As the year ended, the sun set on the Paradise Cove Lū‘au, a longtime tourist attraction on the west side of the island at the very edge of the Ko Olina resort area, where, if not for the smokestack at the Kahe Point Power Plant and the frequent roar of airplanes making their approach to the Honolulu Airport, you could convince yourself you had stepped back in time.

The Paradise Cove Lū‘au existed in that liminal space between the Hawaiʻi that tourists want to experience and the Hawaiʻi that Hawaiʻi residents actually recognize as real.

On Dec. 31, the 167 workers of the 47-year-old business served their last mai tais, sold their last keychain, and lit their fire knives for the final show.

As the Paradise Cove Lū‘au was winding down days before that finale, the employees appeared unfazed and professional, from the hula show emcees to the security guards to the guy made to shinny up a coconut tree and drop flowers over the heads of the guests. Other than the depleted shelves of leftover trinkets in the gift shop, it didn’t look like a business shutting down. The show must go on, and it did until it didn’t.

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The experience was definitely traditional, if tradition is defined by what Hawaiʻi tourism has looked like since the days when the Matson Line brought people across the ocean to experience a romanticized version of the islands. Every box on the checklist was checked, from the “Hawaiian Wedding Song” (which rarely, if ever, is performed at local weddings), to making all the guests stand up and learn basic hula motions to the Hukilau, to picking out a good-natured guy from the crowd to perform a stiff-back, chicken-legged version of Tahitian dance in front of the crowd. Throw in a queue to pay for a photo with a parrot, another line to get temporary tribal tattoos painted on your hands, and the opportunity to sit in a two-person canoe while a shirtless man paddled you around the lagoon, and it was a packed evening of tropical entertainment that has charmed tourists for decades.

That is not at all a criticism. Paradise Cove Lū‘au did what it was supposed to do, and it did it in a way that didn’t feel too outrageous or offensive if you live in Hawaiʻi, have knowledge of hula, and have heard the poi-tastes-like-wallpaper-paste joke a hundred times.

The poi was good, particularly if you like your poi on the fresh/sweet side, and the kalua pig tasted more like backyard kalua pig cooked by somebody’s papa than restaurant kalua pig. The hula portion of the show was choreographed by Kumu Hulas Tracie Lopes and Laʻakea Perry, two highly respected cultural practitioners, and it looked like it.

Most of all, the operation was orderly. There were long lines for food and activities, but the lines moved pretty quickly. There was always a staff member nearby to answer questions. Guests dressed up for the event in their matching aloha-print family outfits, stacked their plates impossibly high with food from the buffet, and seemed to have a good time.

So why shut down an event that seemed to be ably filling a demand for a really long time?

Redevelopment.

That’s what happens when so much of Hawaiʻi has already been developed. To move forward, it has to be developed again with a new aim. Again, this is a description, not a criticism.

Plans are for the Hawaiian Council and Ko Olina to redevelop the beachside acreage into The Cove, anchored by Duke’s Restaurant, retail shops, and, starting next month, a new show called Kaula Lū‘au that is being described as hewing more to traditional Hawaiian culture than traditional tourist expectations. The concept has the area opening up as a cultural destination rather than commercial operation, possibly stepping out of that liminal space into something new.

There was a time when just about every hotel in Hawaiʻi had its own lū‘au show on the hotel grounds. Now even staying in a hotel seems retro.

Tourist destinations around the world seem to be struggling with modern travel trends that do not involve booking a package tour, following a local guide and going to pre-selected activities. That was the idea of vacationing as safe, familiar, controlled, concierge-d. 

Now, travel is about discovering new things on your own, breaking free from the pack, being thrilled rather than amused, and making the only set of footprints on the beach. Visitors to Hawaiʻi want to do more than sit in a canoe while a beachboy paddles them around the lagoon. They want to paddle their own watercraft out of the cove and past the breakers and post the dramatic video on social media.

That is an experience that is difficult to curate. The old-style lū‘au was formulaic, but it was a formula that worked for a long time.