Oahu is known as The Gathering Place. Gathered on the island’s North Shore is a collection of Pacific Ocean culture you won’t find anywhere else in the world. Here’s what it is and why it’s unique:

Mormon missionaries founded the small North Shore village of La’ie in 1864. Earlier, they tried, and failed, to settle on the island of Lana’i. Today, La’ie thrives under the guiding influence of Mormon businesses and religion.

The area is host to a Hawaii campus of Brigham Young University, a large Mormon Temple, and, for culture lovers, The Polynesian Cultural Center.

This 42-acre educational theme park is a remarkable place to visit. If anything, because there’s nothing like it in Hawaii or elsewhere in the Pacific.

Island students from all over the Pacific come together at The Polynesian Cultural Center (known locally as “PCC”; we’ll use PCC, too, as it saves us a heck of a lot of keyboard typing). They demonstrate crafts and dancing in specially arranged performances and settings.

Seven Polynesian villages make up PCC.

• Tongan (from Tonga)
• Hawaiian (from Hawaii)
• Samoan (from Samoa)
• Tahitian (from Tahiti)
• Fijian (from Fiji)
• Maori (from New Zealand)
• Marquesan (Marquesas Isles)

What you’ll see, in continuous mini-shows throughout the day, is cultural instruction; Tongan drums, Samoan fire making, Hawaii poi pounding, or dance.

Remarkably, the cultures from each of the seven are not the same, although some similarities exist. Major musical presentations are also available with casts from each of the seven villages.

PCC hosts an afternoon show called the Pageant of the Long Canoes. If you’ve toured Hawaii at all you’ve probably seen the long double-hulled canoes. They trace their roots throughout Polynesia. PCC’s canoes show presents legends and information from each island; including songs, dancing, and martial arts demonstrations.

PCC isn’t cheap, but is remarkable entertainment and is Hawaii’s largest single attraction with nearly 1 million visitors each year.

The Polynesian Cultural Center
59-864 Kamehameha Highway
La’ie, Hawaii (Oahu)
808-293-3333

Pros: Stunning recreations of life on seven major Islands of the Pacific.

Cons: Expensive, far from Waikiki.

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