The Pineapple Experience of Hawai‘i.
Originally operated as a fruit stand in 1950, Dole Plantation opened to the public as Hawaii’s “Pineapple Experience” in 1989. The plantation blends the traditional elements of Hawaii's plantation life and the early pineapple industry with the new breed of diversified agriculture currently being grown on the North Shore of Oahu. Visitors learn how James. D. Dole, founder of Dole Food Company, came to Hawaii in 1899 after graduating from Harvard University. Dole single-handedly began the pineapple industry in Hawaii with 60 acres of rich red dirt on the current site of Dole Plantation.
Today, Dole Plantation is one of Oahu’s most popular visitor attractions and welcomes more than one million visitors a year. Dole Plantation provides enjoyable activities for the entire family, including the Pineapple Express Train, the Plantation Garden Tour, and the Pineapple Garden Maze (the World’s Largest Maze, as recognized by Guinness World Records). Also popular are informational displays and presentations, as well as our country store offering a wide variety of unique, made-in-Hawaii gifts.
Inside our country store you’ll also find the Plantation Grille, offering a grown-in-Hawaii lunch menu featuring everything from Kalua Pork Quesadillas to Teriyaki Chicken Sandwiches to “North Shore” Shrimp Linguini Pasta. We also have a wide assortment of deserts, including the world-famous DoleWhip®, and a coffee bar featuring Waialua Coffee grown on the North Shore of Oahu. Visitors may also purchase fresh pineapple to take home. Every week, Dole Plantation sells more than 3,500 fresh Hawaii-grown pineapples.
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The Pineapple Express Train made its inaugural tour in 2002 and is a 20-minute, two-mile journey around the plantation showcasing the legacy of pineapple and agriculture in Hawaii. The tour takes guests through several acres of diversified agriculture including lychee, banana, mango, papaya, cacao and coffee. Along the route, passengers are treated to stunning views of the Ko‘olau and Wai‘anae Mountain ranges. The train, built in conjunction with Ironhorse Development, LLC, can reach a cruising speed of eight miles per hour.
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The Plantation Garden Tour debuted in 2003 to provide visitors with the opportunity to look into the past and present of Hawaii’s agriculture. The tour takes visitors through eight “mini-gardens”: Life on the Plantation, Native Species Garden, Irrigation, North Shore Agriculture, Bromeliad Garden, Ti Leaf Garden, Lei Garden and Hibiscus Garden.
In addition to an up-close look at a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, native Hawaiian plants and tropical flora, tour-goers can experience planting their own pineapple, weather permitting.
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Recognized by Guinness World Records as the “World’s Largest Maze,” the maze occupies an area of more than three acres with a path length of nearly 2.5 miles. It is made of 14,000 colorful Hawaii plants including hibiscus, agapanthas, panax and pineapple. The center of the maze is in the shape of a huge pineapple, which is made up of croton and has a crown of agapanthus.
With the expansion, adventurers can now search for eight secret stations on their way to solving the mystery of the maze. The fastest maze wanderers to find all eight stations, stencil in each station’s different symbol on their maze cards, and return to the entrance, win a prize and have their names recorded on a sign at the maze entrance. The fastest times have been clocked at about seven minutes, while the average is about 45 minutes to one hour.
