Lei making classes on Oʻahu

15 places that teach it, and 3 are free and open to anyone — the best is Royal Hawaiian Center in Waikīkī, Fridays at 11:30am, no booking. Paid workshops with a named teacher run $75 to $165.

Free classFridays 11:30amRoyal Hawaiian Center, first 24 people

Paid workshops$75–$165Small groups, named techniques

Lei Day1 MayMay Day is Lei Day in Hawaiʻi

At the hotelsMostly guests onlyEach listing says who can join

Where to learn

Free, paid, and at the hotels — and who’s allowed in.

Free, open to anyone · kui — orchid lei
Royal Hawaiian Center
Fridays, 11:30am–12:30pm
Free
The single best free option in Waikīkī, and properly taught.
Free
Free, open to anyone · wili
Hui Lei — Lei Making Club, Nānākuli Public Library
5:30pm–7:00pm.
Free, and all supplies are included
Free instruction in a named traditional binding technique, taught by a working artist, with the materials found for you.
Free
Free, open to anyone
International Market Place
Third Thursday of the month, from noon
Free, while supplies last
An interactive workshop in the Queen’s Court.
Free
Hotel guests · Flower lei, lei lāʻī, and a raffia kūpeʻe
The Kahala Hotel & Resort
Lei making Fridays and Sundays 10–11am · lei lāʻī (ti leaf) Saturdays 9–10am · haku kupeʻe, the raffia…
Three genuinely different classes across the week, which is more than any other hotel here offers, and the kūpeʻe session is a technique you will not find…
Guests
Hotel guests · kui — orchid lei, 42 flowers
The Ritz-Carlton Oʻahu, Turtle Bay
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 9–10am, all through 2026
Complimentary for registered resort guests
Called ʻOkika Creations — ʻokika is orchid.
Guests
Hotel guests · Flower lei and kūpeʻe
OUTRIGGER Reef Waikīkī Beach Resort
Lei making Monday 10am, Thursday 10am and Saturday 9am · ti leaf kūpeʻe Tuesday 9am and Friday 10am · kukui…
Complimentary
The most frequent hotel programme on the island, and one session stands apart: on Thursdays from noon the lei you make is taken to the Duke Kahanamoku statue…
Guests
Hotel guests
Hilton Hawaiian Village
Kukui nut lei Mondays and Fridays at 1pm and 2pm · bracelets Tuesdays and Thursdays · key chains Wednesdays
Worth being straight about: this is kukui nut craft, not fresh-flower lei practice.
Guests
Paid workshop · Lei poʻo and named styles, varying by guest practitioner
ISLAND-BOY
In-shop workshops released up to three months ahead · the Pālehua workshop runs monthly
$125 in the shop · $165 at Pālehua
The most serious commercial teaching on the island, and the only operation that rotates in different practitioners rather than running one house style.
Paid workshop · Lei poʻo
PALAI
Dated workshops through 2026, posted on the PALAI site.
$108–$115
Also runs a $58 class on starting a native lei garden, which is the most useful thing on this page for anyone living here.
Paid workshop · kui, with flowers picked on the farm
Little Plumeria Farms
Sunset tour Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays · day tour Fridays only · 1 April to 31 October
$90 for the sunset tour, $75 for the day tour
An hour and a quarter, though allow an hour and a half.
Paid workshop · wili
Eco Mindful Lei
By arrangement — they publish no fixed calendar
Price on request
Opens with a meditation and closes with a mahalo ceremony, on the beach, in entirely biodegradable material.
Paid workshop · Lei poʻo, orchid lei, ti leaf lei and floral arranging
The Orchid Lei Company
By reservation
Price on request
The one verified answer on this island if you need lei making for a large group rather than for yourself.
Paid workshop · Lei poʻo and neck lei
Hawaii Hula Company
By arrangement
Price on request
Usually booked as an add-on to a hula lesson.
Feather work · Lei hulu — haku hulu, wili hulu and humupapa
Nā Lima Mili Hulu Noʻeau
Ongoing monthly classes, plus private sessions and half or full day workshops.
Price on request
This is the lineage source for Hawaiian featherwork on this island.
Feather work · Lei hulu
Aloha Hula Supply — recorded workshops
Whenever you like — six months of viewing access
$60 for the workshop, $25 for the kit
Listed here because it is filed under "workshops" and people book it expecting to turn up somewhere.

