Kualoa Ranch & Private Nature Reserve

Im so happy I got to experience my first atv tour at Kualoa ranch! I did the 2 hour tour which was worth every penny. I spent about 120 ish not including tax. I also took an hour an a half bus ride from Waikiki, it seriously went by so fast and again it was beyond worth it. Beautiful and fun. My tour guide was awesome. Now I want to atv in every exotic island I visit!

Let’s start with the good. We had booked an ATV tour that was really fun. Our guide was nice and we had a good time. Although, they told us we would see the Andromadus Rex cage from Jurassic World (that was false).
We learned that if we booked the Jungle Tour, we would be able to see the cage then, go inside the viewing area, walk around the cage, see scratch marks and everything. So we spent the extra $ 100 to book the Jungle Tour.
Within ten minutes of the jungle tour, the guide tells us that that isn’t true. Mind you, our ATV guide AND the ticket booth told us that we would in fact get to do these things on the Jungle Tour. This was the only reason we wanted to do the Jungle Tour.
The tour guide had said that you haven’t been able to do that for about a month and that the other employees didn’t know anything??? Wondering why such a key selling point like that wouldn’t be told to all employees…
So basically we wasted $ 100 on a boring tour where we didn’t even get to do what we were told we would which is the whole reason we did it. Thumbs down, Kualoa. Inform your staff and don’t lie to your patrons just to get money.
Not to mention, when we spoke to a manager, she basically told us we were lying and that nobody at the ticket counter would have said that… And that the ATV guides «don’t know anything».

Quick disclaimer: This review is super long overdue and has been sitting under my Unfinished Reviews for almost a year (we visited Hawaii in May 2015), so read and take this w/​a (huge) grain of salt, but I had such a great time at Kualoa Ranch and with the staff, I just had to come back and (finally) finish my review!
Kualoa Ranch was one of the most beautiful and well-​kept ranches I’ve ever visited. We did the 2 Hour ATV Tour and booked through:
because they had a 10% off for booking online promotion. If you have any questions, I believe they can be reached at
.
From my somewhat hazy memory, this is what I remember:
Our 2 Hour ATV Tour reservation for a party of 4 was scheduled for the 9:30a departure. You’re supposed to check in at the ranch 15 to 30 minutes before your scheduled ATV reservation but because of some unaccounted for traffic, we got there 10 minutes before and were somehow still fine. There is another tour that departs at 2:30p, but we were told the morning tour offers better and nicer weather.
The tour takes you on trails through mountains, scenic valleys, and movie sites – definitely dress to get dirty because it can get muddy when you’re crossing streams.
Brandon was our guide – he was friendly, animated, fun, and incredibly awesome w/​his silly antics. Being from SoCal, we were used to the hot weather, but we were definitely not ready for the humidity/​bug bites. One of the girls got so many bug bites, she couldn’t stop itching them and at one point, had to hop off the ATV. This was when Brandon scooped in to the rescue and picked off some fruit from a tree and said the oil from it relieves itches, and it really did the trick!
If only I lived in Hawaii, I’d so, so, so visit the ranch more often!

