Are excursions worth the $$$?

[Iceman93]

I will also say I dropped $1k for the Te Au Moana luau on Maui and had an absolutely magical night. Was it “worth” the price? Probably not literally, but if you’d let me pay on the way out the door that night instead of beforehand, I would’ve gladly paid it.

Slightly off-topic, but I agree with you that the Te Au Moana luau (at the Wailea Marriott) is the overall best one I've ever been to. Food, drinks, service, entertainment, and ambiance are all on-point!

 

[Anal Annie]

Hello everyone,

We are visiting Aulani later this year and I am starting to plan out our itinerary and the excursions we want to do.

I won’t lie, I am shocked at the prices for a lot of the excursions and experiences that are widely recommended by people. For example, the recommended tours at Kualoa Ranch are something like $200 per person, which for a family of five adds up to $1000 for just a few hours’ experience. Similarly, the Aulani luau being $200 per person adding up to $1000. Are these types of experiences really that good that they justify the high cost? I know being in Hawaii likely raises prices a bit, but I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who has paid $1000 for a meal for their family of 5, or for a few hours driving on an ATV!

If you have any other recommendations for must do excursions and experiences, I’d really appreciate those too. We are definitely going to visit Pearl Harbour and drive around the island but other than that I’m undecide

We have been to Hawai'i several times before and we've also cruised before and done (our own) excursions in Europe so the prices aren't entirely shocking to us but you do need to budget. We haven't planned any luaus (yet) on our upcoming trip (nor did we do one on our last trip) but we've done them previously on other islands. They are a dinner show so you're paying for your meal AND entertainment. There are cheaper luau's to be found than Aulani's tho so for a once in a lifetime trip I would look into the Toa Luau already mentioned before as it includes entry to Waimea Falls and it's cheaper. (I may actually look to see if there's still availability for it for our dates since it includes the falls.)

We've never done Kualoa Ranch before so we did book the "Best of Kualoa" excursion because it's pretty much a full day - it includes 3 90-min experiences AND the lunch buffet for "only" $149.95 pp. That's a lot more time than most of the other excursions and since it includes lunch we thought not such a bad deal. (None of the Kualoa experiences total $200 pp so you must be combining more than 1 experience together to come up to that?) We've also booked the Diamond Head hike (which is CHEAP) because on all of trips we've never done that. We're going on the 10-12:00 slot and will stop in Waikiki for lunch & shopping afterward. We also booked a shark diving excursion on the North Shore which was only about $140 pp (there were a couple others that were even cheaper but I booked the one DH picked). We'll explore the North Shore after and have a "cheap" food truck lunch while we're up there. We're basically planning to alternate resort days with excursion days - can't afford to "do something" every single day and we want time to enjoy the resort. But at the same time if all we wanted to do was sit a pool or on a beach we could do that a lot cheaper somewhere else. It's hard to balance out all the expenses but I'm also not going to fly 12+ hours to sit & do nothing. Be sure to rent a car to explore the island - there's way too much beauty beyond the resort. We're bringing our own snorkel equipment so we can do impromptu snorkeling sometimes too.

We booked 3 "nice" splurge dinners and will also do Monkey Pod and Ulu Cafe and some other local spots for dinners. Breakfast & lunch while at the resort will be in our room. I hope you can find some "reasonable" things to do for your family that don't break the bank.

 

[Paul Stupin]

No, I don’t think excursions are worth it. Not a big fan of luaus either, the food is usually bad, the entertainment blah, and everything is just sooo touristy. Aulani is a destination resort, and I truly don’t think you need to spend a ton of money running all around the island when the resort’s beaches, pool, and overall environment are so first rate.

If you plan on spending so much time away from the Aulani, book a cheap hotel in a Honolulu, not on the beach, for a few days and get all the sightseeing done. Or rent a car for a few days and explore the north shore, Waikiki and the eastern side of Oahu on your own. There are plenty of nice sights to see that cost nothing.

 

[Lilsia]

No, I don’t think excursions are worth it. Not a big fan of luaus either, the food is usually bad, the entertainment blah, and everything is just sooo touristy. Aulani is a destination resort, and I truly don’t think you need to spend a ton of money running all around the island when the resort’s beaches, pool, and overall environment are so first rate.

