HoloHolo Guide
The debate is over, and here is why
The best Maui luau question for a decade was Old Lahaina Luau versus Feast at Lele. Both sat on Front Street in Lahaina, both were oceanfront, both included a full dinner and an open bar, and both were run by the same owners, who also run Aloha Mixed Plate, Star Noodle and Leoda's Kitchen and Pie Shop. One was a big traditional Hawaiian evening, the other a small plated dinner show. Travelers picked a side and defended it.
The fire of August 8, 2023 ended the debate. The Feast at Lele venue at 505 Front Street was destroyed, and the show is permanently closed. The Hawaii Vacation Guide, which wrote the best known head to head comparison of the two, now opens that article with a banner saying the debate is closed for the time being and that Feast at Lele is closed until further notice, and the June 2026 Maui luau roundup at Hawaii Travel Spot states it directly, the Feast at Lele was destroyed and will not come back. Old Lahaina Luau at 1251 Front Street survived with minor damage while the neighborhoods on both sides of it burned. Its offices were destroyed, it closed for months, and it reopened in March 2024. About 200 of its 300 employees had lost their homes, per Hawaii Travel with Kids.
So this guide does two honest jobs. First, it settles the original question for anyone still searching it, with the old comparison kept for the record. Second, it answers the question travelers actually have in 2026, which is where the Feast at Lele experience went, and which bookable luau now delivers it.
The old head to head, for the record
This is the comparison as it stood before August 2023, from The Hawaii Vacation Guide comparison that ranked first for this keyword for years. Prices are pre fire prices and are shown only so returning travelers can see what changed. Feast at Lele cannot be booked at any price today.
| Feast at Lele, before the fire | Old Lahaina Luau, before the fire | |
|---|---|---|
| Setting | Oceanfront at 505 Front Street, Lahaina | Oceanfront at 1251 Front Street, Lahaina |
| Dinner | Five course plated dinner, one course per Polynesian culture, served to a private table | Buffet dinner of traditional and contemporary Hawaiian dishes |
| Show | A dance matched to each course, covering Hawaii, New Zealand, Tahiti and Samoa, with a fire dancer | Imu ceremony unearthing the kalua pig, then traditional Hawaiian hula and storytelling, no fire knife |
| Capacity | 300 guests | 496 guests |
| Seating | Private table for your party | Traditional mat seating or standard tables, shared seating |
| Price at the time | $130 per adult plus tax, $95 per child | $115 per adult plus tax, $75 per child |
| Best for | Couples, foodies, a romantic dinner show | Tradition, families, picky eaters who want buffet choice |
Two things stand out in that table now. The first is how much prices have moved, Old Lahaina runs about $230 per adult in 2026, roughly double its pre fire price, and every surviving Maui luau has followed it up. The second is that the Feast at Lele format, small room, private table, plated courses, a performance woven between courses, did not die with the venue. It moved to Wailea. That is where the booking decision now lives.
The 2026 head to head that you can actually book
| Luau | Price per adult | Setting and format | Rating and reviews | Fire knife |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Lahaina Luau | About $230, book direct | Lahaina oceanfront, Hawaiian only show, dinner served family style | 4.7 across 4,667 reviews | No |
| Feast at Mokapu at Andaz Maui | About $290 classic, premium to about $377 with tax and fees | Wailea oceanfront lawn, three course plated dinner, maximum 150 on Viator | 4.4 across 246 reviews on Viator | Yes |
| Te Au Moana at Wailea Beach Marriott | From $225 on Viator | Wailea oceanfront, three course family style dinner, 3 to 4 hours | 4.6 across 1,466 reviews on Viator | Yes |
| Drums of the Pacific at Hyatt Regency Maui | About $211 | Kaanapali oceanfront, buffet, maximum 400 on Viator | 4.4 across 781 reviews | Yes, three man finale |
| Myths of Maui at Royal Lahaina Resort | From $211 on Viator | Kaanapali oceanfront, buffet with a dedicated kids buffet, maximum 500 on Viator | 4.0 across 1,274 reviews on Viator | Yes, full cast finale |
Prices, ratings and review counts reflect operator pages, Viator listings and 2026 roundup guides checked in October 2026. Every Wailea and Kaanapali luau in this table offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start time on its Viator listing. Old Lahaina Luau is the exception in this guide, it is not sold on Viator, so it is booked on the operator own site under the operator own terms.
