I am not sure how to write these, but the folks at Hanalei Strings are incredible. My wife and famiky were in Kuaui about a year ago and my wife bought me a Ukulele here on a whim for our anniversary. Well due to strange circumstances, terrible freezing/Dry East Coast weather in 2017/18 or my lack of capabilites to care for the UKU properly lead to a crack in the wood. Long story short, No Questions asked, Hanalei and the Maker Raymond Rapozo stepped up and replaced my Uke with a new Koa Tenor RR Uke that is beautiful, great sounding and unique. They allowed me to craft my own design for a UKE Carving in the headstock that forever brands this to our trip and purpose. Thank you for makingnour experience and memory or Kuaui so special Hanalei Strings......Keep Strumming! read more

Regardless the level of your musical prowess, you must stop in here for their beginner ukulele class on T/Th at 6p. My wife and I had the best time and the owner's energy and enthusiasm made it so fun! I am now the proud owner of a ukulele and have been given the beginner's skills to begin to master this simple yet beautiful instrument. Ukuleles are provided for all. Just go, man! read more

I highly recommend the beginner Ukulele class's. Kirk was funny and so helpful. There was 13-15 in the class and we all could play 10+ songs by the time we left. I was there for the Thursday night class just to check it out and I left with friendships, stories, the best time and darn if I didn't purchase a ukulele to bring home. read more

Decided after buying a locally made ukulele I should take a lesson and heard about Hanalei Strings from someone who had taken lessons 2 days previously. Wonderful music store. They have group classes - supply the instruments,and offer discounts if you decide to buy a ukulele. The class was fun and for all ages.so glad I had. Ukulele lesson while in Island - they made it fun and easy to learn. read more

Wonderful shop! Randomly stopped by and stayed for the 1 hour intro course and left with a new ukulele! Great lesson and wonderful staff!

My family and I took a ukulele lesson here, and our class was taught by Eli. The lesson was only $20 dollars for an hour, which was a perfect amount of time to learn the basic chords. Ukuleles are provided. After the class, the ukuleles were 50% off with taking the class! Hanalei Strings appeared to be owned by a family, and they were expressly nice. read more

My husband and I took lessons from Hanalei Strings, the teacher was Ipo and she was so authentic and brought the Aloha spirit. Only $20 for an hour lesson and you get to learn the basics of how to play the Ukulele. It was nice to hear Ipo's stories of the island and how she grew up. By the end of the class we were laughing, singing and playing. An experience not to be missed. read more

I had a great time at the ukulele class last night! Holly was a great and fun instructor! Enjoyed spending the hour learning and laughing! Girl power! read more

At first I was happy with my Kala ukulele purchase - only to find out I got jipped by about $45 bucks. I found a better ukelele shop in Oahu and was little disappointed that they charged me that much more. I ended up getting another/better ukulele from somewhere else. I wish the staff guy working there was more knowledgeable about ukuleles. I felt like I wasted my money when I could've and would've spent more if they had taken the time to explain to me about all the features of a good ukulele. read more

One of the best music shops I've been to in possibly my favorite town on earth. Wife and I visited today , randomly stumbled into hanalei strings and walked out about 20 min later with a beautiful flame maple ukelele and an amazing memory. read more

They get 2 stars only because the sales guy, Will, was a super nice Guy. The day after I was sold a nice Kala Concert UKE, I found out I had been overcharged by about $50 for the UKE and $15 for the foam case. I decided to chalk it up to the Hanalei location. I asked if I could bring it back and was told there are "No Returns". Didn't even ask why. Very poor aloha spirit. Where I come from businesses offer low price guarantees in order to compete. read more

I was thrilled to find this place - not only do they sell instruments, but they also sell yarn! I lost my crochet bag on the trip to Kauai, so I was pleased as punch to be able to replentish my hook and yarn supply. They have a great selection of local, hand dyed yarn as well, which was great. The lady working the shop was super friendly and kept my partner entertained while I poked through piles of yarn for 20 minutes. read more

My sisters and I had a great time with Kirk and his teachers in the group uke lesson. They also have great old vinyl! The post lesson jazz concert was fun, too! read more

I really enjoyed chatting with Alicia and getting her well informed recommendations on which Uke to buy. I am very happy with the Kala I ended up purchasing. Mahalo again Alicia! read more

Take the ukulele lesson! Best $20 I've spent while in vacation! Great teacher in an enchanting environment. We had so much fun!

The Thursday evening class was full so we got a short private lesson where my wife and I were taught Jason Mraz - I'm yours. Had a great time and really liked the vibe of the shop. Currently regretting not purchasing one of their ukes as the shipping to mainland US is predictably expensive. We have a cheap uke at home but the quality of theirs was much, much better, especially considering the price. Don't make the same mistake, if you're considering it, just get one of their ukes! read more

I am always on the lookout for instruments that might work in a drum circle. So I was excited that I found a nice hand held shaker here for just a little money. They had other instruments, just like the name implies, and videos too (ok, it's a small town). read more

Beautiful hand crafted guitars. Stopped in while passing through town. The store owner and wife I think were wiling to answer our questions and entertain us with some light Ukulele sounds. They sell microphones made for acoustic instruments as well as strings, sheet music etc. I love the cases they sold, and had I not known what size Uke I would eventually own, I would have purchased one on the spot. Thanks to Internet sales I will purchase a case... concert size. read more

Cool store. We bought some straps and pics as gifts. Very friendly. Cool vibe.