If you plan on spending so much time away from the Aulani, book a cheap hotel in a Honolulu, not on the beach, for a few days and get all the sightseeing done. Or rent a car for a few days and explore the north shore, Waikiki and the eastern side of Oahu on your own. There are plenty of nice sights to see that cost nothing.

That is pretty harsh calling the Hawaiian luau dance "blah". They are sharing their culture and traditions with us, would it hurt to be a bit more respectful about it?
I also find it odd that some say to stay at a cheap hotel unless they plan on spending all of their time at the Aulani. Nobody ever says that about a 5 star hotel in London, that if you are going to stay at a nice hotel, never leave it. "Forget going to see Buckingham Palace and Big Ben, you spent a small fortune on the nice hotel, don't leave", says no one. People like the nicer hotels for a variety of reasons, that does not mean that you should stay there the whole time and never leave. This seems to be strictly an Aulani mentality.

 

[Paul Stupin]

That is pretty harsh calling the Hawaiian luau dance "blah". They are sharing their culture and traditions with us, would it hurt to be a bit more respectful about it?
I also find it odd that some say to stay at a cheap hotel unless they plan on spending all of their time at the Aulani. Nobody ever says that about a 5 star hotel in London, that if you are going to stay at a nice hotel, never leave it. "Forget going to see Buckingham Palace and Big Ben, you spent a small fortune on the nice hotel, don't leave", says no one. People like the nicer hotels for a variety of reasons, that does not mean that you should stay there the whole time and never leave. This seems to be strictly an Aulani mentality.

I’m sorry, but I truly couldn't disagree more. I’m just not a fan of the overpriced, inedibly catered shows put on by many of the hotels, but I hardly think that can be equated to a disrespect for Hawaiian culture. I’ve studied it relatively extensively, read multiple books on both the history and mythology of the islands, met some of Oahu’s well known “storytellers,” and usually spend hours at the Bishop Museum on almost every trip. Have you? So why not try to be a little more tolerant and less judgmental?

Also, 5 star hotels in London are not resort destinations sitting on over 20 acres, with multiple beaches, pools, restaurants, and innumberable activities. I don’t think your comparison is valid.

 

[Lilsia]

I’m sorry, but I truly couldn't disagree more. I’m just not a fan of the overpriced, inedibly catered shows put on by many of the hotels, but I hardly think that can be equated to a disrespect for Hawaiian culture. I’ve studied it relatively extensively, read multiple books on both the history and mythology of the islands, met some of Oahu’s well known “storytellers,” and usually spend hours at the Bishop Museum on almost every trip. Have you? So why not try to be a little more tolerant and less judgmental?

Also, 5 star hotels in London are not resort destinations sitting on over 20 acres, with multiple beaches, pools, restaurants, and innumberable activities. I don’t think your comparison is valid.

You don't really go to a luau for the food, it is about the dance. And what difference does it make what the resort offers? You are comparing price point, saying that just because Aulani is more expensive than some other hotel, that you should stay there and not leave it is no different than staying at a more expensive hotel anywhere. Why stay at the Mandarin Oriental when you can stay at the Radisson? People stay at a certain level of hotel because they can, not just so they can sit there and never leave.
I don't care if you think me judgmental, I think that it is rude to disrespect the fact that the Hawaiian people are sharing their cultural dance with others. Why would you say that about their dances?

 

[AstroBlasters]

I’m sorry, but I truly couldn't disagree more. I’m just not a fan of the overpriced, inedibly catered shows put on by many of the hotels, but I hardly think that can be equated to a disrespect for Hawaiian culture. I’ve studied it relatively extensively, read multiple books on both the history and mythology of the islands, met some of Oahu’s well known “storytellers,” and usually spend hours at the Bishop Museum on almost every trip. Have you? So why not try to be a little more tolerant and less judgmental?

Also, 5 star hotels in London are not resort destinations sitting on over 20 acres, with multiple beaches, pools, restaurants, and innumberable activities. I don’t think your comparison is valid.

Not to interrupt the back and forth here… but….could name any of the cultural books that you have read or listened to that you would recommend?

 

[Paul Stupin]

Not to interrupt the back and forth here… but….could name any of the cultural books that you have read or listened to that you would recommend?