Our day consisted of three tours at the Ranch: Ocean Voyage & Garden (9:00am), Zipline (11:00am), and Movie Site & Ranch (3:00pm). A few years ago, we also did Horseback riding.
Reservations are required! You can do this online, Kualoa Ranch ticket office, or since we are Military, at the MWR/​ITT office. But whether you’re local or military, discounted rates are available through Kualoa. Just be sure you’re prepared to show valid ID.
OCEAN VOYAGE & GARDEN tour (5 Stars!)
Two words: Incredibly Awesome! We started off on bus from the ranch and drove about 5-​minutes to the Moli’i Fishpond. Here, we embarked on an open water taxi to get to Secret Island. A short hike through the the Hau tree forest will bring you to the fabulously beautiful Secret Island. This is where the Ocean Voyage tour really begins. While we waited to dock on the 49-​passenger catamaran (which was behind schedule due to a staff member calling in sick), our tour guide said we were welcome to walk around which doesn’t happen all too often. Our group just got lucky because we ended up playing on the tree swing, relaxing in the hammocks, playing some cornhole, and enjoying the view from the red beach chairs without having to pay an additional fee. Our family and relatives from Australia had so much fun! So, our catamaran finally arrived and we set sail towards Chinaman’s Hat, also known as Mokoli’i Island. We couldn’t have asked for better weather, so all of our photos with the backdrop of Kualoa ridge and Mokoli’i were just incredible. We even spotted a few sea turtles! Our tour guide and captain of the boat were very knowledgable about sharing some Hawaiian history, so it was a great learning experience too!
ZIPLINE (5 Stars!)
2 members in our party of 5 ended up doing the 2.5 hour ZipLine tour (ages 18 & 20). They told it was a great time, which surprisingly included a brief tour of the movie sets. Altogether there were 7 platforms to zip from, so a bit of hiking was required in between. There is a photo package you can purchase for $ 50 which can be downloaded directly from your phone through a link they send to your email.
MOVIE SITE & RANCH tour (4 Stars!)
After checking into the designated area, you’ll embark onto a long, green school bus with open windows. I’m not sure if this happened to other tours throughout the day, but the 3pm ride was super dusty. By the end of the tour I felt my lips and cell phone case were covered in dust. The ride takes you up top to Battery Cooper, which was camp to the US Air Force back in the 1940’s. Our tour guide explained how Kualoa was very much a military fortress which included a landing airstrip. Quite impressive. Inside Battery Cooper are war memorabilia and movie posters. Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Five-​0 and Lost have used this location to film. Continuing on from the bus, you’ll end up on the other side of Kualoa ridge through the farmland of papaya, shrimp ponds, cattle, goat, orchids, and more. Then you’ll finally get to the more exciting movie sites: 50 First Dates, Jurassic Park, Godzilla, and a replica Moai from Easter Island. The reason why I gave this tour 4 Stars is because I’d prefer it was more focused on the television and movie sites than of the War. I think our tour guide was more knowledgable in military history than the movies. I could hear several people on the bus say, «I would never do this tour again.» Also, my son told me that the ZipLine tour had already covered most of the movie sites. So, he actually slept through this tour (a $ 25 nap!).
I don’t have photos of the Horseback Riding tour, but I do remember it being pretty fantastic. I also remember wanting to own my own horse after that experience. Lol. We ended up purchasing the souvenir photo though, which we have somewhere in the house.
The Ranch is just beautiful and picturesque because of the greenery and all it has to offer. You can walk around to view the horses and other farm animals, too, like the tortoise, pig, goats, cow, and donkey
Aside from the tours, Kualoa has a nice souvenir shop and restaurant. But, since we had a few hours to spare in between the tours, we took a drive over to the Tropical Farms Macadamia Outlet and Mike’s Huli Chicken food truck just a couple of miles away.

I took the secret island tour with my 13 yr old daughter. Nice place to go and hang out and I think all teenagers would love it. We relaxed I’m the hammock, played Frisbee in the water, and went kayaking. My daughter loved the rope swing. It’s a relaxing day and great for families of all ages

I save what I consider «touristy» stuff to do when friends and family come to visit. I did the ATV tour with a friend recently.
The grounds seem well kept. Big shopping trap when you first enter, we then made our way to the ticket counter. The staff member was super friendly, and helpful. She mentioned that she used to do the ATV tours. I asked her her opinion on what part of the tour she used to enjoy the most, she stated that the part of the valley where you can see most of it, and the ocean in the far background.
The rest of the tour seemed smartly spread out, getting people off and on the ATV with a tour of a bunker, (with a brief history lesson to go with) and some movie and tv show props used on grounds. The presentation for some of the stuff here seemed very forced and borderline cheezy, but the room with the Submarine from lost put a childish grin on my face and cured any lack of effort (or too much) in other parts.
A stop by the tree where a Jurassic Park scene was filmed, then where a scene from Lost was filmed, then it’s a nice ATV ride into the valley. We did the two hour tour. I enjoyed being able to see more of he valley, but was kind of over it after and hour. I was more into being on the ATV at that point. Next stop was a Jurassic World platform from the movie, which the ranch realized they could make money off it and throw events there, and kept in intact. Smart. Finished up with some fun, more rugged terrain, (I think our instructor noticed everyone in our group was thankfully very comfortable on the ATV’s) which brought out more childlike joy.
A beautiful day ended up walking past all of he horses. We went by part of the ropes course and would consider it. Price was high even with a kama’aina discount, another reason I held off for a friend or family member to do it. I likely wouldn’t go again, but it’s a fun way to see a cool part of the island. Consider the bus tour for a less expensive, and shaded option. I may consider the ropes course or other offers there based on my experience.

