What's new around Oahu?

Sunset, August, 1991

Dinosaurs invade Paradise, and Imax goes Hawaiian. That's just some of the 1991 news at Oahu's most popular commercial tourist attractions.

Here's a complete update:

Dole Cannery Square. This 1907 working cannery topped with landmark pineapple water tower has been remodeled to hold a two-level shopping mall featuring Hawaiian goods, a food court, and the Hawaii Children's Museum.

Cannery tours start every 15 minutes between 9 and 4 and include a 10-minute slide show and 30-minute walk through the factory, then juice and fruit tasting. Admission: $5 adults, free for ages 12 and under with adult.

Dole Cannery Square, 650 Iwilei Road, Honolulu; (808) 523-3653. Hours: 9 to 5 daily.

Hawaii Children's Museum. On the cannery's ground floor, the nonprofit museum has hands-on exhibits on art, science, and technology. Summer hours (through August): 11 to 4 Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 to 4 weekends; starting in September, weekday hours are 9 to 1. Admission: $5 adults, $3 ages 2 through 17. Call 522-0040.

Paradise Park. Known for 20 years as the "bird park," this 15-acre enclave in Manoa Valley reopened this year with its four-story aviary converted into a home for a dozen Dinamation robotic dinosaurs. Don't worry about the birds, though--they fly in a hundred smaller aviaries and in trained bird shows four times daily.

Paradise Park, 3737 Manoa Road, Honolulu; 988-2141. Hours: 9:30 to 5 daily. Admission: $13.95 adults, $8.95 ages 8 through 12, $5.95 ages 3 through 7, free for ages under 3.

The Polynesian Cultural Center. Hawaii's first Imax film, the 40-minute Polynesian Odyssey, shows here on a seven-story-high screen. On stage, a new production called Mana! The Spirit of Our People features a hundred dancers from Samoa, Tonga, and other Pacific islands.

Polynesian Cultural Center, 55-370 Kamehameha Highway, Laie; 293-3333. Hours: noon to 9 Mondays through Saturdays. Admission prices begin at $ 24.95 for adults, $ 9.95 for ages 5 through 11. Mana! is $3 extra.

Sea Life Park. Through new below-deck portholes on its replica whaling ship, you get nose to nose with dolphins and whales underwater. Other recent additions: a sea lion show, giant claim exhibit, penguin breeding and nesting site, and care center for the endangered Hawaiian monk seal.

Sea Life Park, Makapuu Point, Waimanalo; 259-7933. Hours: 9:30 to 5 daily (until 10 Fridays). Admission: $14.25 adults, $9.50 ages 7 through 12, $4.95 ages 4 through 6.

Senator Fong's Plantation and Gardens. This 725-acre plantation in a verdant valley on windward Oahu was started by former U.S. Senator Hiram Fong. Three years ago, the Fong family opened 125 acres of it to public tours.

The standard hour-long tram tour takes you through the cultivated acreage, past plantings of tropical flowers and 75 varieties of fruits and nuts.

Hawaiian Safari leads 5 1/2-hour tours, picking guests up in Waikiki to tour the plantation in four-wheel-drive vehicles; guests ride into the jungle to view ancient Hawaiian heiau (temples) and try making native Hawaiian crafts.

Fong's Plantation, 47-285 Pulama Road, Kaneohe; 239-6775. Hours: 10 to 4 daily; the last tram tour starts at 3. Admission: $6.50 adults, $3 ages 5 through 12.

Safari tours leave Waikiki at 8 and 1:30 Mondays through Saturdays. Cost is $58.50. Call 988-3999.

Waimea Falls Park. The park reopened in May after months of repair work necessitated by November floods. An expanded tram tour includes nurseries for the park's 30 botanical gardens; improved trails give better viewf of the cliff-diving. As always, you can take walking tours of gardens and ruins, watch ancient hulas performed, and participate in old Hawaiian games.

Waimea Falls Park, 59-864 Kamehameha Highway, Haleiwa; 638-8511. Hours: 10 to 5:30 daily. Admission: $13.95 adults, $7.50 ages 7 through 12, $2.75 ages 4 through 6.