22 Apr 2025Live Music, Ocean Awareness Activities & Family Fun
Get ready for an unforgettable day of music, culture, and keiki fun as the Ko Olina Children’s Festival returns on Saturday May 10, 2025, bringing families together to celebrate ocean awareness, creativity, and community. This annual event benefits Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women & Children, supporting critical healthcare services for Hawaiʻi’s keiki.
07 Mar 2023Wellness Awaits at Four Seasons Resort Oʻahu
Four Seasons Resort Oʻahu at Ko Olina debuts a collection of elevated wellness programs to reset the mind and body. Classes focus on cardio fitness, tennis, pickleball, yoga, meditation, hiking, and energy healing.
26 Oct 2022The Skies Above Us
Despite a reputation for hot, dry weather, Wai‘anae attracts rain and houses groundwater. “Wai,” in fact, refers to fresh water. Traditional poetry and lore speak to the famed wai o Lualualei, or the pools of Lualualei, that reframes Wai‘anae as a unique hydrological ecosystem.
12 Aug 2021Summer Treats Featuring Moana and Friends
Now at Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa, new Dole Whip soft-serve desserts are just the beginning to a summer of delicious treats. Mickey Shave Ice take on a refreshing local dessert with flavors like mango, pineapple, coconut, lilikoi, orange and guava.
12 Feb 2021Of Plants and Progeny
Kalo, or taro, has been integral to the Hawaiian diet. Alongside mai‘a (banana), niu (coconut), and ‘ulu (breadfruit), kalo was one of the canoe plants, the original plants brought to the Hawaiian Islands by the first Polynesian settlers.
23 Jan 2021Visit ‘Olu Mel a Friend of Duffy at Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa
Now you can see ‘Olu Mel, A Disney Friend of Duffy, playing endearing and uplifting music on his ‘ukulele as well as other favorite Disney characters, including Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck and Stitch on your next trip to Aulani Resort.
24 Sep 2020Aulani Resort Will Plan to Begin a Phased Reopening on November 1
Given Hawaiʻi’s recent announcement of a pre-arrival testing program for those traveling from out-of-state, we are working toward a phased reopening of Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa beginning on Sunday, November 1. And just like our other Disney destinations that have re-opened, we are using a measured approach that focuses on the health and safety of our guests, cast and community.
24 Nov 2019Nathanael Endo: The West Point Graduate
Growing up in Wai‘anae, fires were frequent during the summer. At age 4, I witnessed firefighters put out a fire behind my house, and I decided that I wanted to be like them. Then, in sixth grade, my older brother, who was in the U.S. Army, told me about military firefighters.
20 Nov 2019A Creative Turn
For years, the 150-foot, streetfacing exterior of Nānākuli Super was the site of repeated vandalism that included graffiti, curse words, and lewd pictures. Everyone who drove into Nānākuli saw it. “It was an eyesore,” says Kris Okimoto, one of the family owners of the store.
19 Nov 2019Ladies of the Lineup
In the childhood home of Keānuenue and Puamakamae DeSoto on the west side of O‘ahu sits a shining, gobletshaped trophy engraved with the logo of the World Surfing League. In 2010, when the sisters were 6 and 4 years old respectively, their father, Duane DeSoto, raised that trophy high above his head at Mākaha Beach.
15 Nov 2019Busy Bees
On O‘ahu’s leeward coast, miles of sky kissed sand meander alongside the two lane highway. Cars slow as drivers, in no hurry to make their turns, crawl through Nānākuli, Mā‘ili, Wai‘anae. The pace of life on the West Side, like the traffic, is languid. It’s as if the heat makes everything as slow as syrup. Or honey.
03 Jul 2019Kawehi Namu‘o: The Guardian
As a teenager, I hung out at Nānākuli Beach Park often. There, I’d see the lifeguards come and go on their work day. That’s when I knew I wanted to become a lifeguard. Because when I see the ocean, I see God’s creation. And I truly love playing in God’s creation. It’s where I feel at home, happy, and at peace.
29 Jun 2019Dancing In The Deep
Following a long night of collaborating to catch lantern fish, shrimp, squid, and other deep-ocean prey, nai‘a (spinner dolphins, or Stenella longirostris) seek refuge at spots along Wai‘anae’s coastline like Mākua Bay and Pōka‘ī Bay. The sandy-bottomed bays offer more safety from predators and respite from big swells and wind.
26 Jun 2019Character Arcs
The cofounders of Ho‘okipa I Po‘okela, an afterschool golf instruction program for students in the Nānākuli district, believe that underneath the science of the sport lay the keys to character-building, including sportsmanship, patience, perseverance, and integrity.