Breathtaking views of the island of Oahu. Our tour passed through and had bento lunch on the secret island. We learned that many a movie and television show as been filmed there including Jurassic World, Fantasy Island, Lost and 50 First Dates. Many of the movie sets are still intact and recreate locations like Costa Rica and Vietnam. You can spend the day there and run fill up your camera’s sim chip!

Review for ATV & Aunty Pats Paniolo Café for review about food: Which is also A++!!
I live on Oahu and when people come to visit, I love to take the opportunity to do all the touristy things. I have done this tour twice and both times were awesome!!! Each time we booked over the phone and the booking agents are so sweet and friendly. Even when I was booking super last minute a couple hours before the tour!
If you’re going to do the ATV Tour here are my tips
1. Ask for Bryson!
2. If you’re local ask for Kamaaina Discount
3. Take the longer 2 hour tour
4. Wear appropriate clothes, I wore yoga pants and a workout tank top
5. If you get thirsty bring a small backpack with water/​or camelpak
6. If you have a go pro ask them for the ATV with go pro mount or helmet with the mount. they do not advertise it but they do have them available to use for no extra charge
7. Have fun! And if its your first time, don’t be afraid to push it! Its safer than you think and the ATVs are extremely durable.
8. Sunscreen!!!
9. You will get kinda dusty and possibly muddy!
We choose the 2 Hour tour and both times it was $ 119.95 (plus 4.712% tax) per person.
Restrictions: Minimum Age: 16 years old, Closed toe shoes must be worn. Long pants and sunscreen are highly recommended.
After checking in, you watch a short safety video, fit helmets and then get placed on an ATV. The tour takes you scenic valleys and remote areas rarely visited by others. The site says «Our guided ATV tours go out rain or shine — crossing streams and diggin’ through dirt are just part of the fun!» If you’re a movie/​tv show fan, this is an awesome tour to go on and I would pick this over any of their other movie tours they offer since its fun, you see EVERYTHING and better than sitting on a bus with other people or a horse (which would be significantly slower paced)!!!
One of the times that I went, when Bryson was our guide, we had a small group with older ATV riders and once he checked us out, he took us on the ATV course through the mud and over some crazy hills!!! It was so much fun! Apparently they don’t do this with all groups, and people who aren’t extremely comfortable on the ATVs which makes sense for safety reasons, So pray that you get placed in a group with some adventurous people if you’re into some ATV riding!
If you’re here wondering if you should do the zip lining tour like my brother wanted to do, here is my advice: While I have not done the zip tour at Kualoa (and I assume the staff is awesome!!) I would take into account how much time you have on island. If you’re in a time crunch on oahu and you’re already at the ranch and NEED to go zip lining, take the tour. But I wouldn’t couple it with the ATV tour, bus or horseback unless you wanted to see the specific movie/​tv sites, since many of the lines go above the said sites. If you have time, try the other zip lining tour at Climbworks, just to see different things.
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Aunty Pattys Paniolo Café:
After our 2 hour ATV tour my brother was pretty excited to get his paws on some Kualoa Grass Fed Burgers! For some strange reason my pictures won’t upload on this review so please reference them on my Kualoa Ranch Review
We ordered
Auntys Patty Melt $ 11.50
Swiss Cheese, Onions, Mushrooms, and signature yellow sauce
Chinamans Hat $ 13.00
American and Swiss Cheese, lettuce, tomato, mushroom and 2 onion rings with signature red and yellow sauce
Kualoa $ 11.50
Guava Pineapple glaze, pineapple and sweet relish aioli sauce
All the burgers were HUGE and awesome!!! The pattys were thick, juicy and flavored just right. Each of the toppings also seemed carefully picked out. I am a big fan of a good burger and these hit the spot!!! The prices seem a bit steep but they are grassfed and delicious!!! Worth the money if you’re in the area. Just what we needed after being in the sun for 2 hours! It is also worth mentioning that the staff was so friendly and answered all of our questions about which burgers to choose and other options! If you like onion rings, they are AWESOME! Perfectly crispy and just the right amount of batter! YAY!