The bookable picks
Old Lahaina Luau
The consensus best luau on Maui, and the surviving half of the original debate. Old Lahaina sits at 1251 Front Street on a custom built oceanfront venue, opens with a fresh flower lei greeting and Hawaiian cultural demonstrations, and serves what the operator describes as a five course dinner alongside a premium open bar included all evening. The show is Hawaii only, legendary music and hula tracing the history of Hawaii and its people, with no Tahitian sampler and no Samoan fire knife, because neither is Hawaiian. Reviewers rate it 4.7 across 4,667 reviews and single out the kalua pig from the beachside imu, the ahi poke, the guava butter and the mini loaf of banana bread sent home with every guest. You choose traditional floor seating on cushions at low tables near the stage or standard tables and chairs, both at the same roughly $230 adult price, and seating is assigned in booking order, so the earlier you book the closer you sit. The evening runs about 3 hours, with check in at 5:15 pm from October to February, 5:45 pm in March to May and September, and 6:15 pm from June to August, and the show itself runs one hour. One more practical note from the 2026 roundups, the full menu is nut free, which matters for allergy families. Book this one the day your flights are confirmed, it sells out two to three months ahead in peak season.
Check Old Lahaina Luau availability on the official Old Lahaina Luau site →Feast at Mokapu at Andaz Maui
The pick for everyone who came to this page wanting Feast at Lele. The Feast at Mokapu sits on the oceanfront lawn above Mokapu Beach at the Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort, 3550 Wailea Alanui Drive, and it copies the format that made Feast at Lele famous, a plated multi course dinner served to your own table while the performance unfolds between courses, in a small room capped at 150 travelers on its Viator listing. The three course menu is curated by Executive Chef Ritchard Cariaga and runs from ahi poke and shrimp with pohole fern to pulehu chicken, kalua pork, braised beef short rib and local caught fish, closing with strawberry coconut haupia, lilikoi custard tart and flourless chocolate cake. The show tells the story of the first Polynesian settlers in the Wailea area and closes with fire dancing, a professional digital photo is included, and the luau runs Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday from 5:00 pm for about 2 hours 30 minutes, rated 4.4 across 246 reviews on Viator with free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead. Pricing checked in October 2026 runs about $280 to $296 per adult for classic seating after tax and fees, and about $340 to $377 for the premium first rows, which makes this the premium splurge of the guide and the closest thing on Maui to the old Lele night.
Check Feast at Mokapu availability on Viator →Te Au Moana at Wailea Beach Marriott
The pick for Wailea families who want the oceanfront evening without the Mokapu splurge. Te Au Moana, which the operator translates as The Ocean Tide, runs on the luau grounds at the Wailea Beach Resort Marriott, 3700 Wailea Alanui Drive, with gates at 4:30 pm and a running time of 3 to 4 hours on its Viator listing, rated 4.6 across 1,466 reviews on Viator and listed from $225 per adult. Dinner is a three course menu served family style at your table, built around pork roasted in a traditional imu, with an open bar, a fresh flower or kukui nut lei or a carved wooden necklace as the arrival gift, and pre show demonstrations such as coconut husking and tapa making. The show covers the ancestral stories of Polynesia and ends with a fire knife performance. The luau runs Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday plus select seasonal Tuesdays, so it is far easier to fit into a Wailea week than the three night Mokapu schedule, and booking ahead still matters because table assignments and weather updates arrive by text message after you book.
Check Te Au Moana availability on Viator →Drums of the Pacific at Hyatt Regency Maui
The pick when the fire knife finale is the point of the evening. Drums of the Pacific has run at the Hyatt Regency Maui, 200 Nohea Kai Drive in Kaanapali, since 1980, and its Polynesian spectacular tours Hawaii, Tahiti, the Tuamotus, Rarotonga, New Zealand and Tonga before closing with a three man Samoan fire knife finale. The evening opens with a conch shell call, a traditional imu ceremony, a hula lesson, torch lighting and lei making demonstrations, then a full buffet built by Executive Chef David Flegel, running from lomi lomi salmon and ahi poke to kalua pork, teriyaki chicken and paniolo beef, with an open bar of locally sourced spirits, beer, wine and tropical cocktails. Standard seating runs about $211 per adult in 2026 listings, the Viator listing caps the night at 400 travelers, and reviewers rate the venue 4.4 across 781 reviews. The honest trade off is cover, seating is outdoors with limited shelter, and the most detailed 2026 review of this luau describes a full show performed in the rain with ponchos handed out, so check the forecast and bring a compact umbrella in winter.
Check Drums of the Pacific availability on Viator →Myths of Maui at Royal Lahaina Resort
The pick for Kaanapali flexibility. Myths of Maui runs at the Royal Lahaina Resort, 2780 Kekaa Drive, on 27 tropical acres along Kaanapali Beach, and it is billed as Maui longest running luau, operating since the 1970s. It runs nightly, which no other luau in this guide matches, and that single fact saves trips when Old Lahaina is sold out or your only free evening is a Sunday. The night includes a shell lei greeting, an imu ceremony unearthing the kalua pig, live Hawaiian music, an all you can eat buffet with the island only dedicated kids buffet, and a show covering Hawaii, Tahiti, Samoa and New Zealand that ends in a full cast fire finale, with free photos with the dancers after the show. Viator lists it from $211 per adult, rated 4.0 across 1,274 reviews, capped at 500 travelers, with free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead, while direct pricing checked in 2026 runs $185 for general admission and $235 for VIP, with children ages 6 to 12 at $115 and children 5 and under free in general admission. Food reviews are the most mixed in this guide, solid buffet fare rather than a foodie destination, so book it for the setting, the schedule and the kids buffet, not for the dinner alone.
