Experience Hawaiian culture in a meaningful, hands-on way at Ohana Ranch on the Big Island. This small-group experience is guided by local Hawaiians who share the stories, values, and traditions behind one of Hawaiʻi’s most recognizable cultural practices — lei making. More than a craft activity, this experience focuses on the meaning behind the lei: when they are given, what different materials represent, and why the act of making one by hand carries deep cultural significance. As you create your own lei using fresh island materials, you’ll learn how this tradition reflects love, connection, celebration, and aloha. Set on a working ranch, this relaxed experience offers time for conversation, questions, and photos, making it a great fit for families, couples, and travelers interested in understanding Hawaiʻi beyond the beaches.
Enjoyed the tour and making a ti leaf lei!! Learning a technique our guide Kalani shared in making lei. He was very informative about the land and traditions and answers questions. We enjoyed hearing childhood stories. Thank you Kalani! We would recommend this experience on this beautiful ranch!
Such an amazing experience learning how to make lei’s and about the culture highly recommend…..,.,,,
Had an awesome time. Logan and Kulani did a great job teaching me how to make a Lei. They were very knowledgeable and patient with me during the whole process. They explained the Hawaiian culture which I loved and shared so many wonderful stories. They even shared Hawaiian food. (Yummy) Mahalo to my two new friends!!!
Very friendly, knowledgable, and fun! My “instructor” was a very knowledgable, local man who shared a lot of his interests and local information with me.
Really enjoyed learning the Hawaiian culture. I wished we came to the ranch soon after arriving to the island to get a better understanding.
Kulani was so funny and could tell he loves what he does there. So knowledgeable and helped and encouraged us whenever we were making the leis.
We learned so much on this small tour. Pono was welcoming, friendly and so much fun. By the end he felt like one of the family. We are already talking about going back to the big island. We will definitely be going back, hopefully at that time they will be holding a traditional luau. 😜
Hand a wonderful experience. Pono is so knowledgeable and so proud of his heritage. I really enjoyed learning about the Hawaiian culture and I made a wonderful lei that I will treasure for the rest of my life.
Pono and Kalani were very knowledgeable and friendly. Great stories about the island
It was a unique experience, I love the planting and the Leo making. Also like the story telling too.
I learned the most here about Hawaiian culture and lore behind the traditions here than anywhere else. Being able to plant our own Ti plants with Pono and Kalani was a great experience and I can't wait to come back and see how they're doing.
Kalani and Pono were fantastic guides and provided an authentic and genuine cultural experience. The lei making was so awesome!
Pono was great and knowledgeable. Kalani was great at teaching us how to do the lei's.
It was awesome, I loved learning about the land and the culture. #pono #kalami
Love the views, the stories, the rain, and the cows 🐄
Very informational and felt like we were right at home
Our guide, Pono, showed us a traditional Hawaiian ‘imu (earthen oven) and helped us make authentic leis (woven from ti leaves). Most importantly he shared his culture with us and allowed us to ask questions and to learn from him. It was an extraordinary experience and we’re grateful to Pono and the team at Ohana ranch for making this opportunity possible.
Absolutely amazing time at the ranch! So much fun with the lei making, and learning all about the culture. Can’t wait to return!
Overall we had a pleasant experience. Our instructor was very well educated and patient with us. We were pleasantly surprised that we got to take a short ATV ride to pick our own leaves to make our leis. The reason I gave it 4 stars is because they were more than a half our late starting our tour after calling the night before and asking us to change the time. We were able to accommodate them by changing the time to 30 minutes after our original start, but it was more than 30 minutes after that when our experience began. They informed us when our experience started that they were double booked, which I understand, but it was still frustrating. Gravel road is really a dirt road. Our rental car struggled with the road so I would highly recommend an SUV or car wash 4 wheel drive.
The experience was very genuine and our guide (Kanoe) was really knowledgeable and sharing. Great value for the experience. It was just myself and my partner but we really enjoyed it.
Lei making was super fun! Very easy to make, for beginners. Recommend easy shoes to take of, you will need foot to make the lei.
It was a beautiful experience learning about the culture and spending time with goats and making leis. I would highly recommend coming for a visit.
Lovely guide. Fun tour. Learned a lot. The best was the lei la'i making. Worth the time to visit. Thank you from Tehachapi, CA
Our tour guide Kanoe was very friendly and knowledgeable and we had a great time learning about Hawaiian culture, seeing the farm and making leis! She was also happy to answer all of our random questions about Hawaii and was a lot of fun. We'd definitely go again and it was fun for the whole family!
The family and I had a great time on the cultural and lei making experience. We made beautiful leis and we even got to pet some cute goats. The tour guide Kanoe was very knowledgeable about the plants and Hawaiian culture. Highly recommend for for anyone!
This was such a intimate, beautiful, passionate, and thoughtful experience. Kalani was an excellent guide and helped us learn about the self sustainability of the ranch and Hawaii as a whole. He cared so deeply about teaching us. Kenoi taught us the lei making, and not just how but why they were made through history and what they are used for now. She even gifted us her demonstration. Thank you so much for this amazing experience! We will be back in 10 years, we promise.
It is an awesome experience. Tour guides are the bestest ever!!! I'd recommend this tour as a family adventure!!! Family of ten including kids as young as 3-11. An experience me and the family will never forget!!! Love the aloha!!
it was a very educational experience and the staff, Kalani, was very knowledgeable about the culture and was very passionate about what he was teaching us. It was such a wonderful time learning the culture and seeing how much everyone really loved what they were doing. it was a very intimate session with just me and my family during our tour and it was such a welcoming and inviting atmosphere which made it easier to follow along because it was just us. this was one of the coolest, rarest experiences i’ve ever had and if I ever come back to the big island i’m definitely bringing my family with me to be able to learn about our heritage
Kalani was an amazing guide and is very passionate about everything he taught us, was an absolutely amazing experience!
Pono Was the best very patient and polite and very knowledgeable about Hawaiian culture wonderful experience highly recommended for couples or if you didn’t have anybody with you or this would be a great adventure got to learn about how they cook food and the ancient history saw a different plants and leaves that they use and got to make our own little thing to take home with us
Great experience, good knowledge, and a great hands on experience. We learned a lot about Hawaiian culture and made traditional lei’s from Ti leaves
This was an incredibly unique experience. Kanoe was very sweet and informative about the Hawaiian culture. The vibe of the farm is very calming. 10/10 recommend this experience.
It was such a Great experience, the people there were so nice and we had a lot of fun with Kanoe and Kemo. Would totally recommend it.
Kanoe and Kemo were wonderful! It was soooo cool and such a great experience! We really enjoyed it! Totally recommend it to everyone!
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