Came here to zip line and it was fantastic. Beautiful views situated in this private reserve that served as the setting for many movies such as Jurassic World. Zip line course had 7 zip lines, 3 guides who set you up and lasted for around 2.5hrs. There are 3 lines that have cameras set up and you can purchase digital photos for $ 15 each. There is a large souvenir shop inside with a restaurant attached. Great service and fun experience!

My favorite experience by far on my family’s most recent Hawaii trip. Nothing beats an old fashion horseback ride through the beautiful valley made famous in many movies and shows like Jurassic Park and Lost. A view of the very blue ocean is not out of reach either. The way the ranch is preserved and well taken care of shows, as there are cows, chickens, and pigs running around and the horses are well behaved and trained. The riders also know each horse by name and by personality (at least ours did, Caitlin!), and it made the whole experience so much more personable. A majority of the tour takes place under beautiful canopy trees so you’re not at the mercy of the Hawaiian sun the whole time. You’ll pass by famous movie sites and maybe a couple of film relics left over.
I can go on and on about this place, it’s that great! Didn’t get the chance to try the food, but the gift shop is an awesome place to get souvenirs at great prices too! That was a serious winning ticket. I’d go back in a heart beat, and I would do the tour over again. Thank you for this experience, Kualoa Ranch!

Kualoa Ranch was one of the highlights to our recent Hawaii trip. We decided to go here to do the 2 hour ATV tour. We had so much fun! The two hours went by way too fast! Our tour guide also was great. He answered all of our questions and was really funny and nice! We stopped by major movie/​historical sites including a bunker built during World War II, a Godzilla movie site, and two of the Jurassic Park movie sites in the lot. The most fun however, was the ATV itself and the scenic view we got to experience. We went through different terrains and the various landscapes/​mountains we saw were truly breath taking. This place is worth every penny! They do offer other packages such as horse riding, zip lining, etc. so make sure to check those out too. We definitely will be coming back here to do the other packages.
**Just as a tip, Mokoli’i island (China Man’s Hat) can be seen at the park right across Kulaloa Ranch. Stop by to take pictures or with the right equipment go and row your way to the island itself. Pretty awesome!

Most of the staff is incredibly knowledgeable –a couple were insistently rude, but not enough to take away from our experience. Our tour guide on the ocean voyage tour, Melanie, was extremely helpful and responsive — she had such a great way to introduce us to the area!
Since the ranch is run by locals, you can get to see a side of Oahu that is not often featured in larger tourist groups. Our family, ranging from a 16 year old to a 72 year old, had a great time.
We will all be returning in a couple of days for the secret island tour — it already looks like a great investment. :)

Kualoa Ranch is a great place to visit while in Oahu. This is the place where multiple movies were filmed like 50 first dates and Jurassic Park.
They have multiple tours that you can take that will show you the mountain areas of Kualoa Ranch and the sites where the movies were filmed. The tour guide will actually stop at some of the movie sites and let you take pictures next to the signs.
If you are adventurous and don’t mind getting a little dirty, you can take their ATV tour where you ride ATV’s throughout the ranch with a tour guide.

What a cool place this was. To the great history lesson to the movie locations you get to see. We arrived and quickly got tickets for the bus tour. You can go by horse or ATV’s but decided on the bus. We were fortunate to get Stephanie as a guide. She was both funny and very knowledgeable which made the tour really fun. She even brought along a small toy dinosaur for the Jurassic Park log and sign photos.
It was really interesting the early history of the ranch and how it came into the current owners hands. I also enjoyed the WWII military history still remaining on the ranch. The movie locations were so cool to see also. Add in the beautiful location and you just can’t go wrong by adding this stop into your itinerary.
Like I said our tour Guide Stephanie was a great guide and knew everything there was to know about the ranch. She was really fantastic and everyone on the bus had a blast on the tour. It is always a pleasure being around someone who loves what they do for a living.
They have a nice little café for meals and a light snack. They have a small gift shop that had some unique items so we just had to grab a few things to take home. This was one of the highlights from our visit to Hawaii on this trip. My brother was on his 4^th visit to the ranch and he had just as good a time as we did. He is a Lost fan so ran ahead at a couple of the stops to get his special Lost memorabilia Photos. I would gladly return with friends to take them along this really cool journey.

