I know we are still in the midst of COVID-19 times, but I was reminiscing about the last time I hung out with my family, which was when I was in Hawaii for Thanksgiving. And it reminded me I had not published this post yet that I had already prepared in March before these unprecedented times. I’m not sure when people will be able to vacation in Hawaii again, but I would definitely go if I could. Until we can travel again, here’s a little reminiscing and maybe future hopeful planning. I don’t have much motivation to blog right now but will still be posting on Instagram so you can keep up with my local food adventures there.

When on Oahu, there are certain must dos that I have in my head after 5 visits to Hawaii over the years. I think if you have any reason to drive up to the North Shore, aka the northern part of Oahu island, then I like to recommend also stopping by for just a couple hours at Dole Plantation.

The Dole Plantation is free to enter, but there are a few attractions you can also buy individual tickets for – the Pineapple Express Train, the Plantation Garden, and the Pineapple Garden Maze. There are combo tickets of these available. I will be upfront that you are really here for two reasons: to eat Dole Whip and if you’d like to earn your Dole Whip/work it off, wandering the Pineapple Garden Maze.

The Pineapple Express Train is a cute train, but you may find yourself waiting in line for an equal amount of time as the train tour will be. The tour itself is a recording telling you the history of Dole plus advertisement to buy a music CD that lasts 20 minutes through the plantation. Unless you are lucky to see harvesting at work, looking at the fields with all the plants from a distance (you are always many meters away from the actual plants) will all look the same after the first 5 minutes or so.

Brother in law, nephew, niece, my sister on the train with the fields of pineapple behind

For the time spent, and the separate admission of $11, I do not think it is worth it. You can get a closer look at the pineapple plants for free in the main area. I would rather recommend you save the time for other activities on the North Shore.

My niece posed with a pineapple emerging from a pineapple plant in the free main area of the Dole Plantation

Another attraction available is the Plantation Garden Tour. Tour is a misnomer – you are left to wander yourself in the area here.They advertise 8 different gardens, but they all blend together and there is limited signage and most merely might identify the plant. You will have to rely apparently on downloading the Dole Plantation app for additional contextual information. The only highlight was getting this nice framing of a photo by some pandan trees, so not worth $7 admission. At least we got this cute photo of me with my mom, sisters, and niece.

If you have about an hour extra though, I would recommend the Pineapple Garden Maze. This maze is three acres large, and even with a map on your ticket hinting at the answers, you will still find yourself sometimes a little lost and backtracking. They have designed it well in that it is not just trying to wander in and out – you try to find eight stations within the maze to trace stencils at each checkpoint as proof of finding the station. Try timing yourself to see how long it takes – the fastest times range around 12 minutes to an hour.

You can do the maze before your treat to feel like you’ve earned it, or to help work off the Dole Whip – though Dole Whip is actually relatively healthy, its supposedly only 90 calories per serving. You can order it plain, or topped with pineapple or red Li hing powder, a salted plum that gives a nice contrast of sweet, sour, and salty to the pineapple. If you want to try the li hing beforehand, in the gift shop they do demonstrations of cutting pineapple, and then serve up slices of the pineapple plain or with li hing as samples – check what time they are doing the demo!

If you want a more substantial lunch, drive 10 minutes north to Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck to their Haleiwa location. Or, continue on now that you’ve spent your morning here to Polynesian Cultural Center to learn about the various island cultures and go to a luau. The show after the luau at Polynesian Cultural Center is the best in terms of performances, and for almost the same price/slightly more you get more time to learn about the culture through their island villages. Since PCC does not open until 11:45 AM you could conceivably stop at Dole first.

Have you had Dole Whip? Which version would you like to try – plain, with pineapple, or with li hing?