Islands of Polynesia & HA: Breath of Life Package

Our favorite tour in Hawaii. Got this under the operator since it cancellable within 24 hours. I also appreciate how responsive they were to inquiries. Do take the islands package with the Breath of Life show - worth it. We didn’t take the package with food, since there were food trucks also.

We went to the PCC on Dec 31 to close the year and our holidays with an all day experience while learning more about the polynesian cultures. Toa was our guide from Tahiti and he did a stellar job - if it is your first time, we highly recommended booking a guided tour. There is so much going on you will miss something worth trying unless you have a guide who has planned your visit for you and timed it perfectly. Thanks to Toa we could cover a lot of ground between 12:30 and 4:30: the Huki canoe celebration, various houses providing windows into the culture of Tahiti, Samoa, Tonga, New Zealand, Fidji… Every time with food tasting or activities where you take a more or less active role as an audience member (lance throwing is fun :) ). While it is obviously barely scratching the surface of each of these rich cultures you do feel you learn a lot. I also liked the humor that was pervasive throughout ; this place leaves you happier and more connected to not only the island culture but also their values of inclusion and friendliness. At 5pm we went on to enjoy the Luau, which was AMAZING - food was extremely good, plenty, and being able to eat while watching songs and dances is great for the family. At 7:30 we headed out to the performance theater for Ha: breath of life, a show that you will remember long after you leave the center. It has a lot of traditional songs, dances, and a couple of daring acts involving fire with fantastic performers. The Super VIP package was fully booked so we went for the next best package (Alii Luau I believe) - given all the activities, fun and food included it is a very worthwhile investment and reasonable price. The proceeds help fund students’ tuition and education — so this is a good way to give back while enjoying your stay. We will visit this again next time we are in Oahu.

The PCC has vastly expanded with a marketplace, restaurants and far more things to do and more interaction with islanders. The presentations were very informative and quite musical. The Buffet was over the top with all the high end seafood, vegetables and desserts you could want. The major presentation/show HA, was 80 minutes of an historic story told with music, dance, and fire dancers beyond what we had ever experienced. One of the best shows we’ve experienced. Well worth the price.

Did the full immersive day with a guided tour of the Center. Moses from Fiji was amazing. Wasn't sure what to expect but this was an amazing day. I learned so much and to see the students sharing their cultural with us. It was a blessing to hear about their lineage. Try a meat pie and shaved iced. 😋

The entire place is a front for the Mormons. There is a Brigham Young University next door, and all the workers are hired from that university. This means, among other things, that every employee is a member of LDS, and follows all their rules, including but not limited to: Rampant homophobia Mandatory tithes to the church Mandatory harassment of tourists (they will try to give you pamphlets) Of course, the tithes and brutal nature of this cult mean that technically none of their employees make very much at all, so every cent you spend goes straight towards the Mormons. Negative feelings towards the Mormons aside, they do many things to hurt the quality of life on this island, and for people around the world, and if I had known, I would not have supported this place. Additionally, two things bothered me that weren't directly related to LDS. The food from the buffet was very mediocre, especially compared to some of the rest of the food I got in Hawaii. Also, the Hā Breath of Life performance felt strangely... Christian? It felt like a show I'd see in church, despite the shirtless men and torches. I can't tell the line between "a performance for guests so that they understand" and "a perversion of the cultures we claim to represent," but nonetheless, take all of their "cultural" experiences with a massive grain of salt. To their credit, the performances were actually very good! And the guides were very knowledgeable. Because it's an LDS conversion camp for all the pacific islands, the employees did actually come from the islands being represented. But even our own tour guide admitted that most of them didn't have much connection to the cultures from their original homes, and were taught (or forced into) their roles at the center. Anyway, the LDS spits in the face of Christ and works to destroy human decency and freedom, so please don't support this place.