat. We were lucky we found that group otherwise I m not sure how we would have gotten our seats! Overall super glad we went here and had a blast!

This luau was meh. Too corporate and cheesy for my taste There were over 800 guests so too many people to have a great experience. The food was basic with few selections but all quite tasty. The entertainment portion was well done but quite short. The drinks were kind of watered down it seemed and expensive. The location is beautiful. I had been to a luau on Maui on my last visit that luauwas much more intimate with a much larger selection of traditional luau food, better drinks, flower leighs for all and a longer, more authentic professional show for about $20 less per person. I think i got spoiled by that amazing experience. This was my kids first luau and i was disappointed for them. The show ended almost as quickly as it started.

Amazing experience ! Super funny and energetic staff and great service for those traveling with an elderly or person of disability , however I didn t appreciate the leis and how they were distributed , I feel like everyone should ve received flower leis and not just those who paid a bit extra, made us feel a bit apart from the rest of the guest.

We went here for a wedding and it was awesome! Food was very good too

Celebrated 50th Wedding Anniversary here! WONDERFUL! Great setting, food, entertainment!! The BEST!!

A real Polynesian luau right on the beach. Wonderful food and activities. Far better than the Mormon-run Polynesian "Cultural" center.

Good venue, expensive for what you get but conveniently located. Food is buffet and quality is better than expected. The show is good, lot of down time before. Great location.

A friend brought me to this Luau. It was a first and it was excellent!

We really had a great time. I know it's not a hawaiian thing but overall for a family was great. The food was good and plenty of it. Activities were nice. Nicely done dinner theater

Scenery is breathtaking especially the view of the ocean during sunset. Lots of activities. The dance show is the best podcast of the event. Food was good but not spectacular. Staff very friendly and goes or off their way to ensure everyone is having a good time.

Fun, chuck full of Interaction...
---Lengthy , but, Fun!

**and the rain Added!!!

Family oriented. Wonderful pre-show activities. Food was fabulous. The music and dancing entertainment was great.

Probably my favorite luau on the island. Laid back atmosphere.

Bus 4 and the staff were so amazing and hilarious, loved the whole experience.

Great luau and beautiful place for pictures. Only downfall was the only drinks available for free were water and coffee. Great pull pork and sauce

WOW...what a horrible Luau! Complete rip off paid $500 for a family of 4 (kids have to pay adult prices, even though ages are 4 and 5yrs old). Welcoming Mai Tai was watered down juice and water. Rude staff refused to take pictures with our camera only theirs for picture resell they stated they "couldn't touch other camera". Moved along like Cattle (over 1000 people) to our horrible seats and very crowded table (no elbow room at all). Was told to arrive by 5pm, but show didn't start until over 8pm. Stood around to see pointless games and activities which if you decided to participate it took literally 45mins in line. But the WORST was the food. They served tasteless fried chicken (thighs only) the only thing you tasted was the grease, horrible fishy fish, tri-color pasta salad, macoroni salad, ice berg salad with watery ranch dressing. I didn't taste the pulled pork, but it look pretty nasty. Well long story short, I had food poisoning that night and spent 2 days in the toilet. We ended up leaving before the show started because we got tired of waiting around. NOT WORTH IT AT ALL, save the money and go to the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Food was good. Girls were pretty. Drinks were good. Get the deluxe package if you want better seating. Otherwise you get seated on the sides.

Wow, bought the deluxe package and just couldn't believe how great everything was from the service to the performance would recommend anyone looking to see a Luau to only goto Paradise Cove.

Staff are very nice. Overall Luau was not worth the money.

Good food, great activities and show, would definitely recommend it for all.

We did the deluxe package and sat front stage which included table service as well as your entrance photographs, a small cooler bag, and extra money for beverages. If you have the funds to spend, especially if your a small group, I would recommend it. As for the luau itself, we absolutely loved it. The grounds we're gorgeous and the games and events to watch really passed the time and to top it off we had a beautiful sunset to watch. The food was delicious and warm. The pork was to die for. The fried chicken wasn't soggy and the salad was crisp. It was all-you-can- eat which came from the buffet. The show during the meal was very entertaining. We would definitely recommend to our own family. It gave us a great experience and emersion into Hawaiian culture.

The show was great. Plenty of things to do to entertain yourself throughout the evening. The food was just okay. Nothing special

Had an amazing experience here. The food was good and the show was great. If you're visiting hawaii I really recommend this.