The Perfect Day in O‘ahu, According to ‘Moana’ Star Auli‘i Cravalho
The star of Moana 2, Cabaret, and Mean Girls shares her favorite spots on her hometown island of O‘ahu.
By Opheli Garcia Lawler and Auli‘i Cravalho
Published on 11/12/2024 at 10:00 AM
Auli‘i Cravalho – The star of Moana 2, Cabaret, and Mean Girls | Corey Nickols/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
Auli‘i Cravalho has had a busy year. In 2024, between playing Janis Ian in the musical edition of Mean Girls and reprising her titular role in Disney’s animated Moana 2, she starred as Sally Bowles in Kit Kat Club NYC’s Cabaret. When she’s not acting on stage, filming, or promoting her work, the 23-year-old actor-singer-advocate takes time to work with Sheba and Kuleana Coral to champion the restoration and conservation of Hawai‘i’s coral reef systems. Here’s how she’d spend a perfect day on O‘ahu.
This might sound cheesy, but I used to read books in my avocado tree. I named her Francine from Arthur. It produced the best avocados ever because my grandfather actually hand grafted a particular type of avocado from Puerto Rico where he's from. And it took forever to grow. But when it finally did, it started to bloom every single year and not those tiny avocados that I’m trying to buy from Whole Foods, nah, it’s the big avocado with its small seed and it’s sweet and it’s delicious and I’ve never had an avocado that topped that.
I also remember my childhood bedroom gave me horrible allergies. Hawai‘i is so warm, that some things constructed during the plantation days are single wall construction, single pane construction. So I was able to see the sunlight coming through the panes in my walls, which also meant ants could get through them.
But I had the most beautiful orange tree outside of my window, which also fucked with my allergies. I also lived very near to a macadamia nut grove. My mom, whenever I was hungry before dinner time was like, Go outside, go eat something. What are you in here for? No, I’m not giving you cereal. Go eat a fruit.
Ko Olina Beach | Photo by Elyse Butler for Thrillist
I grew up respecting the water and also respecting its history with my people, the Hawaiian people. My mom is the seventh child of a seventh child. On her mom’s side, she’s 100% Hawaiian. We can trace our lineage back to the kings and queens of Hawai‘i, which is really cool. But when my mom used to say, Oh yeah, we went camping at the beach, that meant they were living at the beach and my grandmother would fish every single day.
They would take a car ride back home to cook a big pot of rice, feed the dogs, and they would come right back. And the ocean has given so much to us that I really do feel, and the Sheba brand feels as well, that we have a responsibility to give back. And what I love about Sheba is they have this beautiful mantra that ‘more coral today means more fish for tomorrow.’
“I grew up respecting the water and also respecting its history with my people, the Hawaiian people.”
And it’s so true and it’s so simple. Kuleana Coral is a nonprofit based in O‘ahu made up of fishermen and firefighters and surfers and ocean lovers, really like local, normal people who said to themselves, Hey, we need to make a difference. So watching that partnership happen and allowing Kuleana to scale up in their operations has been really heartwarming. Also to have a brand listen to what a small organization needs and go from there, that’s also a big difference as opposed to going, You need to do it this way, you need to do it that way.
Hawai‘i is very unique in that we have big surf and a lot of times the techniques used to connect reefs or any other things to the substrate is really difficult. Do you use epoxy? Do you then drill it into the ground? How does the permitting work in Hawai‘i as well? It’s different everywhere that you go. So Sheba has done a wonderful job of listening and that makes all the difference. And I grew up swimming. When I grew up, I trained for the USA swim team.
I was on the dive team at Kamehameha Schools, I was on the paddling team. I’m a klutz on land, so my mother threw me into the water and thankfully I floated. But I’m really glad that those initial ties that got me excited about conservation still are with me today. And I feel like my platform has only raised that impact, so I feel really grateful.
“I remember when I was younger, they also had a talk story time where they bring in different kūpuna elders to share their life or share their story or share some music.”
Okay. One thing to note, I’m a big foodie. Second thing to note, I love rice. So every restaurant that I’m going to talk to you about, all of their dishes come with rice. Understood? Great. They also might come with Mac salad. Classic. As soon as I get off that plane, I’m going to Zippy’s. I personally like their mixed plate of, well they used to have it of spaghetti and fried chicken.
I have not found better fried chicken in Los Angeles. You know another good fried chicken spot, Foodland, which is a grocery store. [It’s also] the best place to get poke. No, you are not going to get a poke bowl with mango or any other fruit. Stop putting fruit with fish. Oh, my favorite store [is] Nā Mea Hawaiʻi. It’s in Ward and they have just the most beautiful items. They’re either handcrafted by artisans of Hawaiian descent or other Polynesian Pacific descent. Everything from carved koa and carved wooden necklaces to printed scarves and beautiful ukuleles and different instruments. I remember when I was younger, they also had a talk story time where they bring in different kūpuna elders to share their life or share their story or share some music. It's just a wonderful place to hang out and learn a little bit more about culture.
I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about Kuleana Coral. They’re based off of Ko Olina, a beautiful area to hang out in, grab some lunch and visit them. They have their coral operations off of, I believe it is the Waianae coast. If you take a beautiful drive, Waianae is the local side of the island. Don’t be scared. That’s where all of my people are from. Yes, Waikiki's fun, but if you want the real stuff, you go to either North Shore or Waianae.
I also really like Nico’s Pier 38. There’s also The Chunky Cookie. Those cookies are huge. They’re about the size of your face. And then they put Oreos on top of the cookie.
Another food spot: Da Bald Guy. I think they were on a food truck episode of something. They’re really good. Da, because “the” is way too American. They serve lunches, kalbi—this is also a great point: a lot of our food is just a mix of cultures because we’re such a melting pot. So kalbi is technically Korean, but we use those same spice mixes, same sugar base, marinated meats. Lau lau, which is Native Hawaiian food, is either pork or sometimes you might be able to get chicken. And then it’s wrapped in luau leaf and steamed in a big emu, if it’s done traditionally. Otherwise, you can just use a steaming pot if you're at home.
The Polynesian Cultural Center is also very good. I used to dance hula there. And I also used to dance with poi balls because sometimes they needed entertainment from the land of Hawai‘i to then go to another island. And I was like, sure, I know how to dance with poi balls. But it’s also a really great place to learn a kind of Pan Polynesian culture and it gives back to the community. However, that side of the island does close on Sundays, so if you are looking for a late night bite, you’re out of luck.