Check Myths of Maui availability on Viator →The Feast at Lele format is bookable again, just in Wailea and on three nights a week. The Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday Feast at Mokapu dates go first, so check your week before you settle the rest of your Maui evenings:
Check Feast at Mokapu availability on ViatorAbout 2 hours 30 minutes · Maximum 150 travelers · Three course plated dinner · Professional photo included · Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead
The honest verdict by traveler
Book Old Lahaina Luau if this is your first Maui luau, if tradition matters more than spectacle, or if anyone at your table is a picky eater or traveling with a nut allergy. It is the highest rated show on the island, it is the answer the original debate lands on in 2026, and a ticket is also the most direct visitor support Lahaina gets. Book Feast at Mokapu if you were a Feast at Lele person, a couple marking an occasion, a foodie who wants courses plated and served instead of a buffet line, or anyone who wants the small room feel. Book Te Au Moana if you are based in Wailea with kids and want family style abundance, a strong review base and more running nights to choose from. Book Drums of the Pacific if the fire knife finale and a big Polynesian revue are what your group pictures when they picture a luau. Book Myths of Maui if you are in Kaanapali, booking late, traveling with small children who need a kids buffet and an early free ticket, or if nightly availability is the deciding factor.
One pattern runs through the reviews of every luau in this guide. Nobody regrets paying for the luau that matched their base. The complaints cluster around the drive, West Maui guests who booked Wailea and drove back across the island after an open bar, and Wailea guests who did the same in reverse. Maui has eleven operating luaus in 2026, per Love Big Island, with standard adult prices from about $170 to over $360, so there is a good show near almost every resort corridor. Pick the best show within a short drive of where you sleep, then argue about tradition versus fire inside that shortlist.
The three traps in this category
Trap one is booking Feast at Lele itself. Stale listings, old blog posts and cached travel pages still describe its five courses, its private beach tables and its $130 ticket as if nothing happened. The venue burned on August 8, 2023 and the show is permanently closed. If a page sells you a Feast at Lele ticket in 2026, close the tab.
Trap two is expecting fire at Old Lahaina. A large share of its few disappointed reviews come from guests who assumed every luau ends with fire knife dancing. Old Lahaina omits it deliberately, because the show is Hawaiian only. If your kids have their hearts set on fire, that is a Drums of the Pacific, Feast at Mokapu or Te Au Moana night instead, and knowing it before you pay $230 a head is the whole value of this page.
Trap three is waiting. Old Lahaina assigns seats in booking order at a single price, so a late booking does not just risk a sellout, it guarantees a seat farther from the stage. The same scarcity logic applies at Mokapu, which runs only three nights a week for at most 150 guests. Book the luau when you book the flights, put it in the middle of your trip rather than the first jet lagged night or the last night before a flight, and keep one spare evening free in case weather moves the show.
Know before you go
All five luaus in this guide are outdoor oceanfront evenings that run about 3 hours, and all include an open bar in the ticket for guests age 21 and up. Dress is resort casual everywhere, an aloha shirt or a sundress and sandals, with a light layer for the breeze off the water after sunset. Rain policies differ by venue and matter in winter, most shows reserve the right to move or cancel for weather, and at least one detailed 2026 account describes Drums of the Pacific performing through rain once guests were checked in, with no refund after check in. Read the cancellation line on your own booking before you pay, the four Viator listings in this guide cancel free up to 24 hours ahead, while Old Lahaina books direct on the operator own site.
Bring your booking confirmation on your phone, arrive at gate time rather than show time so you catch the imu ceremony and the cultural demonstrations, and plan the ride home before the open bar starts. If anyone in your group has a food allergy, contact the venue directly ahead of the night rather than relying on a listing summary, and note that Old Lahaina publishes a fully nut free menu while the buffet luaus mark gluten free and vegetarian dishes on the line.
Where this fits in your Maui week
This guide is the booking page for the Maui luau colony, and a luau night pairs best with a light following morning. Put a water morning earlier in the week with our best Molokini morning snorkel tour comparison, keep the full day drive separate with our best Road to Hana tour companies guide, and save the early alarm for our best Haleakala sunrise tours picks rather than stacking it after a late luau night. In winter, a morning whale watch from our best Maui whale watching tour in season guide leaves the evening free, and our cross island ranking of the best Hawaiian island for whale watching explains why Maui wins that season anyway. If your trip splits across islands, compare this page with our best luau on Oahu comparison and our guide to the most authentic luau on Oahu, where the small Nutridge evening plays the role that Feast at Lele used to play on Maui. The Maui island hub collects every Maui guide in one place, and the perfect 7 day Hawaii itinerary shows where a luau night belongs in a first trip.