I would be totally happy to! I’ll give you three, all of which are great reads.
1.The first is the best book I’ve found on the history of Hawaii. It’s very readable and interesting, not some dry textbook.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0824803248/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
2. I particularly like this book on Hawaiian Mythology.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1605069574/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
3. The last one, probably the most well known book on Hawaii, is a sweeping epic historical novel, simply called “Hawaii.” Michener lived in Honolulu for five years researching before he started writing. It’s very long, but fascinating, a great read (even though some of the language, it was published in 1959, is a bit dated), and written in sections that make it easy to pick up and put down, and return to later.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375760377/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hope this is helpful! For me, they all provide a great context and additional insight that can really enhance a trip to Hawaii!

 

[AstroBlasters]

I would be totally happy to! I’ll give you three, all of which are great reads.
1.The first is the best book I’ve found on the history of Hawaii. It’s very readable and interesting, not some dry textbook.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0824803248/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
2. I particularly like this book on Hawaiian Mythology.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1605069574/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
3. The last one, probably the most well known book on Hawaii, is a sweeping epic historical novel, simply called “Hawaii.” Michener lived in Honolulu for five years researching before he started writing. It’s very long, but fascinating, a great read (even though some of the language, it was published in 1959, is a bit dated), and written in sections that make it easy to pick up and put down, and return to later.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375760377/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hope this is helpful! For me, they all provide a great context and additional insight that can really enhance a trip to Hawaii!

It looks like 2 have audiobook editions so I used audible credits to enjoy on my daily walk. The mythology book is on the way. Thank you for the insights!

 

[Paul Stupin]

It looks like 2 have audiobook editions so I used audible credits to enjoy on my daily walk. The mythology book is in the way. Thank you for the insights!

My pleasure!

 

[DVCSunDevil]

We are here now and didn’t book anything through Disney or other sites. We did the two hour Kualoa Raptor tour earlier this week and it was fantastic. It cost us $675 for a family of four by booking directly through the site. It was worth it. The only other “formal” excursions we have upcoming is a half day catamaran/snorkeling tour that leaves out of Ko Olina (very good reviews) and Pearl Harbor. Other than that, we have a rental car and will be doing our own “excursions”.

We have been staying in Waikiki and are checking into Aulani today…I can’t wait! This is our first (and probably only) visit to Aulani and we are all super excited!

 

[AstroBlasters]

We are here now and didn’t book anything through Disney or other sites. We did the two hour Kualoa Raptor tour earlier this week and it was fantastic. It cost us $675 for a family of four by booking directly through the site. It was worth it. The only other “formal” excursions we have upcoming is a half day catamaran/snorkeling tour that leaves out of Ko Olina (very good reviews) and Pearl Harbor. Other than that, we have a rental car and will be doing our own “excursions”.

We have been staying in Waikiki and are checking into Aulani today…I can’t wait! This is our first (and probably only) visit to Aulani and we are all super excited!

Please report back with feedback on the catamaran tour. Enjoy the rest of your vacation!

(FWIW, if you fall in love with Aulani then current DVC resale prices make it very affordable to go back every 1-3 years if you can also get reasonable flight prices and live on the west coast).

 

[Paul Stupin]

We are here now and didn’t book anything through Disney or other sites. We did the two hour Kualoa Raptor tour earlier this week and it was fantastic. It cost us $675 for a family of four by booking directly through the site. It was worth it. The only other “formal” excursions we have upcoming is a half day catamaran/snorkeling tour that leaves out of Ko Olina (very good reviews) and Pearl Harbor. Other than that, we have a rental car and will be doing our own “excursions”.

We have been staying in Waikiki and are checking into Aulani today…I can’t wait! This is our first (and probably only) visit to Aulani and we are all super excited!

We’ve done the Kualoa Raptor tour and loved it! Pricey but worth it. We also have done a Pearl Harbor and glad we did. Have fun at Aulani!

 

[meggiebeth]

We are a family of 5. We opted not to do Aulani’s luau in favour of a cheaper (and IMO better) experience at Toa Luau, but could we have done without the luau entirely? Of course!

We also did the Kualoa ranch UTV tour, definitely a pricey option and a splurge, but we had a blast.

I think it’s all in how you vacation. We didn’t have a single meal that cost over $100 for our family, that is because we didn’t eat at the Disney restaurants or really even the Ko Olina ones. We ate in our room for breakfast and for some dinners; although by that time we had already eaten our fill of poke and Hawaiian plate lunches and musubi… there are also lots of cheaper or free options you can do around the island.