You MUST visit Kualoa Ranch when you’re on the island. This is where Jurassic Park was filmed! How cool is that! I honestly didn’t even know it was filmed in Honolulu, let alone this private nature reserve that I was visiting!
They offer so many different activities like ziplining, horseback riding, ATV tours, movie tours, etc. They have so much to choose from, I wish I had been able to do them all! I was lucky enough to be able to try their ziplining (2.5 hour tour) and ATVs (1 hour).
The ATV tour was not what I had expected. I thought it was gonna be the real deal, switching gears and all that, but it wasn’t. That should’ve been expected though since it was a movie tour. Clearly I didn’t read the description well and got too excited. We had to watch a instructional video beforehand and were then asked to put on our helmets. Everyone rode behind each other in a single file line through the tour. It was so HOT. We were literally sweating in our helmets, which was gross because I’m sure previous riders did the same. We rode up hills and down hills. All you had to do was press the throttle to go and let go to slow down/​stop. Pretty easy. It was more like a go kart rather than an ATV experience. Sometimes I felt pressured to go faster because the person behind me was catching up (sorry!). We were able to see beautiful view of the clear blue water from up above. We stopped by many different picture spots to take pictures. For example, we were able to take a picture with the Jurassic Park sign! Our guide explained every stop/​significant point we passed by. We passed by where they shot Fifty First Dates, Lost, and we even got to see huge footprints from the dinosaurs that once existed there. At one point of our tour, we got to see these huge rocks that formed what looked to me like two kissing gorillas. So cute!
The 2.5 hour ziplining tour. This was the first time I ever went ziplining. It was $ 140 per person. There were seven different ziplines to go on and two suspension bridges on the trip. Each zip line was named after a significant part of the valley, so you learn some interesting information at every one! You take a super bumpy ride in a jeep on the way up. If you sit at the back, expect to be jumping out of your seat!
I’m scared of heights, but I love trying new experiences… so this was one of those exceptions. We were first strapped up in all this gear and I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty heavy. Once they told us we had to hike with all that gear, I thought I wasn’t gonna survive especially since it was so hot. The hikes were very short and not strenuous at all, phew! Once I reached the first zip line, I was scared as hell. I didn’t know how I was gonna let myself just jump off the edge to zip line across. But as usual, I just gotta let myself go and say f*ck it and everything’s good from then on for me. The first time’s always the hardest! Sometimes it hurts your crotch area when the ropes are keeping you up. Couldn’t even imagine what it’s like for guys.
I would’ve enjoyed this experience a lot more if I didn’t almost get stuck in the middle of my ride down one of the zip lines. I almost didn’t make it to the end of the zip line for the guide to catch me and I started rolling back a little, but thankfully they were able to catch me before I went too far or else they would’ve had to come and monkey crawl to grab me back. I seriously almost cried after this because I didn’t like the idea of being suspended in the air waiting for someone to come and get me. I was just miserable after that because I didn’t want it to happen again.
But overall, it was a great experience. I would definitely try it again. It was really nice how they let you go side by side with a partner so you have a buddy ziplining along the way. Our guides were very funny and made sure we were all safe at all times!
One thing I do want to say is that they need to take care of their employees. One of our guides was getting burns because his gloves were falling apart from months of wear/​tear. When the guides pull you back during your landing, they have to grip the rope really hard to get a hold of you, causing the same kind of burns you’d get when you lift heavy weights at the gym. Our guide said that he tried to let his supervisor/​boss know that he needed new gloves and that he wanted to buy himself new ones, but his boss refused. That’s ridiculous!
Near the ranch, you can visit Chinaman’s Hat, which is basically an island that resembles just that. You can position yourself under it to make it look like you’re wearing it! Hehe. Oh, and if you wanna chill and relax on the beach, that’s also there for you!

