How to Do a Ukulele-Themed Hawaii Tour

The Hawaiian islands have long been known for the songs and sounds of the ukulele, with the uke featured in Hawaiian postcards, t-shirts, souvenir shops, island concerts, and luaus (although the uke actually originated in Portugal).

Visitors to Hawaii who are interested in learning more about the ukulele, including how they are made, where to buy one, how to play one, and the best places to listen to a uke concert, can follow these tips below on a trip to Honolulu and across O’ahu. Expect similar offerings on all of the other Hawaiian islands—just ask a hotel concierge or island tourism bureau for tips.

Hotels with lessons 
A great way for visitors to get a quick and easy briefing on the history, culture, and playing of the ukulele is to take a lesson offered by a Hawaiian hotel. Many hotels offer free uke lessons or can point interested guests to a local shop or cultural center that provides lessons. Most hotel lessons are tailored for ukulele beginners, but the instructor can probably point guests to local teachers who can give more advanced lessons. 

• Waikiki’s Outrigger Reef Beach Resort offers twice-weekly free lessons at their A’o Cultural Center (which also provides hula and lei-making classes)
• The Four Seasons Ko Olina hosts free hour-long ukulele classes, and sometimes special workshops with legendary local musician Roy Sakuma ($75).
• The Sheraton Waikiki provides free lessons to hotel guests at the Puapua uke shop in the hotel
• The Kaimana Beach Hotel has in-house lessons every Thursday with “Uncle Joe”

Ukulele shops
Visitors interested in purchasing a ukulele should skip the toy models sold at ABC stores and buy one from an actual ukulele shop. A decent beginner’s instrument can be found for $50-70, a pretty good locally made model for about $250, with some custom handcrafted models selling for thousands of dollars.

• In the Waikiki Beach Walk mall, the aptly named Ukulele Store sells a nice range of instruments, and ukulele music, and offers free beginner’s lessons.

• Ukulele Pua Pua shop at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel has entry-level and high-end instruments and gives free lessons daily (for hotel guests only).

• The Ukulele House in the Hyatt Regency Hotel has a good selection of ukuleles and gives lessons as well on a first-come-first-served basis.

Ukulele performance venues
The most common way for visitors to see ukulele performances is by going to a luau, many of which are hosted at hotels. Visitors can see regularly see locals playing ukulele in parks, on the beach, and on the streets for tips. Live music venues and bars often feature Hawaiian musicians playing the uke. Be sure to look at the schedule of any given venue, as a variety of non-ukulele styles of music are also popular in Hawaii.

• The Outrigger Reef Hotel features live Hawaiian music nightly at the Kani Ka Pila Grille, including frequent ukulele musicians.
• Blue note Hawaiihosts touring bands as well as local traditional performers including slack key guitar and ukulele artists, review their calendar in advance to see the artists and buy tickets
• Duke’s on Waikiki has live music nightly, often featuring the ukulele at the bar and restaurant.
• Tiki’s Grill and Bar is another venue with nightly live entertainment that is likely to host a ukulele artist as part of their beach-themed grill.

Workshop tours
For an education about the history of the ukulele, and to see how some of the top instruments are made, visitors can visit different workshops around O’ahu.

The legendary family-run Kamaka ukulele brand has been around nearly as long as ukuleles have, first producing the quintessential instrument in 1916. Nowadays, their top ukulele models sell for upwards of $2,000. A tour of the factory, often given by a Kamaka family member—leads the group from the front shop selling new and historic ukes to the backrooms with sweet-smelling koa wood storage to the workshop floor where workers craft and assemble the instruments.  Free hour-long guided tours run every Tuesday to Friday at 10:30 a.m. Groups of more than five people should reserve in advance.

The Kaloha ukulele brand also gives free tours of their new factory in the Kaka’ako neighborhood of Waikiki Monday through Friday at 1 p.m. Visitors can watch luthiers at work and learn the entire production process, as well as the history of this high-end ukulele-maker.

Kanilea Ukulele hosts daily tours in their newly renovated factory, located in Kane?ohe on the Windward side of O?ahu. Tours take about 90 minutes, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. Reservations are required for the regular and VIP factory tours.