I have been to Wet N Wild so many times in my life and I always passed the Chief’s Luau sign without ever really knowing what was there!
For some reason I had imagined that all luaus would be the same and boy was I wrong.
Getting to Chief’s Luau at Wet’n’Wild
I attended this activity on a Friday night. I had to leave work a couple hours early so that I could make the 5:00PM check in time.
It was a great decision to leave work early because I had to pick up my mother first before heading out to Chief’s Luau.
Local traffic on a Friday evening is horrendous, especially going west.
I was very lucky that my mother came along with me to this luau.
Even though I hate sitting through traffic, thankfully my mother was willing to drive while I played DJ the entire ride to the luau.
The ride to the luau started with me being a really good DJ, making sure to play a lot of upbeat music so we wouldn’t be bored driving there.
As time passed and traffic started to get worse, I started to feel really comfortable in the car.
I started dozing off and my poor mom had to get us there with me basically passed out for a good portion of the drive.
The entire drive there took a little over hour, which is no surprise for a Friday evening.
The entrance to the parking lot was a little bit hard to find because it was different from where I remember.
If you follow the signs, which we should’ve done, then you won’t have any problems finding the entrance.
There was more than enough parking at the site so we were able to park right by the entrance without a problem!
We did, however, go straight into the entrance thinking the check in was where everyone else was heading.
I did have a little hard time finding the box office since the entrance caught my eye first and the box office was a bit off to the side.
Arriving at Chief’s Luau
Once we got our tickets, we were greeted with flower leis and took pictures with some of the hula dancers.
These pictures were available for purchase at the end of the luau as you exit.
The package we were participating in was the Royal Package.
This package came with VIP seating, flower lei greeting, welcome Mai Tai and three drink tickets.
Before the Show
My mom and I had grabbed our welcome Mai Tais and headed for our seats.
Once we arrived at our seats, to our surprise we had the closest seats to the stage. We sat right in the middle and right in front of the stage.
My mom and I don’t really like the taste of alcohol, which was why we really enjoyed the welcome Mai Tai!
It didn’t have a strong alcoholic taste at all and yet it wasn’t so weak to the point where the drink just tasted like juice.
There were a lot of people at the luau so we couldn’t participate in any of the pre-luau activities. We did get to watch others participate though.
If I could do something different for next time, I would try to leave earlier so I had more time to line up and participate in these activities.
Just before the imu ceremony, the beautiful sunsets of Oahu are visible.
If you are looking for an instagram worthy picture, I would recommend finding a nice spot where you can snap a picture of the sunset and part of Chief’s Luau! It would really show off the island vibe.
For the imu ceremony, the male dancers took the pig out from the pit then brought it up to the stage.
We all had a minute to take a quick picture of the whole roast pig before they went to cut it up and have it ready to serve for dinner.
The Show Begins
While waiting for the imu to be opened, Chief had a “pre-show” where he called up one volunteer to help him with something.
My mom and I, sitting front and center, must have caught the chief’s eye. To my surprise, he called my mom up to the stage!
To give you a small background of my mom, she is a Japanese woman from Japan.
She is someone you will never see volunteering to go up on stage and most definitely does not like to be the center of attention.
Nevertheless, she went up on stage and the chief asked her if she knew what “honi honi” meant.
For those of you who don’t know it means “kiss.”
My mom has lived on the island long enough to know what it meant. She also probably knew what would be coming next.
The chief had my mom honi honi every male dancer on the cheek to help start off the show!
Now I, being the amazing daughter that I am, just had to whip out my phone and record the entire thing, then send that video to my dad, who could not make the luau with us.
My dad got a kick out of the video just as much as I did!
I never imagined in my life seeing my mom going up to do something like that. I felt a little bad for my embarrassed mom.
On the other hand, it was a hilarious sight to see my very reserved mom let loose in front of a bunch of people!
Dinner at Chief’s Luau
We were first in line for the dinner buffet, thanks our Royal Package VIP treatment.
Having gone to the Polynesian Cultural Center Luau first I, had high expectations for luau food. This is where I first learned that not all luaus are the same.
At first glance, I was a little disappointed with the food since I had very high expectations for it.
While the food wasn’t quite as good as the Polynesian Cultural Center, it was still quite good. It tasted like how local food usually tastes.
The Luau Show
Finally, as dinner started to come to an end the highlight of the evening began!
The concept of the show was similar to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It incorporated dances from all over Polynesia.
What made this show different was that instead of having a serious tone, like the Polynesian Cultural Center, there was a light humorous tone.
The chief never missed an opportunity to throw a joke or two in between every dance to lighten up the mood and get everyone laughing.
A Romantic Touch
My favorite segment of the entire luau was when the chief called up all couples who were on their honeymoon or were at the luau celebrating their anniversary.
It was so touching to see all the couples talking about how long they’ve been together and their love story.
The chief made sure to add a few jokes here and there which made the moment more enjoyable. He even helped one man propose to his love on stage.
It was so cute to see how nervous the man was, yet he was able to stay composed enough to confidently tell the women he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
This was the first time I have ever seen someone propose! It made me hope that one day I will be able to find someone that I would want to spend the rest of my life with.
Chief Sielu’s Fire Knife Dancing
The main event of Chief’s Luau was the fire knife dance show!
It was amazing to watch a world champion fire knife dancer in action.
I must say the Chief may look a bit on the older side but he still knows how to impress.
The final event was all of us guests and dancers coming together as one to sing Aloha Oe.
Aloha Oe is a very popular song on the island. If you were born and raised in Hawaii you would definitely know this song.
Aloha Oe to Chief’s Luau
As we bid our farewell through song, it was nice to be able to come together as one.
Even if we were all strangers, I could really feel the sense of ohana throughout the entire show. We all felt like one ohana and the entire show gave an “at home” kind of vibe.
This luau is very family friendly and they make everyone feel special. You’ll definitely enjoy it if you’re here to celebrate a special occasion!
Book Chief’s Luau and browse all the different luau packages on the HawaiiActivities website!