Kualua Ranch was one of the best things we did on our trip!
They pick you up from Waikiki and if you purchased a package then they have it all planned out for you from beginning til end.
We did the ATV package which includes the 1 hour ATV tour, 1.5 hour ocean tour and 1.5 hour movie sites tour. Our tour guide for the ATV’s was so cool! Very knowledgable and very nice personality. I’m disappointed about not getting her name but she took us to wherever we wanted to go and even let us go a little bit faster than we were suppose to :). We saw turtles on the ocean tour and many many fishes. The movie site tour was AWESOME. Just knowing that you are stepping on the same grounds as many actors/​actresses is a cool feeling. You get to see many many props used in movies.
All the workers are very nice and are there to take your pictures. They UNDERSTAND you’re on a vacation and that you deserve to have fun. The food was delicious and is helpful since you will get hungry after your first two activities.
Unfortunately after everything was done, it seemed a bit unorganized. It was hard to figure out which bus was the one to go back and the bus drivers aren’t told where they’re driving to until everyone is boarded and the workers announce it to everyone else so that made it confusing.
When staying in Waikiki and doing a package like I did. Expect it to be the whole day. We got picked up at 7am and didn’t get back until around 4pm.

Pretty enjoyable tour, we got the Oahu pass so this is one of the options.
Lots of movies were done on this each, the famous Jurassic park, 50 1^st dates, Lost, journey to the end of the earth and more.
For more details of our trip, check out my blog for tips/​suggestions @

This place is stunning, simply stunning I tell you! I was blown away the minute we walked through the entrance (through the restaurant, gift shop). I am so glad we came here! Through our hotel, we were offered one complimentary admission for the movie site tour, so we decided to schedule it and split the other admission.
LOVED IT. Absolutely loved it! We learned a lot. You know, this area isn’t just «important» because of the movies that were filmed here, it actually played a role in World War II as well, after the bombings at Pearl Harbor. They set up an air strip here and there are bunkers. Inside the bunkers now are some movie and TV show props!
The natural beauty here is outstanding and it’s no wonder so many Hollywood execs want to film out here. I’ll happily star in any film that is shot here. Maybe I can just move in?
Anyway, it’s a working cattle ranch and they need to preserve it’s beauty, so there’s not too much movie «stuff» out in the open fields. You see Godzilla’s footprints which is totally cool, and up on a hill far away you can see the ticket booth where the kids bought tickets in Jurassic World. We were driving in the middle of the field where they rode in their little gyrosphere.
The highlight, of course, was the photo we got to take at the «fallen tree» from Jurassic Park. Our tour guide, Stephanie, was awesome and she brought along a little prop that made this photo shoot all sorts of awesome. See photo!
I would highly recommend this. My boyfriend grew up on Oahu, never having done this tour before, and learned a lot of new information! We had a fantastic time. Maybe if I can’t live there, I’ll settle for my wedding being there haha.

My wife and I signed up for the 2-​hour ATV tour on our honeymoon which turned out to be a really big highlight of our trip.
The entrance was busy; people buying souvenirs, eating at the buffet, trying to find where they’re supposed to go. From the first impression, you can tell this is a popular place for tourists with no shortage of interesting adventures.
Our tour guide was Gene and he was friendly and informative. Our group consisted of one other couple, which we think made a big difference in the quality of our tour. Gene was able to talk us through what we needed to know and gave us fun facts about the places we’d stop at.
I’ve been on ATV before, so it wasn’t a new experience for me aside from the fact that this tour took us through beautiful valleys. My wife thought it was the best part of our trip; she enjoyed riding the ATV and imagining that zombies were chasing us. The tour guide was a fan of Walking Dead, like my wife, so he played along.
There were some moments I didn’t think it was worth the money to do what we did, but looking back, there wouldn’t have been any other way we would’ve enjoyed the places we went to and the views we had. It’s an activity we’ve recommended for friends and family to do if they ever come to the island.