Thanks for your invaluable input! Having now found Toa Luau, I am now really considering purchasing tickets as we were planning on visiting Waimea Falls anyway, so the cost of the luau works out at about $75 per person which I don’t think is bad at all. My family is still split on whether or not to attend one though.

I hear ya...buy I will 2nd Toa Luau...for half the price od Aulani,,if you have a car..make a day of it...drive up the coast stop hit a beach...the Luau includes admition to the gardens and swimming at the waterfall. Leave time to do activities before the Luau starts.
We also downloaded the Shaka app for the whole island and loved just driving around the island that way.
Skip the Aluani swim tank,, and snorkel in the ocean and different coves around.
Hike Diamond Head,,make sure to get reservations.
Enjoy

Good to hear about the Toa Luau as we are now looking into attending it! Thank you for your advice!

We are also planning to use the Shaka app - is it flexible in terms of the route you want to take (e.g. clockwise rather than anti-clockwise) do you happen to know?

For 5 people it’ll be pricey but there are other options which I would be happy to share with you. Being a local, my views are much different than our other members but completely understand why certain vendors and excursions are being discussed. For example, in my 42 years of residing here, I have never gone to nor will I ever experience Kualoa Ranch. Sure it’s nice but as you state, the cost, time, and drive, I’d recommend something like taking a drive out to Mokuleia where you can see backdrops of LOST for free. Plus, you get to experience Historic Haleiwa Town, Matsumoto Shave Ice, and Pa’alakai Bakery in a span of 2.5 hours including travel time. I’ll see if I can send you stuff via messages.

Thanks for your great advice! We are definitely planning to visit Haleiwa - thank you for the bakery recommendation!

Have you ever taken a cruise and, if so, have you done any of the shore excursions offered by the cruise line? Pricing is similarly high, but worth it to many of us who place a value on intangibles like the peace of mind that comes from booking through the overall vacation provider. While Aulani's excursions are delivered by an outside provider, that outside provider obviously has a huge incentive to make sure their Aulani guests are wildly happy.

As others have said, "worth it" is hugely subjective. I think the cruise analogy, though, is a good one.

I’ve never taken a cruise before, but I have heard that their excursion costs are high! Our beach vacations are usually in Europe where I’ve never had to spend more than €100 on an attraction/excursion though I’m sure there are more expensive ones. High ticket excursions aren’t as big over here I guess. I think we will pick one or two big ticket ones and otherwise just focus on local sightseeing!

We have been to Hawai'i several times before and we've also cruised before and done (our own) excursions in Europe so the prices aren't entirely shocking to us but you do need to budget. We haven't planned any luaus (yet) on our upcoming trip (nor did we do one on our last trip) but we've done them previously on other islands. They are a dinner show so you're paying for your meal AND entertainment. There are cheaper luau's to be found than Aulani's tho so for a once in a lifetime trip I would look into the Toa Luau already mentioned before as it includes entry to Waimea Falls and it's cheaper. (I may actually look to see if there's still availability for it for our dates since it includes the falls.)

We've never done Kualoa Ranch before so we did book the "Best of Kualoa" excursion because it's pretty much a full day - it includes 3 90-min experiences AND the lunch buffet for "only" $149.95 pp. That's a lot more time than most of the other excursions and since it includes lunch we thought not such a bad deal. (None of the Kualoa experiences total $200 pp so you must be combining more than 1 experience together to come up to that?) We've also booked the Diamond Head hike (which is CHEAP) because on all of trips we've never done that. We're going on the 10-12:00 slot and will stop in Waikiki for lunch & shopping afterward. We also booked a shark diving excursion on the North Shore which was only about $140 pp (there were a couple others that were even cheaper but I booked the one DH picked). We'll explore the North Shore after and have a "cheap" food truck lunch while we're up there. We're basically planning to alternate resort days with excursion days - can't afford to "do something" every single day and we want time to enjoy the resort. But at the same time if all we wanted to do was sit a pool or on a beach we could do that a lot cheaper somewhere else. It's hard to balance out all the expenses but I'm also not going to fly 12+ hours to sit & do nothing. Be sure to rent a car to explore the island - there's way too much beauty beyond the resort. We're bringing our own snorkel equipment so we can do impromptu snorkeling sometimes too.

