Dole Plantation, Hawaii | Worth a visit? | FULL GUIDE
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- Опубліковано 2 сер 2024
- Is visiting the Dole Plantation in Oahu, Hawaii worth it? This video is a full tour of the Dole Plantation Train, Dole Plantation Garden, and yes, can't forget the Dole Whip! Spoiler Alert: I would not recommend adding the Dole Plantation to your Hawaii Travel Itinerary... at least as a full of half day stop. It was too expensive for how below-average it was maintained.
If you've visited the Dole Plantation in Oahu, Hawaii, let me know in the comments your experience!
0:00 Welcome to Dole Plantation
0:52 Gift Shop
1:37 Getting Tickets
2:09 Train: Pineapple Express
3:22 Pineapple Fields!
4:16 Dole Whip
5:20 Jim Dole Fun Facts
5:54 Garden Tour
7:32 Conclusion - Is it worth visiting?
Script:
Before we begin, my favorite fun fact is that Jim Dole once bought the island of Lana'i and it became the world's largest pineapple plantation.
But that was back in the early 1900s, today, spoiler alert, we would
NOT recommend the Dole Plantation as a highlight on your Hawaiian vacation. There was a lot that .. well.. frankly wasn't good. The story
of James Dole was great.. but it's an overpriced tourist trap now. Ok, now let's begin and see why...
.....
Like any good business, you start by entering the gift shop, and this is a large gift shop and it has ADORABLE items. Usually I'd save the gift shop part of the video for last, but there were at least three distinct parts of the gift shop and you have to walk through all of it to get to the pineapple whip and the main grounds, so through the gift shop we begin.
lots of cool and unique things in the gift shop, from chocolate bars to stuffed pineapples, t-shirts, hats, anything you can put a pineapple logo on.
There were options for combo tickets, it was $18.75 for the train/garden
combo ticket. But wait... and I literally mean wait.. because that first line to the train was only one part of the line, they then move you to a secondary
waiting area The train's design was really cute, and however cool it may look, the ride felt like an advertisement because of the songs they kept playing of a Hawaiian band. The songs were good, but they essentially said "please buy this CD in our gift shop" instead of "if you like this song, it is available for purchase." The audio narrator was also hard to hear.
You get to see plants like bananas, avocados, breadfruit, cocoa, coffee, but they didn't seem well maintained. We finally made it to the pineapples!
Harvesting pineapple is difficult with machinery, so it's still done by hand. The first crop takes 18-20 months to be ready for harvest. The next crop takes another 15 months.Planting them isn't any easier as it is done by hand as well! A working pineapple plantation will plant between 27,000 and 33,000 plants per acre. The soil here is incredibly red because it's decomposing volcanic ash, filling the soil with oxidized iron.. and it will stain your shirt.
Off the train and time for Pineapple whip before the garden tour.
there are two sides to the Cafe so remember to pick the less busy side
My favorite part was reading about Jim Dole, who arrived in Hawaii
in 1899. He bought 61 acres and the timing was perfect as the process of canning food was perfected and he could now send fresh pineapple over long distances. He opened their first cannery in 1901 At that time, pineapple was considered a desirable exotic fruit but few westerners knew what to do with one. So between advertising recipes and holding contests, canned pineapple was popularized. For nearly 70 years, the island of Lana'i supplied more than 75% of the world’s pineapple, becoming widely known as the “Pineapple Island.” By 1930 once the business became a worldwide success, he employed about 3,000 permanent and 4,000 seasonal employees.
The gardens were... not extensive... It needed to be free for how small it was and some of these plants I literally saw while waiting outside of Pearl Harbor... so they're not all that unique. All the old equipment was rusting away quickly too it seemed.
Ok let's brighten it up by some photos of the Hawaiian plants.
Conclusion:
I don't highly recommend making this a half day excursion, but rather a short stop on the way to north shore. Hawaii has much more to offer, such as our stop tomorrow at Hanauma Bay to go snorkeling! Subscribe for
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Safe Travels My Friends!
![Dole Plantation - Where Dole Whips Are Born [Oahu Hawaii] 🍍](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3i-DTiBKvtg/mqdefault.jpg)
![Dole Plantation - Where Dole Whips Are Born [Oahu Hawaii] 🍍](/img/tr.png)
Thanks for the review, Dani. I went to the Dole Plantation as a kid. I don't remember much about it except that my family all thought that the glass of pineapple juice we drank there was so much fresher than the pineapple juice sold in grocery stores on the mainland.