The techniques

What a class actually teaches. Ask which one before you book.

kui · to pierce, to stringFlowers are pierced and threaded onto a long needle.

wili · to windMaterial is wound onto a base with raffia, lāʻī or thread.

haku · to braidA genuine three-strand braid, with at least two kinds of flower material worked into it as you go.

hili · to braid or plaitBraided like haku, but from a single material braided on itself, with no separate base.

humu, humupapa · to sew onto a baseMaterial is sewn flat onto a backing — papa means a flat surface.

hīpuʻu, kīpuʻu · to knotStems are overlapped and knotted to one another.

hilo · to twistTwo strands twisted into a rope.

Where to buy flowers and materials

Aloha Hula Supply, 4369 Lawehana St #A2 — feathers, lei hulu kits, raffia, shells and artificial components.
Nā Mea Hawaiʻi / KĪPUKA, Ward Centre, 1200 Ala Moana Blvd.
PALAI — raffia, lei kits and floral pruners, collected at Kākou Collective in ʻAiea or at makers markets, with 10% off if you have booked a workshop.
Cindy’s Lei & Flower Shoppe, 1034 Maunakea St, Chinatown.
Watanabe Floral, 1618 N Nimitz Hwy — a large local florist and a practical source of fresh material, though their own classes are currently paused.
Farm Link Hawaiʻi — the route to locally grown flowers rather than imported ones, which matters more than it sounds: most lei sold in Hawaiʻi are now strung overseas from imported blooms.

Questions people ask

How is a lei actually given?＋

The drape-over-the-head-and-kiss is a twentieth-century steamship and tourism custom, not the older Hawaiian one. Traditionally the giver bowed and held the lei out for you to take, because the head is sacred and reaching over it was disrespectful. Both happen constantly in Hawaiʻi today and nobody will mind either — but the older way is the one worth knowing.

Is it rude to take a lei off in front of the person who gave it?＋

It is considered discourteous, and refusing one outright is worse. Treat this as contemporary courtesy rather than ancient rule — it is taught everywhere in Hawaiʻi, and we could not trace it to any museum, dictionary or university source.

What about pregnant women and closed lei?＋

Many people in Hawaiʻi observe this: a pregnant woman is given an open, untied lei rather than a closed circle. It is live, current practice and worth respecting. We are not going to tell you it is an ancient tradition, because we searched for it in the standard cultural sources and did not find it there.

How do you throw a lei away?＋

You do not. A lei is returned to the earth — untie it, strip out the string, wire and ribbon, and compost it, bury it or hang it in a tree. Ignore the line about throwing it into the sea to guarantee your return; that is a tourism-era saying, and a modern lei is full of plastic and non-native flowers.

Is it alright to give a lei you did not make?＋

Completely. Buying from a lei seller is a deep and multigenerational Hawaiʻi practice with its own lineages, and the lei sellers on Maunakea Street are part of the culture, not a substitute for it. A handmade lei carries extra weight, which is a different point. Aunty Nona Beamer taught it as: make a lei, wear a lei, give a lei.

Paused or stopped

The City and County Parks and Recreation free pre-Lei-Day workshop programme.
Watanabe Floral haku lei workshops — their own classes page now reads "coming soon", with no dates or registration.
Lulu’s Lei + Bouquets in Haleʻiwa, listed at $95 in 2025.
Mean Woman Flower Farm lei poʻo workshops.
Ka Pā Hula O Kauanoe O Waʻahila lei hulu workshops with Kumu Hulu Mele Kahalepuna-Chun.

Free hula shows Classes and workshops Free things to do Craft supplies

Schedules and prices were read from each teacher’s, venue’s or hotel’s own page on Aug 13, 2026. Photos appear only where they show the technique that class teaches. See how we verify.

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