I lived on Oahu almost all my life & I never did go to this place (I passed by it, lol). My father in Law was flying in from Cali & I thought maybe we should do something fun, so my husband & I thought doing the movie bus tour would be awesome.
It’s better to order tickets online from their site due to discounts & of course kamaaina for the locals =), it was really simple & you can choose your tour time.
When we got there I got too excited due to the activities they have there, from horseback riding to ATV tours. The bus we were on was really old school, the windows were open so you can enjoy the atmosphere (good thing we didnt go on a rainy day because its just a window frame).
Our bus driver was amazing, she was very informative, & fun =) (im sorry i forgot her name but i know she was pregnant) she took us to the bunker with all the movie props & posters. There was some movies i was amazed that was filmed on Kualoa that i didnt know of, she even took us to spots with beautiful views, talked about the history of the ranch & the plantation of it, took us to the main movie spots («Godzilla» footprints, «Jurassic Park» fallen tree). For us it was an amazing day.
I def. would go back for the beauty of the ranch and maybe try the horseback riding, if the husband is up for it lol.

Our 2 hour ATV tour was filled with:
+ adventure, driving through the mud
+ gandering at the beautiful natural scenery
+ wondering how long a natural space like this could be preserved for
+ eating wild guavas and strawberries
+ visiting movie sets for Gozilla, Jurassic Park, LOST
+ a kickass tour guide who gave us a lengthy history lesson on the ranch and the land
PROTIP: Be CERTAIN to bring sunblock or you will be suffering! Some members on our tour had to eventually wear cloth over their thighs because they were burning!

My hubby and I decided to go on a movie site tour when my father in law and stepmother in law visited. I had made reservations ahead of time due to it being so popular and selling out. We checked in and were given our tour tickets. There was a 15 minute wait before we boarded the green school bus. So we walked around and stopped by the stables to see the horses. I wish I could own one lol.
The time came to board and we all took the mandatory picture in front of the bus. I wished the scenery was better. The location of the ranch has some magnificent views and we had a background of a green bus for purchase at the end. Lol Anyways once we were on, our guide started to drive and inform us of the history of the ranch. There was no windows on the bus so we were able to breathe the fresh air.
We had stopped at some movie sites such as Pearl Harbor, Jurassic park, Godzilla, and fifty first dates. I was more into the Jurassic site area since we had finished watching Jurassic world. Once we were done taking all the necessary photos we headed on back. Our guide was patient, kind, entertaining, and knowledgeable. Don’t forget to tip! He did a wonderful job! It’s amazing how this ranch grows it’s fruit, vegetables and herbs. I’ll be back to try the ATVS!!!

When it comes to beautiful places that stick out about Oahu, Kualoa ranch is definitely one of the first spots that come to mind.
I’ve been here when they host the Hawaii State Farm Fair, and more recently for one of the many tours they have available on the property. Since I’m 9 months pregnant, I am not in the position to do the horse back riding, ATV or Jungle tour, I mean, I could, but I’d probably go into labor on one of the trails, and I’d rather not have my daughter on a dirt path. So when we visited the ranch for my son’s 4^th birthday we did the Movie site Tour. It was awesome!
You’re on an old school bus with no windows, so be prepared for warm sun, nice breezes and possible rain. We got all 3 of those at 9AM. The guide was very informative and explained the history of the ranch, the sites used in various movies, and she even stopped to let you get out and take some photos at various locations. I was the most impressed with the views of the ranch, and the fact that it’s an actual working cattle ranch. I thought tourism was the only thing they did.
The tour lasted about 1.5 hours for us, and that was with a uncrowded bus full of people. Expect a little longer if it’s a full bus.
We enjoyed some shaved ice after the tour, which was a nice way to cool off.
Tickets are available for purchase on their website, but since we’re military we bought ours at ITT and saved almost $ 40 on 3 tickets. Just FYI.
This is totally worth checking out and I would like to go back and do a horse back tour or ATV tour before we leave the island.

