Quick answer: The Mauna Kea Luau is the Kohala Coast’s longest-running luau, held on the oceanfront lawn at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel on the Big Island since 1965. It runs on Tuesdays and Fridays from 4:45pm to about 8:00pm, with an imu ceremony, a Hawaiian buffet, live music from the Lim Family of Kohala and a fire-knife finale. Two seating tiers are sold: General Seating and Premium Seating, which adds preferred entry and front-row seats. Call (808) 207-9427 to book, or reserve online for instant confirmation. The evening follows a fixed running order, and arriving late costs you the beginning of it. A welcome photo session opens proceedings at 4:45pm, doors open at 5:30pm, and the imu ceremony — the unearthing of the underground oven that has cooked the pig all afternoon — takes place…
Quick answer: The Mauna Kea Luau is the Kohala Coast’s longest-running luau, held on the oceanfront lawn at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel on the Big Island since 1965. It runs on Tuesdays and Fridays from 4:45pm to about 8:00pm, with an imu ceremony, a Hawaiian buffet, live music from the Lim Family of Kohala and a fire-knife finale. Two seating tiers are sold: General Seating and Premium Seating, which adds preferred entry and front-row seats. Call (808) 207-9427 to book, or reserve online for instant confirmation.
The evening follows a fixed running order, and arriving late costs you the beginning of it. A welcome photo session opens proceedings at 4:45pm, doors open at 5:30pm, and the imu ceremony — the unearthing of the underground oven that has cooked the pig all afternoon — takes place at 5:50pm. A conch shell call, the Kani Ka Pu, starts the festivities. The buffet opens at 6:10pm, the Royal Court procession follows at 6:30pm, and the main show begins at 7:15pm.
The food is a full Hawaiian buffet rather than a plated menu: ahi poke, lomi lomi salmon, poi, chicken long rice, kalua pig and suckling pig, teriyaki steak, grilled catch with ginger lime butter, stir-fried vegetables, steamed rice, taro rolls and island sweet bread, with chef’s desserts to finish. Many items are labelled gluten-free or vegetarian on the line. Every adult receives a complimentary mai tai and every child a keiki drink.
What sets this luau apart from the newer resort productions on the same coast is its age and its cast. It has been running since 1965, and the music comes from the Lim Family of Kohala, a family of musicians from this part of the island rather than a touring company. The show pairs their storytelling with hula, a Hukilau hula lesson the children are pulled into, and a fire-knife dance to close.
Two tiers are sold. General Seating includes the buffet, the full show, the welcome photo session and the complimentary drink. Premium Seating adds preferred entry, so you are among the first in, and Premier Front Row seats for the Royal Court procession and the fire-knife finale, plus a complimentary 45-minute beach photo session with Pacific Dream Photography. The operator prices each tier as a food charge plus a show charge: $120 food and $70 show per adult, $70 food and $60 show per child, with Premium adding $20 per person. All rates exclude tax and gratuity, and the current total is shown on the booking calendar.
The venue is the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel on the Kohala Coast, in the north-west of Hawaii Island, roughly half an hour from Waikoloa and about 40 minutes north of Kailua-Kona. It is an outdoor, oceanfront event, so bring a light layer for after sunset. Cancellations need at least 24 hours’ notice by phone for a refund; later cancellations and no-shows are charged in full.
If you are comparing Big Island luaus, we also sell the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Sunset Luau at $179.14 and the Feast & Fire Luau at the Outrigger Kona Resort at $185, both three-hour evenings. The Mauna Kea Luau is the longer and more traditional of the three, at about three and a quarter hours from the welcome photo to the finale, and the only one that has been running continuously since the 1960s.
Comparing the island’s three luaus? Read our Big Island luau guide.
