Another JCCH fair today 04/13/24. Great vendors with a variety of wares and goods…read more Crafters, bakers, taiko drum groups, food trucks and more. Prices vary according to vendors. Antiques are sold here as well. The JCCH shop has great items old and new. Today the Boy's Day dolls are half off! Everyone I came into contact with today was courteous, friendly and full of Aloha. Picked up a few items and lunch of course.

Attended a lecture at the Japanese Cultural Center. Has a spacious parking facility. Validated…read moreparking rate for the evening was $8 - sort of high but you have piece of mind that your car will be safe. There are many homeless near the Cultural Center. One pay machine has the credit card picture wrong - card strip is faced down- not facing up like in the machine pic. Large bathrooms, nice views of the city from the second floor. Great venue for a function.

Historical building with beautiful architecture and a spacious garden. It was closed today so we…read moreweren't able to enter. This is the Royal palace for King Kamehameha and other royals until 1893. This is an easy walk from the piers if you are on a cruise. The Monkey Pod trees are huge and spacious. The grounds are well kept.

The Iolani Palace is Hawaii's historical landmark, the only official royal palace, visitors must go…read morethrough the self guide audio tour, which can last 30 to 45 minutes depending on your own pace. Despite the underground jewelry room is closed for maintenance, the tour indeed offers a glimpse into Hawaiian history, showcasing the 1st floor staterooms, and the private 2nd floor living spaces where the queen was held under house arrest. I think it should be sufficient planning two hours here, including parking, getting tickets, watching video, and time stamped self guide audio tours, and it costs $28 for adults.

Friendly staff and tons to see. The grounds and are well-kept and walkable. You'll learn a lot…read moreabout Hawaiian history and the Pacific region. There's rotating exhibits in the Castle Memorial Building. When I take the kids, I go to the Science Adventure Center to see the volcano simulation. I would spend about 3-4 hours at the museum. If you need to rest, there's benches and water refill stations across the property. The only cafe on-site is Tutu's Place by Highway Inn. The food is good (consistent with Highway Inn quality). It does get packed though, so plan your dining accordingly.

Museum entry was complimentary courtesy of our hotel. We knew about it the last time we visited the…read moreislands, but didn't have time to make it over to the museum. It's a great place to learn about Hawaiian history and the culture. It also wasn't very crowded and a good way to seek refuge from the sun. I would recommend the planetarium shows (additional charge of $3/person). We spent about 3 hours here including the planetarium show.

Art Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii…read more.. My friend really wanted to visit the Honolulu Museum of Art. She said that she asked many people and no one was interested. I told her that the third Sunday of the month has free admission for Hawaii residents with ID. She was in! I drove because I know where to find street parking... and it's free on Sundays... how convenient! We showed our IDs at the entrance and got maps, a program, and a "HoMA" sticker on our clothing. We looked at the Asian Art first: China, Japan, Korea, India, etc., then went to the contemporary art gallery. Wow... very interesting pieces! We had a meal at the café, and saw a free 2pm movie ("A'ā") in the Doris Duke Theater... reservations are recommended. It was excellent. The one-hour movie (with Japanese and Hawaiian subtitles) was followed by a Question and Answer session with the filmmaker, Chris Miyashiro. The convenient restroom was nearby! We didn't have time to do any crafts (fan making, weaving, feather work, etc.), but we did stroll through the Hawaiian Art Gallery. We probably will return on another Community Sunday to see the other galleries. Note: I was here over ten years ago with some Yelp friends. I found my photos from that visit, but they won't link to this review because they were posted so long ago!

We love, love HoMA!! We visit every time we are on Oahu…read more They have a deep collection and fantastic special exhibits. We spend 2-3 hours each time we visit. We live on Kaua'i and are over to Oahu several times a year. On a recent visit, we really loved a special exhibit of Ralph Iwamoto, a Hawaiian artist, woh passed in 2013. See pictures of Ralph's work that was on exhibit in August of 2026. If you're visiting and that exhibit is no longer available, there will be other special exhibits - usually 2. And, their standing pieces are always great! Highly recommended!!