Just dropped in for the first time. Able to find an instrument in the style and budget that I wanted, and also got a little free instruction while there. Great place, highly recommended. read more

I'm always looking in shops throughout my travels to find a special gift for myself. Well, I did at Hanalei Music Store and more. Found a wonderful and beautiful Didgeridoo that I could play easily enough without the barking of dogs or people hanging near by. The owner, Karen is professional and super courteous in making you feel at home. Very much the Aloha experience!!! read more

If you're a musician or a lover of music, Hanalei Strings is a reason in itself to plan a trip to Kauai!! We happened upon this small store as we just walked by, and then popped in to see if I could rent a guitar for the week that we'd be in Kauai. My 12 year old daughter has been taking guitar lessons, but there is never enough time to practice--and what better time to practice than on vacation in Hawaii? Well asking that off question opened up a door of great experiences and to the purchase an amazing guitar. Kirk, the owner of the store and a highly renowned musician--who also happens to be an amazing teacher and a truly nice person, did have a guitar that we could rent, but he also had a great little used acoustic guitar for super cheap, so purchasing it and taking it home was a no brainer (especially since the airline didn't charge us!). So that was the start of the first of several great experiences! Kirk also teaches group ukulele lessons and who knew that learning four basic chords is the start of being able to play 50,000 songs? Well it turns out that it's true. My daughter loved his class and then fell in love with another guitar that she begged for. She had been looking for a used electric guitar at Guitar Center, but was indecisive. The used electric guitar that Kirk had was his son's custom built Fender Telecast. First off, I don't know anything about guitars and my nature is bit on the cynical side, but my daughter loved it and loved the sound. We purchased this one too and when we got it home to LA my daughter's guitar teacher and the owner of our local music store were thoroughly impressed and thought we got a great deal! Could there be more, we'll yes! As I mentioned, Kirk is an amazing musician and so is his son! They, and a couple other musicians, put on an incredible show for an audience of about 50 one evening in his little store. What a great little gig! Best entertainment with the best seats anywhere. Pop hits, jazz, a bit of raggae--even a guest teen jumped up and performed an amazing rap song that he made up on the spot with all the little conversations of the evening woven into his lyrics. It was spontaneous, fluid and beautiful! Such a treat--the whole evening, the entire experience with Kirk! The highlight of our vacation! read more

We had a wonderful ukulele lesson here! It was so inspiring that we bought one for ourselves, too! Guys there are really nice and helpful not to mention the owners dog who is the most chillout dog ever :) read more

Hanalei Strings is such a great store with a super chill vibe. They do group music lessons twice a week but I opted for a private lesson. Kirk could not have been better. I have absolutely no music experience whatsoever and was patient and made it incredibly easy to understand. I now have some basic skills and great practice advice to take home. Hopefully when I return I'll head back down to the shop and be able to jam a little. I would recommend this to anyone that is interested. Thank you again! read more

What fun! Took the ukelele group lesson and had great time. Beautiful ukelele for sale too. Kirk was very knowledgeable and late back cool. This is where you want to buy your instrument. Drop by by this place for yarn too lol. The plaza also had many shops for t-shirts and shaved ice. read more

Nobody mentions the knitting store in the back of Strings and Things. It was so wonderful to see women sitting and knitting and having a good time. I went home and joined classes and met wonderful people. read more

Bought my Kala ukulele here. You don't buy here because it's the cheapest. It's because of the emotional appeal of buying an ukulele in Kauai. The guy who helped me was super friendly and helpful. My uku sounds awesome for the $100 I spent. So glad I did. You'll be happy you did, too. read more

I was not impressed. The photos show a much larger selection of yarns. The few yarns they did have were very expensive. The customer service more than sucked. It was nill. The cashier was chatting with some buddy of his about how much they disliked a musician and didn't offer any assistance. If you're looking for yarn in Kauai, don't go here! read more

My wife and I celebrated our 10-year anniversary by randomly showing up for a 6pm Thursday ukulele class last April, the same week as the bad Hanalei flooding. I am only getting around to posting this now because our short-and-simple class has naturally turned both of us into ukulele fanatics who play regularly. Neither of us had ever picked up a stringed instrument before and by the end of the easy (hilarious) lesson from Kirk we knew enough chords to play about 100 songs. Buying a beautiful ukulele at the end of the lesson (for a great price with a neat Hanalei Strings carrying case) was a no-brainer. If there is a better value for a fun, local experience than the $20 group ukulele class, I certainly don't know of it. The fact that it has resulted in what is sure to be a life-long hobby of strumming and humming is quite a bonus. I could not recommend this place highly enough and have told many friends that it is a must-do. Pro tip: bring your own mai-tai thermos. read more