Two Oahu visitor attractions staging spooky Hawaii-themed Halloween tours

During daylight hours at the Polynesian Cultural Center on Oahu, there are family canoe races and tours, during which friendly guides talk about the six Pacific Cultures represented at the park (pictured, below). And every afternoon, a pageant on the park’s lagoon showcases dance and song of Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji, Aotearoa, Tahiti and Tonga.

After sunset, though, on select evening through Wed., Oct. 31, the mood on the meandering water abruptly changes from cordial to, well, down right confrontational — in a spooky sort of way.

Canoe rides — complete with spine-tingling music and brief encounters with ghastly characters (pictured, right) — are now casting off on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 20. Starting on Mon., Oct. 22 through Halloween, the Haunted Lagoon will be open every day except Sunday. Canoes depart beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Less frightening rides run from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. During this hour, each canoe carries a “lost warrior” who protects passengers with a light staff, which repels monsters and various other creatures.

The annual ride comes with a ghost story about Laie Lady (pictured, at bottom of page), a “restless, vengeful spirit of a young woman dressed in white who fell into insanity following tragedy many years ago.” Legend has it, that she now wanders the lagoon searching for her lost son. Click here for a look at her “lost diary.”

For Haunted Lagoon ticket information and more details about the PCC’s park in the Laie area, on Oahu’s Windward area/North Shore region, click here.

Another annual “haunt,” Haunted Plantation, will opens this Friday, Oct. 12, at Hawaii’s Plantation Village in Waipahu. The spook-filled plantation will be open from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on various nights through Halloween. Click here for a look at the schedule. Organizers advise that the event is not fit for children under age 13, pregnant women, and individuals with respiratory or heart conditions. In addition, Hawaii’s Plantation Village is offering guided Haunted Hawaii Ghost Stories tours. (Children under age 16 must have adult supervision.)

Hawaii’s Plantation Village is a museum that tells the story of life on Hawaii’s sugar plantations, from the mid-1800s through the 1950s. It features restored buildings and replicas of plantation structures such as a general store, infirmary, community bathhouse, camp office and homes of workers representing several different cultures. (Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese, Puerto Rican, Japanese, Okinawan, Korean, and Filipino).

For additional information about the plantation village in central Oahu, click here.