DOLE

What does an American when he shuts down a farm (so he can move it to South America)?

He makes it a MUSEUM !

… The word for pineapple in Hawaiian is “halakahiki” which means “foreign fruit”. The pineapple is not even an indigene fruit of these islands. It is believed that it first originated in Paraguay or Brazil, and that it was introduced in Hawai’i by a Spanish shipwreck in 1527. But in time, the pineapple became the expression of hospitality and today, one of the symbols of the ‘rainbow state’.

James Dole – the “Pineapple King” arrived in Hawai’i in 1899 with 1,000$ to invest in horticulture, bought land in Wahiawa, O’ahu and started to grow pineapple. He wasn’t the first to do this here, but he certainly was the most successful and influential man who ever did it. Soon after he started to mass produce, he came up with the idea of packing and sealing the pineapple in cans, so that it can be exported on the international market.

From 1900-1990 in O’ahu, Hawai’i, USA functioned the most important pineapple plantation in the world, and in Honolulu the most profitable cannery ever (now, they do business in over 90 countries).

Later, when Globalization had a more heavy word in this business, too, and Dole saw the opportunity of moving the production to cheaper places – first form O’ahu to Lana’i (converting it from a cactus-covered island with 150 people into the largest pineapple plantation in the world with 20,000 pineapple-producing acres and over 1,000 pineapple workers), then from Hawaii to Latin America (Colombia and Ecuador), where labor force is much more cheaper.

The properties shrunk to the official buildings and some little land which were transformed in a tourist attraction. The main building on Dole plantation is today, an expensive souvenir shop where tourists can buy logo items and delicious pineapple based sweets (especially the world-famous DoleWhip). The court yard is divided in the part dedicated to the independent fruit vendors, and the one dedicated to the Dole Maze, to the Plantation Garden, and to the Pineapple Express.

No 1 attraction of the Dole Plantation is the 2001 World Largest Maze (according to the Guinness Book of World Records) – about two acres with a path length of 1.7 miles of labyrinth! It is exciting when you think about it, but not so much when you actually get there… Unfortunately, the maze has no actual logic, or continuity, or organization; and this gave the owners the idea to invent a game, in order to keep attracting visitors, and to add value to their trip all the way to the middle of O’ahu. Well… you have to go through all bushes and find nine stations, then come back to the gate, and register your time. The record now is 6min (~ that person cheated for sure!). Fee: 3$

No 2 attraction is Pineapple Express – a two-mile, 20 minutes train ride on the fields. The good part of this short trip is that you get the chance to hear the history of the pineapple, of the agriculture in Hawai’i, of James Dole and his business. The bad/booooring part is that the train goes around some fields with plants in different stages of their cycle and abandoned tools once used for agriculture – nothing spectacular! More than that you have to pay a 7$ fee… it doesn’t seem a good deal for me…

No 3 attraction is the Plantation Garden – where tourists can learn, with the help of an audio guide (!!), about different native and traditional plants from Hawai’i (pineapple, bananas, coffee, cacao, mango, papaya, etc.). Fee: 4$.

Admirable is the fact that they’ve got innovative. The idea works, attracts tourists from all over the world, and it is enough for one time visits to reach profit. For tourists this is an opportunity to go deep into the island of O’ahu and get to know this beautiful area, too. It worth even if is not as spectacular as the rest of the places.

How to get there?

By TheBus: From Ala Moana Shopping Center take the bus 52 “Wahiawa-Circle Island” and get off at Dole Plantation. The bus ride takes 1-2 hours. Fare: $2 (ask for transfer to save money!)
By car: From Waikiki, take H1 West to H2 North. Continue to Kamehameha Highway (99). It takes approximately a 40 minute drive from Waikiki.

Dole Plantation is located at 64-1550 Kamehameha Highway, Wahiawa, island of O'ahu, Hawai'i, USA.
Phone: (808) 621-8408.
Web: www.dole-plantation.com
Hours: Daily, weather permitting: 9:00am–5:00pm;
Summer months: 9:00am–5:30pm.
Closed: Christmas Day.