Brian's review, Oahu tours & activities, fun things to do in Oahu | HawaiiActivities.com

Some things good, some things not so much

For starters, the show Ha! Breath of Life is AMAZING! If nothing else, that is worth a visit.

Ok, so the Circle Island Tour - yeah, you circle (most of) the island and see some cool things (briefly), but you can get circle island tours from pretty much everyone and ended up with about 3 total after all of our activities there over our week. The biggest problem with this Circle Island Tour is that it takes TOO LONG! You're going to want ample time to do the tour, but not when that time cuts into your time at the cultural center.

We did the circle island tour and the ambassador package. By the time we finished the tour and go to the center, did all the ambassador check in crap, and got to start seeing the center, we had already lost at least 1.5 hours of the already short time available to visit the various cultures. The group tour and the guide does help you learn some cool things, but it also makes everything take longer. In the end, we went back a second day so that we could see all the things we missed the first day (maybe that's the point - more $$ from the visitors??).

I don't want to lead you to believe the center is poor. On the contrary, we very much enjoyed the center. The luau was meh. The show was GREAT! We just wouldn't recommend the circle island tour (as it was for us) or the ambassador package (unless you want to buy it for the good seats but ditch the tour guide in the park).

Definitely visit the park, definitely see the show. Consider ditching the tour guide in the park, consider doing the circle island tour with another company or on a different day, and if you see a luau anywhere else, consider skipping it here (it wasn't the best luau we attended).

Note, the 3 stars if for the package, not for the center on the whole. The center was great, we just weren't keen on the package we purchased.