Kilohana Plantation · Līhuʻe, Kauaʻi
A 45-minute stage show at Kilohana Plantation tells it with hula, live Hawaiian music and fire knife dancers.
Marked as likely to sell out for the dates visitors want. Standard, Elevated and Premium seats are chosen when you pick a date, so fix the seats and the day together.
Kilohana in four numbers
The Kalamaku programme
Six scenes in the order the buffet evening plays them, from the lei at the gate to the photo with the cast.
This is the shape of the buffet evening. Your date shows the starting time, the seating options change where you sit, and the VIP dinner adds a four-course meal before the show.
Arriving guests receive a traditional lei greeting and have their picture taken by the waterfall, with drinks from the open bar already available.
Before dinner there is time to wander a craft fair of local artisans and look over what they have made.
In front of the guests, the kālua pork is unearthed from the imu, the earth oven it has been baking in.
Poi, salads, kālua pork, seasonal fish, teriyaki chicken, noodles and fruit, with pineapple upside-down cake, haupia and a banana crème tart for dessert.
Live Hawaiian music opens the evening on stage, then the 45-minute story starts: islanders crossing between Tahiti and Kauaʻi, told through laughter, fear, seduction and fire.
Hula dancers, fire knife dancers and fire poi ball dancers fill the final scenes, and guests can have a photo taken with the cast when the show ends.
The story and the island
Polynesian voyagers crossed open ocean without instruments. Navigators memorised the order in which stars rose and set along a route, steered by the direction of ocean swells when cloud hid the sky, and watched seabirds such as terns that fly out to fish at dawn and return to land by night. The main show at Kilohana stages one such passage, between Tahiti and Kauaʻi.
Kauaʻi is the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands, about five million years old, and its nickname comes from the greenery that follows a great deal of rain: the summit of Waiʻaleʻale averages around 460 inches a year. Kilohana Plantation is in Līhuʻe, the island's county seat.
Sugar plantations were founded on Kauaʻi from 1835 and dominated the island's economy until the middle of the twentieth century; the last one closed in 2008. Kilohana Plantation today is a 60-acre orchard and agricultural park, and the luau is staged in its grounds.
A lūʻau is a Hawaiian feast with entertainment. The word comes from a stew of young taro leaves, and the centrepiece of the table is kālua pork, a whole pig slow-cooked in an imu, the underground oven. At Kilohana the guests watch the pig come out of the oven before dinner.
At the table
The two buffet listings share one menu and an open bar. The VIP listing swaps both for a plated dinner at a restaurant on the plantation.
Three ways to book it
| Evening | What is included | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Buffet dinner and show · 3.5 hours | Lei greeting, photos by the waterfall, the open bar, a buffet dinner and the Kalamaku show. Standard, Elevated and Premium seating are on offer, some with a train ride that costs extra. Tips and hotel pickup are not included. | Parties who want the whole evening at its usual price and will pick a seating option when they choose the date. |
| Premium seating, buffet and show · 3.5 hours | The same buffet, open bar and show, with premium seats close to the main stage, and a lei greeting on arrival. Tips and hotel pickup are not included, and the train ride costs extra. | Groups who want to sit near the action without changing the rest of the evening. |
| VIP manor house dinner and show · 4 hours | A four-course dinner at Gaylord's Restaurant with a choice at each course, a champagne toast, a lei greeting, one complimentary drink, premier seating and a torch-lit walk to the luau pavilion. | Couples and families who would rather sit down to a plated dinner than queue at a buffet, with front seats for the show. |
Prefer a sit-down dinner first? Open the VIP manor house dinner ↗
Choose your night at Kilohana
The buffet evening, the premium-seating evening and the VIP dinner are three separate GetYourGuide pages, each with its own dates and fare.
Lei greeting, photos by the waterfall, the open bar, a buffet dinner and the Kalamaku show. Standard, Elevated and Premium seating are on offer, some with a train ride that costs extra. Tips and hotel pickup are not included.
See dates for this one ↗The same buffet, open bar and show, with premium seats close to the main stage, and a lei greeting on arrival. Tips and hotel pickup are not included, and the train ride costs extra.
See dates for this one ↗A four-course dinner at Gaylord's Restaurant with a choice at each course, a champagne toast, a lei greeting, one complimentary drink, premier seating and a torch-lit walk to the luau pavilion.
See dates for this one ↗More Kauaʻi evenings on GetYourGuide
Before the night
The buffet listing offers five seating options: Standard, Standard with the train ride, Elevated, Premium, and Premium with the train ride. The train ride is an extra fee, and the base price does not include it.
Kilohana Plantation has ample parking in the grassy area. The VIP dinner checks in at the ticket office to the right of the manor house; on the premium-seating evening the front ticket office beside the manor house opens at 4:45 PM and guests check in at their designated time.
The buffet evening runs about 3.5 hours and the VIP dinner about 4. Check availability for your date and the start times for each option appear there.
Hotel pickup and drop-off can be added at booking for an extra fee; without it, transport is not included. The seating option you choose can change where on the plantation you are sent, so read the booking details.
Gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan dishes are on the menu. Buffet tickets include the open bar; the VIP dinner includes a champagne toast and one complimentary drink instead.
On the VIP dinner there is no child pricing: ages 2 to 17 pay the adult fare, while infants up to age 2 are free but get no meal and no seat at the restaurant or the show. Tips are not included on the buffet tickets.
Notes to read before you go
How the 3.5-hour buffet evening at Kilohana Plantation unfolds, from the waterfall photos to the picture with the cast.
Read the note → the foodWhat the buffet puts on the plate, what changes with the season, and how the VIP dinner at Gaylord's Restaurant is built.
Read the note → the storyHow Polynesian wayfinders read stars, swells and seabirds, and how the Kalamaku show frames a crossing between Tahiti and Kauaʻi.
Read the note → seats and extrasA plain guide to the seating options on the three Kalamaku listings and what each one changes about the night.
Read the note → the settingWhere the luau sits on Kauaʻi, what the island is known for, and what the plantation grounds are today.
Read the note → groups and familiesThe practical details for the person organising the night for cousins, friends or a family, in one place.
Read the note →FAQ
A lei greeting, drinks from the open bar, the buffet dinner and the Kalamaku show. Tips are not included, hotel pickup is an extra-cost option, and the train ride is a separate fee.
About 3.5 hours for the buffet and premium-seating evenings and about 4 hours for the VIP dinner. Check availability for your date to see the starting times.
It comes with two of the five seating options on the buffet listing, Standard with Train Ride and Premium with Train Ride. It is charged on top of the activity price.
Yes, as an option at an extra cost when you book. If you do not choose it, getting to Kilohana Plantation is up to you, and there is parking in the grassy area.
Yes. All three evenings offer a full refund when you cancel up to 24 hours in advance, and you can reserve now and pay later.
A four-course dinner at Gaylord's Restaurant where you choose each course, a champagne toast, a lei greeting, one complimentary drink, premier seating and a torch-lit walk to the luau pavilion.
The menu includes vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options, subject to seasonal change, and all three evenings are marked wheelchair accessible.
No. There is no child pricing, so ages 2 to 17 pay the adult fare. Infants up to age 2 are free but do not receive a meal or a seat at the restaurant or the show.
The fare shown is the starting price for one guest on the buffet evening. Choose a date and your party's total appears in your own currency before you reserve.