A nice museum that provides insight into the history of Hawaii and people who helped it become what…read moreit is today. Museum is free but you need to pay an entrance fee to tour the grounds outside. Very peaceful and a nice escape from the hustle and bustle outside

This is an absolutely hidden gem. Out your guide was phenomenal, as he explained each location we…read moresaw in such great detail and to where the story was told. Many tours are just names and facts, but this was totally different. Being able to walk from location to location was very insightful. The check in staff was incredibly polite. What a great way to break up vacation with local history and also to another part of the island.

This was a reasonably fun experience at the Hilton Hawaiian village. We knew it would probably be a…read morebit of a tourist trap, but we figured that we had to try a luau in Hawaii. Book your tickets ahead of time particularly if you want the diamond premiere seating option which guarantees you a table in the first two rows for better entertainment viewing as well as express entry into the venue, first access to the buffet, and a welcome drink plus three cocktails per person. When you enter you are given a welcome Mai Tai and then have to take the obligatory souvenir photo which they will try to sell you later - I think it was $60. We were then shown to a table in the second row which had a great view of the entertainment. These are shared tables where you will likely sit with other families. There was a group "hula lesson" which was silly but sort of fun. They will then release each table to visit the buffet with the first two rows going first. They had a nice variety of hot and cold dishes of varying quality. The pulled pork was probably the best. The beef short ribs were the worst with some portions being almost entirely fat. A gross aspect - there were flies and bugs buzzing around the buffet with no covers on any of the food. Also, keep an eye on the buffet if you want to go back for seconds. At some point they just closed it down with no announcement before they admitted guests who had booked the entertainment only option which did not include the food. There are some restrooms a short walk away just outside the luau area. The bar seemed massively overwhelmed with a huge line the entire night except right after we hit the buffet the first time. I spent part of the night in the long line instead of having a closeup view of the entertainment. Maybe offer the first two diamond premiere rows table service so we wouldn't have to wait in the enormous line. The entertainment was the best part of the experience with some amazing performers including fire dancers. They charge more for the luau on nights when there are fireworks, but they did not seem to make any effort to help you view the fireworks and instead started clearing away all the tables which made us feel like they wanted us to leave before the fireworks even started. Overall, this was a fairly fun experience but I doubt we would visit again on future trips.

I don't recommend buying show only tickets, you won't be able to see much of anything. The show…read morewhile nice, is on the floor so you can't see much of it. The distance and stage height make it a challenge. I would recommend moving seats closer on sides. Making the dancers go to all areas not just food guests, have some entertainment, hula hoops, games, things for kids. Give more than a single .25 cent soda. They tried. The people putting on show did their best. But you can see the show for free if you walk by the lagoon 15-20 minutes after the show starts. Save your money.

This children's discovery center is fun and educational for kids. I also like that they promote…read morediversity and inclusion with their pretend-play wheelchair medical corner, cultural center, etc. Everyone is friendly. A lot of the things inside appear to have looked the same for maybe 25+ years, so I think the center is due for some upgrades. Additionally, it would be good if there's more effort for cleaning and sanitizing toys throughout the day. I sat on something there and realized it was somebody's bodily fluid. I tried looking for a hand sanitizing station, but it was out. I ended up going to the bathroom to wash it off with soap. Despite this incident, I still like taking my kid here. I just bring hand sanitizing wipes and wash our hands as often as we can.