I would have never even thought to do ATV if it hadn’t been for my friend’s bachelorette party! One of her bridesmaids (also my high school friend) coordinated it & invited me along so of course I would: P
Purchase your tickets in advance & arrive about 15 – 30 minutes before your scheduled tour starts! We opted to do the 2-​hour tour & it was well worth it.
You have to pass a short ATV safe driving test before going on the tour. If you didn’t pass, you’d have to ride in the shuttle of shame while others had all the fun on the ATV. Glad our whole party passed!
Our test & the first stop of the tour consisted of driving through a downpour of rain! That was totally a trip since we were new to driving ATVs & could barely see through our sunglasses, ouch. However, the rain stopped & the rest of the tour had a lot of water & mud to drive through, yay!
The stops are absolutely stunning & some were even movie scenes. Godzilla, 50 Firt Dates & Jurassic Park were among a few filmed at these locations, pretty cool! I won’t spoil what you actually see though ;)
Overall, I’d totally do this again if I am back in Oahu. Of course, the hubs missed out so I’ll be taking him, haha. I highly recommend doing this, you won’t regret it! :)

One of the best things about living in Hawaii is the fact that when you’re not doing the everyday hustle, you get to do things that others only get to do on vacation. This past Sunday was one of those days where I was so grateful not to be going back to a hotel and having to leave Oahu at the end of my trip.
My girlfriend’s brother was in town and since she and her husband were playing tour guide my husband and I decided to tag along with them for the day at Kualoa Ranch. I had been looking at the website for a long time and pricing packages and was overwhelmed by the price (s) of what I wanted to do as it totaled over $ 300 a person. After booking our day through the discount ticket office at the NEX we ended up paying $ 122 a person and were under the impression we were doing the one hour ATV ride which was the movie tour which included lunch. To all of us, this seemed like a good price since the options we had priced on our own with the kama’aina rate were over $ 300 a person.
We arrived at Kualoa Ranch at 8:00 as instructed and to our surprise (a good surprise) our $ 122 tickets included the ATV ride, lunch and our choice of two 90 minute excursions OR the three (3) hour Secret Beach tour. We decided to do the Movie Tour and the Jungle Tour as we were told that we would be able to see the most by doing both of these excursions. Our first excursion was at 8:45am with our final excursion of the day being at 12:45pm.
We started with the Movie Tour which is done in a school bus (by the way school busses are NOT comfy). They break you up by language (English, Japanese, Chinese and Korean) and off you go. We saw lots of neat little sets some of which I didn’t even realize were shot here in Hawaii. We also learned some World War II history and saw bunkers and were even able to go into one. As with anything here in Oahu, the views were incredible and of course, you’ll have chances to take photos. The much anticipated Jurassic Park photo stop is here too.
After our movie tour, we headed over to ride ATVs. Again we were broken up into groups based on language preference and watched an instructional video. Since the helmets are shared, everyone is given an optional disposable shower cap to wear (so you don’t get ickies) and you must either wear sunglasses or protective eyewear. If possible, I would also suggest bringing something to cover your face since I rode towards the back of our group and came home with dirt in my ears, nose and other crevices of my face I didn’t know it was possible to get dirt in.
Our ATV tour leader took us around on a short test course and then took us out on the road. This hour went way faster than expected and was the best hour of the day once my fear of dying went away after about five minutes. We had a few chances to stop and take pictures and the views were absolutely breathtaking the whole ride. I would definitely come back to do the two hour ATV ride in a heartbeat. I can’t even begin to describe the freeing feeling it was riding up the mountain and seeing the beauty of the ocean below and the green all around. If you’re on the fence about this tour, just do it, I promise its amazing.
Our final tour of the day was the Jungle Tour which wasn’t really «jungle,» but it took us around to see things we hadn’t previously seen that day to include a piece of the set from Jurassic World, cultural sites and a small hike towards the end. For people new to Hawaii or on vacation, I recommend this one especially as you learn a lot about the culture here an religious practices, versus just seeing «oh this movie was filmed here.»
Our tour also included lunch which was not the highlight of the day, but I’m pretty sure it was free so I’m not going to complain about it. If you’re looking for a tasty meal, this isn’t the place for it. But trust me, there’s five million other places to eat. If my only meh story from the day is lunch, I’m still giving this place five stars.
Overall my day was ah-​frickin-​mazing. Whether you’re a tourist, a newbie to Hawaii, a local looking for something new to do or unsure of whether you’re a human or a ghost there’s no way you can go here and not have a good time. The staff here is friendly, knowledgeable and makes sure no one leaves here unhappy. I’ll definitely be back well before another out of town visitor comes to town.
And remember, make sure you seek out whatever discounts you may be eligible for.