We booked 3 "nice" splurge dinners and will also do Monkey Pod and Ulu Cafe and some other local spots for dinners. Breakfast & lunch while at the resort will be in our room. I hope you can find some "reasonable" things to do for your family that don't break the bank.

Thank you for your advice - we are now considering Toa Luau as it seems like great value as far as luaus go. With the 10% discount online and taking off the cost of Waimea Falls which we would be paying for anyway, it would only work out at $75 per person which is very reasonable!

We’ve booked a car and will be exploring a bit every day. Our plan is to spend half a day each day sightseeing and then the other half relaxing at the resort. We definitely plan on visiting Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, Waimea Falls, Hanauma Bay, etc provided we can secure tickets. That’s making me nervous too!

No, I don’t think excursions are worth it. Not a big fan of luaus either, the food is usually bad, the entertainment blah, and everything is just sooo touristy. Aulani is a destination resort, and I truly don’t think you need to spend a ton of money running all around the island when the resort’s beaches, pool, and overall environment are so first rate.

If you plan on spending so much time away from the Aulani, book a cheap hotel in a Honolulu, not on the beach, for a few days and get all the sightseeing done. Or rent a car for a few days and explore the north shore, Waikiki and the eastern side of Oahu on your own. There are plenty of nice sights to see that cost nothing.

Thanks for your input - I understand what you mean about the luaus. We would love to have an authentic experience but from what I’ve heard most of not all of the luaus are highly commercialised and aimed at tourists (understandably). I don’t know if they come off as inauthentic because of that. I’ve heard lots of good things about Toa Luau so am looking into that. Hopefully because it is a family run luau it will be a better experience.

We will be renting a car for sure, and we are staying in Waikiki at the start of our trip before moving in to Aulani so we can explore the local area around Waikiki too.

 

[lilsonicfan]

If you do decide to do the Toa Luau, I will say I didn’t find it to be overly cheesy or touristy at all. It’s not huge, and they showcased a variety of entertainment from across Polynesia.

 

[Anal Annie]

We decided last week to add the Toa Luau to our agenda primarily for the included access to Waimea Falls. We're doing it on our shark diving / N Shore day so we'll just be up there on the N Shore all day. Waimea Falls apparently has a bath house so we'll be able to freshen up somewhat there before the luau.

I just added it one day last week. We wanted the "gold" package (the middle one with slightly better seating & 2 drink tix) but it was sold out for our date so we just went with the lowest (silver) package which at the time said there were only 5 seats left. We'll just pay out of pocket for any additional drinks if we want more. We're going next Monday.

 

[mort1331]

We decided last week to add the Toa Luau to our agenda primarily for the included access to Waimea Falls. We're doing it on our shark diving / N Shore day so we'll just be up there on the N Shore all day. Waimea Falls apparently has a bath house so we'll be able to freshen up somewhat there before the luau.

I just added it one day last week. We wanted the "gold" package (the middle one with slightly better seating & 2 drink tix) but it was sold out for our date so we just went with the lowest (silver) package which at the time said there were only 5 seats left. We'll just pay out of pocket for any additional drinks if we want more. We're going next Monday.

Seating is all close,,,it is a very small intimate laua which is nice. This way your only paying for the drinks you need. We had 2 underage 12,16 so they only have water or pop,,,no need to spend on booze. Enjoy.

 

[MissScarlet]

You may want to double check that Waimea falls will open. I think they might be closed on Mondays. We are also going to Aulani and Toa Luau next week.

 

[mort1331]

Good to hear about the Toa Luau as we are now looking into attending it! Thank you for your advice!

We are also planning to use the Shaka app - is it flexible in terms of the route you want to take (e.g. clockwise rather than anti-clockwise) do you happen to know?

We went in all directions,,,,lol,,,it does follow you,,,not sure why they say only one direction.

 

[Ashlotte]

Not to interrupt the back and forth here… but….could name any of the cultural books that you have read or listened to that you would recommend?

This questions wasn't for me, but I wanted to add that I just ran across this book at my library and have requested to check it out. It looks interesting. https://www.amazon.com/Nation-Withi...swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1681860473&sr=8-1