That's a cool memory! I didn't try any of the pineapple juice but from your memory, I bet it is much fresher than grocery store pineapple juice! Thanks for your comment Jeff!
Thanks for the report and honest opinion, most other travel channels would say everything is great.
Thanks, I didn't want to put in in a "bad light" but at the same time I felt I needed to say it wasn't great. It's worth visiting the gift shop and free parts, but not paying for any of it. Thanks for you comment
I loved the dole plantation. Especially the train ride, next time I go to Hawaii I'll definitely go again.
I’m a pineapple lover since a kid. Although you say you don’t recommend, I HAVE to go see where they come from. I have to taste the freshest pineapples.
The pineapples are frozen until needed. They’re no more fresh than what you can get in a grocery store. Wake up and get smart.
Sorry you ladies didn’t enjoy your visit. Thanks for the honest review! Seems like you still had fun, and that’s all that matters!
Thanks RobbZipp! Yes, we were expecting something a little more top-notch, but as you saw, wasn’t quite that way. But yes, it is still Hawaii after all so we had fun! 😊
You guys don't look like tourists at all..thanks Dani
Lol thanks! 😆😁
Thank You, good information. I haven't been, but it is high on bucket list.
I hope you get to travel there one day soon! Hawaii is definitely a bucket list place.
Great vlog!
Thanks Michael! Hope all is well with you!
I haven't been there in 10 years. Thank you for the honest review. I still would check out the maze but I think ill skip the other stuff 😂
That's probably a good idea. I bet 10 years ago it was more "alive" than what it is today! Thanks for your comment Ivana!
We did a little video about this place too, mostly distracted by the stray cats 😂
Yes, there were plenty of cute stray cats to get distracted by there!! 😂 Ok cool, I'll check out your channel and Dole video!
This review seems to miss the main point - the whole of Oahu is a tourist trap. Admittedly we visited some 20 years ago (from UK) and found the Dole Plantation to be no worse than the rest of the places. In fact, it's one of the few things that still stays in our memory!
Who lives in a Pineapple under the sea?
Oh I know, I know!!!! It’s SpongeBob SquarePants!!!!! 🤣😂
Tough crowd it seems! I’m here at the Dole plantation right now and really feel that this review was unnecessarily harsh. This place is beautiful, well staffed, and you can totally walk around the gift shop to get to the train if you desire. Good grief y’all!
You obviously have no idea what you’re talking about.
Agree
Did they allow you to pick and take pinapples with you?
They did not. You could buy some pineapple product but not pick any pineapples 🍍
@@HeyChannelDani that's unfortunate. It'll pretty much be useless to go
@@missdatoo9590 Yeah, they have cool but expensive souvenirs… but it’s like cheating buying souvenirs there if you didn’t “experience the actual location,” you know. lol
Pineapple plants take years just to get 2, and then they are done. I wouldn't let random people pick them either 😂
@worldschoolmanatees my cousin grew 5 pineapples in her house. It took 1 year for them to grow. She also grew it from the top part of the fruit. So I would think that they'd be able to produce a good amount of fruit, and especially with the climate.
The worst tourist trap in Hawaii. We had to stand in a queue line for 90 minutes to ride the “Pineapple Express”. And the train ride was a joke. Through open fields. The gift shop was full of expensive tourist junk. The cafeteria was overly crowded. People bitched that they stood in 45 minute lines for food. We drove to Hale Iwa and had a much better lunch. The Dole Plantation was the worst experience we had in Hawaii. Stick to selling pineapples.
it’s a total tourist trap..even to us locals! the train ride would be the most informative but there’s LOTS of room for improvements…and it could be cheaper.
Debbie Downer
Thanks, but I’d like to think of it more as an Honest Susan.
Sounding like debbie downer Snl skit? Smh
If Debbie Downer from SNL went to the Dole Plantation, that’d be a neat show!
Would you rather me paint it like a wonderful place as I was expecting, or the expensive reality that it was sadly.
I’m not hating on it, just disappointed in it 🤷♀️
@@HeyChannelDani sounds like it would be a great place for kids. Or a family outing. The whole video just seemed extremely pessimistic.
You're probably fun at parties.
I’m from hawaii and I don’t even go there. Boring
Oh my frend, it's so cool!
If you respect Hawaii at all, DO NOT go here. Sanford Ballard Dole, the founder, is the main guy who overthrew the Hawaiian government and essentially stole Hawaii in 1893. It's not unusual to see satirical bumper stickers that say "Stole", instead of Dole (in the style of the Dole logo).
A whole video of made up complaints lol
At least they’re honest “complaints” instead of sugar-coating this destination lol