A Luau experience by Experience Nutridge. Back to all Oahu tours.
Tour Summary: The most intimate luau on Oʻahu, about 50 guests on a hillside macadamia estate above Honolulu, Native Hawaiian owned. The evening is hands-on from the lei greeting to the imu, with dinner under a tent and city lights below the lawn.
The pū opens the evening from the lawn, with the city far below. 
Everyone is up for the hula lesson; watching from your chair is not really an option here. The macadamia station walks you through the estate's original crop, drying trays to cracker. Kids get their own seat at the lei table. The cast is small enough to meet; photos after the show are part of the routine. The show happens between the tables, not on a distant stage. The older, chanted hula opens in the trees before dinner. Torches come out as the light goes; the fire-knife closes the night. Implements from the workshops, ipu to pūʻili, show up again in the show.
6 Tour Highlights:
- Group capped at about 50 guests
- Hands-on imu, the Hawaiian underground oven
- Site of Hawaiʻi's first macadamia plantation (1921)
- Sunset into Honolulu city lights from the lawn
- Fire-knife dancer closes the show
- Native Hawaiian owned and hosted
Important: The estate is a hillside with uneven ground and some elevation: wear comfortable walking shoes, no heels. Wheelchairs can be accommodated with 48 hours notice.
Tour Information:
| Price: | Adult | Youth |
|---|---|---|
| (excluding taxes & fees) | $180 | $140 |
Price note: Children 3 to 12 pay $120 on the self-drive option and infants 2 and under are free; the with-transportation tier costs $202 per adult, $162 per junior, and $142 per child. Adult pricing starts at 21.
Tour Provider: Experience Nutridge
Activity: Luau
Tour start time: 3:30 PM (with transportation), 4:00 PM (self-drive)
Duration: 4 hours
Location: Honolulu
Pick-up available? Yes. Optional round-trip transportation from Waikīkī-area pickup points plus the Ala Moana Hotel and Kahala Hotel, at the higher with-transportation rate. No Ko Olina pickups.
Included: Lei greeting. One welcome drink. Farm-to-table dinner. Cultural workshops and games. Free estate parking (self-drive). Water and soft drinks
Cancellations: Full refund with 48 hours notice or more. Inside 48 hours there is no refund; you can rebook instead for a $35 per person fee.
Read more: about luau in our Oahu luau guide.
Read more about the Experience Nutridge Lūʻau
Nutridge caps its lūʻau at about 50 guests, and everyone takes part rather than watching from a distance. The evening is Native Hawaiian owned and held at a historic estate on Tantalus, a 22-acre former macadamia plantation above Honolulu, where dinner lands around sunset and the city lights come up below the lawn while you eat.
Hawaiʻi’s first macadamia plantation, with a Hollywood guest list
In 1921 Ernest Shelton Van Tassel leased 22 acres of what is now Puʻu ʻUalakaʻa State Park land, “rolling sweet potato hill,” and planted Hawaiʻi’s first macadamia nut plantation, Hawaii Macadamia Nut Ltd. The estate later hosted Clark Gable, Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis Presley, who visited during the filming of Blue Hawaii. Short rainforest walks on the property are part of the evening.
The macadamia station walks you through the estate’s original crop, drying trays to cracker.
What you do during the evening
The evening runs 4 hours and starts with a lei greeting and a welcome drink, then moves through cultural workshops, Hawaiian games and protocols, and the imu, the underground oven guests help open before dinner. The farm-to-table dinner comes out under a tent, with a cash or card bar after the included drink (21 and up, photo ID) and free water and soft drinks. Hula follows and a fire-knife dancer closes the show. The catered dinner is the recurring complaint in reviews: some plates read as ordinary or arrive lukewarm.
Kids get their own seat at the lei table.
Prices and logistics
Public dates run Tuesday to Friday. Self-drive tickets cost $180 per adult, $140 for juniors 13 to 20, and $120 for children 3 to 12; infants 2 and under are free. The with-transportation tier costs $202 per adult, with pickups at Waikīkī-area stops plus the Ala Moana Hotel and Kahala Hotel. The drive up Round Top Drive takes 20 to 30 minutes from Waikīkī; enter “Nutridge Estate” in your GPS. Parking on the grounds is free; reverse into your stall. Wheelchair access and dietary requests need 48 hours notice.
You book this one for the 50-guest cap and the estate itself. The most repeated phrase across its 1,200-plus TripAdvisor reviews, rated 4.9, is a version of being welcomed into someone’s home. Set food expectations at casual-catering level, since the dinner is the most repeated complaint, and know the hosting style leans hard on participation and jokes; a few guests find it too much. Skip it if you want a big polished stage show or can’t manage uneven hillside ground.
About Experience Nutridge
Experience Nutridge is Native Hawaiian owned and sits on the Tantalus estate that started Hawaiʻi’s macadamia industry: the state’s first commercial macadamia plantation, planted in 1921. The estate house later hosted guests like Clark Gable and Frank Sinatra, and the current owners run the luau on the same 22-acre grounds above Honolulu.
Affiliate Disclaimer
Booking through this page costs you nothing extra and is made directly with Experience Nutridge. We earn a commission from the operator, not from you, and it is what pays for the research that keeps lovebigisland.com free and free of paid placement. We only list operators we would send a friend to. Details on our affiliate links are here.