19 Sep 2018Ko Olina Launches Ticket Sales for the 5th Annual Ko Olina Children's Festival, Saturday, September 22, 2018
100 Percent of Ticket Proceeds Benefit Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children; Exclusive Room Rates Available at Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa O‘AHU, HAWAI‘I (May 18, 2018) – Ko Olina Resort invites guests, family and friends to celebrate the 5th Annual Ko Olina Children’s Festival on Saturday, September 22, 2018. This family play day
22 Jul 2018Plantation Stroll
At Hawai‘i’s Plantation Village in Waipahu, visitors get a glimpse of a bygone life among sugarcane fields. “Thank you for coming to Hawai‘i’s best kept secret,” Ken Kaneshige, a docent, tells the group standing near the entrance to Hawai‘i’s Plantation Village. Up the hill, lined along a narrow lane, are replicas of a traditional Japanese furo
21 Jul 2018Sam Kapoi: My Journey to Voyaging
I grew up in Waiʻanae and, on paper, I'm nine generations deep—I’m sure there’s more prior to that. I went to public school: Waiʻanae Elementary, Intermediate, and High School. In 10th grade you selected your career pathway, and I selected Hawaiian studies and natural resources. I was really interested in a side program in voyaging.
21 Jul 2018Healing Garden
On 50 acres in Lualualei Valley, Kahumana Organic Farm and Community grows more than just greens. At Kahumana Organic Farm, which is hidden within Lualualei Valley at the base of Mount Ka‘ala, monkeypod and mango trees tower over buildings alongside fields of produce, an aquaponics system, and quiet, lush areas marked by small temples.
12 Dec 2017Ko Olina Golf Club Completes Extensive Bunker Renovation Debuts Mickey Mouse Inspired Bunker
Ko Olina Resort, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, December 12, 2017 – Ko Olina Golf Club, host of the LPGA’s LOTTE Championship, has completed a three-month renovation of its greenside and select fairway bunkers. The project included reshaping the bunkers and the addition of new silica sand.
12 Apr 2017Ko Olina Resort Announces 4th Annual Children’s Festival Saturday, September 23, 2017
Festival Proceeds To Benefit Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women & Children; O‘AHU, HAWAI‘I (April 10, 2017) – Ko Olina Resort invites guests, families and friends to celebrate the 4th Annual Ko Olina Children’s Festival on Saturday, September 23, 2017. The event will feature interactive video and music activities, live stage performances, family-friendly movies from Disney/Pixar
01 May 2016Community Raises $55,000 for Kapi‘olani Medical Center at Ko Olina Children’s Film & Music Festival
KAPOLEI, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i (May 1, 2016) The third annual Ko Olina Children’s Film & Music Festival, a benefit for Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children, was held Saturday, April 30, and drew more than 2,000 people for a day of family-friendly movies from Disney•PIXAR and special appearances by Jake Shimabukuro and Auliʻi Cravalho, the voice
02 Mar 2016Ko Olina Childrens’s Film & Music Festival To Be Largest Yet
The 3rd Annual Ko Olina Children's Film & Music Festival, Saturday, April 30, 2016, will be the largest yet with young local performers, interactive audio and video studios for aspiring artists, and a fan favorite collection of Disney•PIXAR and Hawaiʻi International Film Festival films.
26 Feb 2015Second Annual Ko Olina Children’s Film & Music Festival Features Frozen at Sunset & Young Local Music Line-up
The second annual Children’s Film & Music Festival (CFMF) at Ko Olina, Saturday, March 7, will be even bigger than the first with hot, young local performers, interactive audio and video studios for aspiring artists, and nine films ranging from family-friendly Disney to Hawai‘i International Film Festival favorites. The feature film, Frozen, will be screened on the beach
05 Feb 2015Ko Olina Resort to Host 2nd Annual Ko Olina Children’s Film & Music Festival
Ko Olina Children’s Film and Music Festival to benefit the Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women. Ko Olina, O‘ahu, HAWAI‘I – (February 3, 2015) Ko Olina will host the second annual Ko Olina Children’s Film & Music Festival on Saturday, March 7, 2015. The entertaining schedule features local live stage performances, interactive music and video studios
16 Oct 2014Ko Olina Resort to Host 16th Annual Thanksgiving Outreach
Four thousand holiday meals, complete with turkey, gravy, stuffing, pie and more, will be distributed to Leeward residents through Ko Olina’s 16th Annual Thanksgiving Outreach, Saturday, November 22. What began modestly with just 1,000 meals in 1999 has grown to be the holiday’s largest outreach program on Oʻahu.
17 Apr 2014Bridging Heaven and Earth, Nurturing the cultural ties of Lanikūhonua
Lanikūhonua, “Where Heaven Meets Earth,” is the cultural refuge at the entrance to Ko Olina, where kupuna, the respected elders, teach a variety of Hawaiian arts from singing, hula and music to knowledge about medicine plants and other natural resources.