In the heart of Oahu: visit of the pineapple and coffee plantations

The center of Oahu has a wide green plain crossed by Highways 2 and 99 that connect Haleiwa to Honolulu. It is in this rather flat part of the island that Dole Plantation has cultivated for decades the famous pineapples for which it is well known. There are also many vegetable, fruit and coffee plantations.

1Dole Plantation visit

Let's go for a visit to the very popular Dole Plantation HQ.

Dole Plantation

Welcome to Pineapple Disneyland! Dole Plantation is unfortunately no longer the big pineapple field that we imagine it to be. The Hawaiian company founded in 1900 has completely converted to tourism and business around pineapple products, the vast majority of which are no longer even produced locally!

Dole was bought by Monsanto, and is now owned by Bayer. (The mere thought of a pesticide-based pineapple makes me not want to eat a piece).

Let's focus on our visit. We came out of curiosity to take a look at Dole Plantation in the hope of seeing a few pineapples... and we did well because we saw four or five of them! Yes, we did! YThe poor were growing in the middle of a decorative flowerbed in the middle of the tourist attractions.We found them growing in the middle of a decorative flower bed among the tourist attractions.

This little visit will have been the occasion to confirm that it is really not necessary to waste your time to come to the commercial HQ of the plantation, unless you have a few dollars to invest in pineapple sold at $5.90 the few pieces or ice cream at more than $9... You might as well go to the supermarket next door, it will be cheaper.

Nevertheless, if you want to bring back a souvenir tagged "pineapple", you will be spoilt for choice! Between jewels, stuffed animals, magnets, clothes... you will surely find the product of your dreams with the effigy of the pineapple! All this in the middle of the hordes of tourists who don't hesitate to be photographed in front of the shop! Hum, I must have missed something!

But let's not be too negative, because besides the pineapple supermarket side, it is still possible to visit the plantation which has been transformed into a kind of botanical garden. It is possible to go around in a small train, to take a guided tour of the gardens and the few crops still standing or to get lost in a small vegetal maze, all of this of course with a little bit of money in your wallet!

If you still want to pay a visit to Dole Plantation, there is ample free parking on site. Visiting the store and the adjoining green spaces is free.

2Visit to a coffee farm

The tropical climate of Hawaii's islands is an asset for coffee producers. There are many plantations in the archipelago, often small in size and some can be visited for free, such as the Green World Coffee Farm.

Green World Coffee Farm 

If you like coffee, don't hesitate to make a stop at the Green World Coffee Farm which is located right next to Dole Plantation. This small farm produces its own coffee and the plants behind the building can be visited for free. You can easily see the beans growing on the coffee trees planted in rows. The short walk there is pleasant because it is cool!

Inside, there are some explanatory panels that praise the quality of the coffee produced here and if you ask questions to the staff present, they will answer you on the way they produce or the different kinds of coffee made here.

The store sells many small coffee bags of different sizes. I don't know much about coffee, I won't be able to tell you if it was expensive or not... but the advantage is that you can taste for free several types of coffee and a tea available at the counter. You just have to help yourself in the cups provided and even season your coffee with milk, sugar or cinnamon ...

This concludes this short article on the plantations of the center of Oahu.