Polynesian Cultural Center

The Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) is in the town of Laie on the northeast side of Oahu. It's owned and operated by the Mormon Church and students of Hawaii's Brigham Young University, all natives of one of the islands depicted here, are the stars of the shows. We arrived at the PCC right at noon when they opened and started our Polynesian adventure. If you can't get to each and every island in real life, this is the next best thing. Each country has it's own area in this complex through which visitors can wander or sit in the stands to see a depiction of life in that country.

We started with Samoa, a very entertaining and funny show presented by a Samoan chief. Next was Tonga, where we saw Vili beating the drums with style. He invited three tourists up on stage and tried his best to teach them to play those drums and it was quite comical to watch. We also went to Figi to see the spear dancers and to New Zealand where we watched Maori poi balls being twirled by the natives there.

The pageant of the long canoes happens once a day and visitors line up along the waterways to catch a glimpse of this boat parade. The pageant combines all the countries with their native costumes for a really colorful tropical show. I didn't enjoy that as much as the individual shows since we didn't get close enough to really hear what the announcer was saying but it is a very popular part of the entertainment at the PCC.

The Ali'i Luau was wonderful, and then we shopped in the gift shops waiting for the big finale - Horizons - a Polynesian extravaganza which takes place at the end of the day. It was spectacular, with fire twirling and hula dancers shaking and lots of wonderful costumes and colors. It was a great day, and I got to meet a lot of really good looking fellas.