When the time comes for the day’s last meal,

those desiring a truly memorable dining experience don’t need to look for floor shows, although Hawai‘i has them, or theater, lovely as it is, because the islands boast two perennial attractions with arguably more appeal than even the best human entertainers: the sun and the sea. Fortunately, Hualālai Club Members can enjoy both when they eat dinner at the open-air, oceanview Hualālai Canoe Club—an end-of-day repast that simply did not exist here until recently.

In addition to breathtaking views, Hualālai Canoe Club serves up such Member favorites as steak and fries (below left) and ahi nacho salad (below right).

The sun sets at the Four Seasons Resort Hualālai between 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., depending on the time of year. Hualālai Canoe Club—a Members-only restaurant that overlooks Uluweuweu Bay and the Alaka‘i Nalu ocean activity center—provides peerless views of Mother Nature’s splendor from virtually every table. And from now on, the restaurant, which has traditionally been a lunch spot, serves dinner from Wednesday to Sunday. Members can savor their evening meal—from fajitas and sushi to portobello mushroom ravioli and other tempting entrées—as the sun dips below the ocean horizon. The food plus the setting equals a full sensory experience. “Hearing the waves is a major draw,” says Hualālai Club’s assistant general manager, Alessandro Cartumini. “Being able to hear the ocean is something special. You can’t just see the ocean; you’ve got to be able to hear it. There’s something about it that’s incomparable in restaurant settings.”

One of the Resort’s most beloved restaurants, Hualālai Canoe Club isn’t new. It opened more than 20 years ago, when Hualālai Resort had 163 Hualālai Club Members. (It now has 366.) The restaurant kept dinner off the menu because of the establishment’s location on a residential street. The stewards of Hualālai Canoe Club simply felt that it was best to close for the day at 6 p.m., so that’s what they did.

Change arrived after October 2021 when Hualālai Club’s previous general manager and Shelley Smith, director of food and beverage, tasked themselves with finding ways to improve the Member experience. That led them to wonder whether it was possible to expand Hualālai Canoe Club’s offerings to include dinner. Ultimately, it was decided that the day’s final meal would be a marvelous addition to the Member experience, and in November 2022, Hualālai Canoe Club began dinner service. Members were able to try the new