A Luau experience by Grand Wailea. Back to all Maui tours.
Tour Summary: A grand-resort luau on the Grand Wailea lawn above Wailea Beach, with the show timed to sunset. Dinner is brought to your own table family-style, not served from a buffet line.
The fire-knife dance closes the show after dark. 
The troupe performs in the low evening light before the sun drops. ʻAhi (tuna) poke is part of the family-style spread. ʻUkulele lessons and lawn games run on the grounds before seating. Dinner is served family-style at private tables while the show runs. The show moves through Polynesian dances after dark. Dancers wear haku lei (woven flower head lei) and pāʻū (hula skirts) for the hula sets.
6 Tour Highlights:
- Fire-knife dance to close the show
- Oceanfront lawn above Wailea Beach at sunset
- Hosted open bar through the evening
- Hula lessons and lawn games before seating
- Family-style local menu at a private table
- Hawaiian music, hula, and the story of Honuaʻula
Important: Standard seating is assigned by arrival order, so check in early or you may end up at a back table far from the stage.
Tour Information:
| Price: | Adult | Youth |
|---|---|---|
| (excluding taxes & fees) | $300 | $150 |
Price note: The $300 standard adult rate already includes the service charge. Children 3 to 12 book at $150, and infants under 2 are free. Aliʻi Premium seating, closest to the stage and beach, runs $360 for adults and $180 for children. Every booking needs a party of at least two.
Tour Provider: Grand Wailea
Activity: Luau
Tour start time: Seating from 5:15 PM, show around 6:00 PM (September 15 to June 8), Seating from 5:45 PM, show around 6:15 PM (June 9 to September 14)
Duration: 2.5 hours
Location: South Maui
Included: Family-style local dinner. Hosted open bar. Live Hawaiian music and hula. Fire-knife performance. Shell lei greeting. Private table seating
Cancellations: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before start time. Once the show begins there is no refund. Bad weather can move the luau indoors to a ballroom rather than cancel it, and if it is cancelled for weather the operator tries to reach attendees at least two hours before start. There is no refund once the show has started.
Read more: about luau in our Maui luau guide.
About this luau
The show is timed so the sun sets over the water partway through the evening, and it closes on a fire-knife dance. This luau, also called ʻAhaʻāina Wailea, runs most nights of the week (typically Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) on the resort lawn above Wailea Beach, on the South Maui coast. Dinner comes to your own table family-style, and it is one of the more expensive luau on the island.
The grounds open before seating for lawn games, hula lessons, snacks, and local artisans, with a photographer on site selling prints. Your greeting is a shell lei, not fresh flowers. The venue is a walk of several minutes downhill from the resort entrance, so leave time and wear shoes you can walk in.
Guest seating begins around 5:15pm, the show starts near 6:00pm, and the evening runs about two and a half hours, ending around 8:30pm. The hosted bar has mai tais, piña coladas, beer, wine, and sodas all evening.
The food and the price
The menu is local-style, served family-style at private tables: ʻahi (tuna) poke, poi (pounded taro), kālua pig (pit-roasted pork), shoyu chicken, teriyaki steak, mahimahi, chow fun, and Molokaʻi sweet potatoes. Dessert is haupia (coconut pudding) and kūlolo (baked taro and coconut).
Standard adult tickets are $300, and that price already includes the service charge. Adults are 13 and up, children 3 to 12 book at $150, and infants under 2 are free.
For what you pay, the food is ordinary. Book this luau for the setting and the show, not the meal.
Standard or Aliʻi Premium: which seats to book
The show is the same whichever tier you book. What changes is where you sit and how your table is held.
Standard seating
Standard seating gives you a private table, but where you sit depends on when you arrive. Check in as early as 4:00 to 4:30pm, then wait for the 5:15pm seating call, sometimes in open sun. When we did standard, the line had already formed before the call. Late arrivals end up at back tables far from the stage, so come early or accept a distant seat.
Aliʻi Premium seating
Aliʻi Premium costs $360 for adults and $180 for children, and it holds you a table in the section closest to the stage and the beach, so you skip the arrival-order wait. A few far-side tables in the premium block sit at an angle to the stage, though even those beat the standard back rows.
Every booking needs a party of at least two, and groups over eight contact the resort directly. Your exact check-in point and meeting details come with the booking confirmation.
When it is worth booking
For a special occasion in Wailea, this luau is worth doing once, for the oceanfront setting and the sunset over Wailea Beach more than for the meal. The price sits among the highest on Maui and the food is ordinary, so book it for the night out and the show.
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