Whilst in Hawaii you must see a traditional luau. A perfect way to connect with a small part of Hawaiian culture practised for hundreds of years.
Even if you do nothing in Hawaii but soak up the sun, do at least go and see a traditional Hawaiian Luau.
What is a traditional Hawaiian luau
It’s an amazing spectacle of traditional entertainment, feasting and fun. Overall it’s just a great night out!
Folks, if you’ve been following along on our recent trip to Hawaii and San Francisco, we’re now on day 10 of that itinerary.
That day itself was a lazy stroll up and down Waikiki beach, watching the surfers and taking in the sites. Much less busy that the previous day’s fascinating Pearl Harbor day trip.
For the evening though, we had pre-booked our Hawaiian Luau experience, the Waikiki Starlight Luau at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort.
We chose that venue and experience in particular because it was an outdoor event, and also our other Luau choice where Glenn Medeiros performs at the Hale Koa Hotel, was only available to U.S. military and ex-military personnel.
I did think about “borrowing” my Dad’s ex-U.K Royal Navy credentials to see if we could blag our way in but decided it would be much easier just to book the other recommended venue!
Anyway I promised you some blurry photographs of that show and here they are!
Our evening of feasting and entertainment at the Luau started at 5 pm.
Although busy (we’d chosen an evidently popular Luau) there was plenty of space for everyone with the long tables providing a perfectly adequate view of the centre stage.
The show began with a conch shell blowing challenge where audience members are invited up on the stage to see if they can get any sounds from a conch shell!
Now, I’m not sure about you folks but I’m not good at being put in the limelight to take part in something I don’t know how to do.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’ll get up on stage to present and talk about things I know (like the time in 1982 at the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida where I was up on stage telling everyone I was from Scotland, and my parents couldn’t find me….).
But when it comes to conch shell blowing or indeed joining in the group Hula lesson, I left that to those braver than me!
Of course that isn’t to say that in any way you are forced to go up on stage though. You can say “no, it’s OK thanks” and they’ll just move onto inviting the next victim person up. 😉
Anyway, the live music and dancing was really enjoyable.
The chanting, the singing and the fire knife dancing are all performed by well skilled Hawaiian and Polynesian natives.
And the food? Wow!
The Waikiki Starlight Luau prides itself on sourcing local produce for a complete authentic Hawaiian dining experience.
There’s a huge buffet (sorry no photos!) that you help yourself to featuring freshly caught fish, grilled Huli Huli Chicken, tons of salads and vegetables as well as the traditional Kalua Pig.
You can end up as stuffed as you like whilst drinks are served to your table throughout the evening.
My favourite part of the buffet was the Hawaiian Bread Pudding. It was absolutely delicious. It’s a recipe I’ve now created since I wrote this.
That evening after the Luau on returning to our hotel there was a beautiful sunset over Waikiki beach which we watched from our balcony.
The stunning sunset made it even more difficult for us to have to consider the fact that we were leaving there the very next day.
Waikiki and Honolulu are so beautiful. It’s hardly surprising its a popular chosen destination for American holiday makers. Plus it felt like we’d only just arrived!
Although the last 10 days seemed to have flown past (as they always do when you’re enjoying yourself don’t they?) our amazing trip still wasn’t over yet.
The next day, day 11, it would be time to fly to San Francisco. A certain Lady Lynne was especially excited about visiting Alcatraz, being a huge fan of crime writing and in particular being fascinated by the prisons notorious past. Plus we planned to see as much of that city as possible on foot and by bus.
Join us in two weeks time for that penultimate recap, seeing San Francisco on foot and by bus to see stunning images of the Golden Gate Bridge, Pier 39 and in and around the city itself too.
Come on now Neil! You should have gotten up there 😉 Lynne could have recorded it as a Facebook Live for you 😉
OMG Rebecca, can you imagine that? I’d be like MORTIFIED!
I would miss the luau because I would just be staring at that picture of the setting sun. Holy colors batman.
I’m totally with you there Susie.
Nothing quite like sitting on the balcony, glass of wine in hand, staring at those beautiful colours! 🙂
I gotta say that I love the little sneak peek into your vacation, Neil…thanks for sharing that with us! I love reading your recipe posts, too, but it’s fun to mix it up a bit. So that traditional luau sounds amazing! And you’re right that it needs to be a must-do event whenever we finally make it over to Hawaii. And that was smart to schedule a nice relaxing day of beach-walking after the busy day at the memorial. Love the photos here! And you’ve also inspired me to learn how to blow a conch. I wonder how Laura will feel about this new hobby though. 🙂
Also, that story from the Kennedy Space Center…I can’t even imagine how scared you were!
Thanks David. I often think that when I publish our vacation photographs it might put people off the fact that they were probably expecting a new recipe!
Your comment makes it all worthwhile. I do try to mix it up a bit, but I wouldn’t want to do too much of other stuff and not the recipe side. I feel vindicated! 🙂
Now, if only I’d had the foresight to learn how to blow a conch before going to Hawaii! By the time you get there with all that practice you’ll be an expert!! 😀
Neil, I so enjoyed looking at your luau photos – blurry or not – they helped me enjoy a bit of Hawaii through y’alls visit 🙂
That Hawaiian Bread Pudding has me totally intrigued – any chance you will recreate a healthier version here? And, after visiting Pier 39 and the Golden Gate Bridge awhile back, I cannot wait to see them through y’alls eyes! Btw – did y’all eat at Boudin Bakery in SF?
Glad you lied the blurry Luau photos Shashi 😉
With all that dancing and shaking about on the stage there really wasn’t any hope of getting any still photographs!
That Banana Bread Pudding I’m working on will be a slightly healthier version if I can get it to work out. (Hopefully!)
Do you know what, unfortunately we didn’t go into the Boudin Bakery in SF, but I did stare longingly in the window at some beautiful crab shaped loaves of bread they were making. Wow! And again I wished I’d photographed that….
I’ve never been to Hawaii, but man, it sounds like fun!
Thanks Jeff. It’s an amazing place. 🙂