It was $75 for us to attend (2 adults and 3 kids, and a baby-- at $15 each, but the baby was free)…read morebut I quickly got over the sticker shock once I saw the quality of the exhibits. We've been to a few discovery museums (mostly in California) but this one particularly impressed me. The staff was constantly sanitizing the toys and touch surfaces (literally, we would leave an activity and then the worker would spray down everything we had touched). I also liked that they had baskets for people to place toys that needed to be sanitized. Very impressive, and we felt very safe. You could spend HOURS in this place-- especially if your kids want to perform a few plays for you in the theater exhibit. All 3 of my kids loved this place and I wish we had arrived earlier because it was closing time before we knew it. I think this would make for an especially great visit on a bad weather day and/pr when your kids want a break from the beach or pool. If your hotel room isn't ready yet it would be a good way to let kiddos burn off some energy after a long flight too. If you have young kids I would say this is a MUST VISIT. For reference my children are 7, 5, and 2.5 years old (my 4th born is an infant and doesn't even sit or crawl yet so she was too young but I did see some older babies there who seemed to be enjoying themselves in the under 3 years old and under 5 years old zones).

Byodo-In Temple is absolutely beautiful. We've been coming here for over 12 years, and we never get…read moretired of it. We truly love this place. If you visit, I highly recommend going early in the morning. Parking is limited, and the grounds are much quieter earlier in the day, making it easier to take in the peaceful surroundings. For us, it's more than just a beautiful place to visit. It's an opportunity to slow down and reflect on life while enjoying the tranquility of the grounds, watching the koi, and ringing the bell. If you visit the temple, please be respectful and remove your shoes before entering. Take your time, enjoy the serenity, and appreciate the beauty of this special place.

Absolutely loved the Byodo-In Temple. Despite having so many people there, there was a tranquility…read moreyou could feel in the air. Highly recommended to visit even if just once. Tip: purchase your tickets online so you don't have to wait in the box office line.

Out of the whole experience, one of the best parts was our shuttle driver, RJ--or AJ, I apologize…read morebecause I can't remember exactly which one it was. From the minute we got on the shuttle, he started breaking down some of the history of the island and really set the tone for the night. He had everyone introduce themselves and share a little bit about who they were and where they were from. He was extremely friendly and funny, but what I really appreciated was that he didn't try to dictate the conversation. He let it happen naturally. Before long, everybody on the shuttle was talking with each other and sharing personal experiences--what brought them to the island, why they chose this luau instead of some of the others, and just life in general. It honestly felt less like a shuttle full of strangers and more like a group of people getting to know each other. He also recommended a drink to me. I cannot remember what the hell it was called--I just remember something like "AVI"--but it was GOOD. I had six of them, so apparently the recommendation worked. The cousin who helped host our event that night--I unfortunately forgot her name too--was also great. She was very interactive with everybody and made sure everyone felt included and participated instead of just sitting there watching a show. Overall, I definitely recommend the experience. One piece of advice: BRING A FREAKING HAT. It gets hot up there while the sun is setting, and depending on where you're seated, you may have that Hawaiian sun hitting you directly for a couple of hours. Bring a good pair of sunglasses, a hat, and some sunscreen. Great people, great atmosphere, and a really memorable experience. Sorry for the pictures I didn't take many I mostly took videos

Thursdays Luau was the best ending to my first trip to Hawaii I could of ever asked for. Everybody…read moreneeds a raise! Whole team is A+ thank you for making us apart of the Ohana and teaching/sharing your culture with us

I love coming to Kānewai, its definitely a great view in suburbia. There's a normal class that's…read morethere every semester for loi kalo. Great for all ages and they always accommodate as well. Every first Saturday they have a community work day that starts I believe at 8am until about 12pm-ish. To schedule a tour you have to contact them, I always see them having different groups. Its a very spiritual place and should be highly respected when entering this āina. If you can and you're around the town area, I highly recommend experiencing and participating in aloha and mālama āina!

Visited doing some volunteer work with my son's soccer club. Great cultural experience with a lot…read moreof hands on work. The staff were great and super friendly provided an awesome history lesson while we worked. Not only was the experience top notch the food and snacks delicious and Top Chef quality and was not expected so it topped the day off filling our stomachs with ono food!