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Hawaii has stood in for primeval jungles, lost islands, tropical paradises, and alien worlds in more than 100 major productions. Kauai alone has hosted Jurassic Park, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and South Pacific — sometimes using the same valleys. Oahu's Kualoa Ranch has appeared in so many blockbusters it runs its own movie site tours.
Below: the real locations behind the screen, organized by island, with links to visit guides where they exist.
Oʻahu
Kualoa Ranch
Jurassic Park
Jurassic World
Lost
Kong: Skull Island
Hawaii Five-0
The Kaʻaʻawa Valley behind Kualoa Ranch is the most-filmed valley in the world. The same ridgelines where dinosaurs stampeded in Jurassic Park served as the jungle island in Lost for six seasons. Kualoa offers dedicated movie site tours of the valley by ATV, horseback, and bus.
Kualoa Ranch guide
Diamond Head & Waikiki
Hawaii Five-0
Blue Hawaii
Magnum P.I.
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Diamond Head's silhouette is one of the most recognized backdrops in television history — it bookended every episode of the original Hawaii Five-0 (1968–1980) and its reboot. Elvis Presley filmed multiple scenes along Waikiki in Blue Hawaii (1961), the film that launched a decade of Elvis-in-Hawaii productions.
Diamond Head guide
North Shore — Sunset Beach & Pipeline
Blue Crush
North Shore (1987)
Riding Giants
The Seven Mile Miracle between Haleiwa and Sunset Beach is the world's most-filmed surf coastline. Blue Crush (2002) was shot almost entirely here, with Pipeline and Sunset as primary locations. John Milius used Sunset's massive winter swells for North Shore (1987), the surf cult classic.
North Shore guide
Ko Olina
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
50 First Dates
Ko Olina's calm lagoons and the Marriott Ko Olina Beach Club stood in for the fictional Turtle Head resort in Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008). Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler filmed several beach scenes for 50 First Dates at Oahu's leeward shore as well, including at Waimanalo on the windward side.
Ko Olina guideKauaʻi
Nā Pali Coast
Jurassic Park
Raiders of the Lost Ark
King Kong (1976)
South Pacific
Pirates of the Caribbean 4
The Nā Pali sea cliffs are the most-filmed coastline on Kauai — the opening helicopter shot in Jurassic Park, the opening jungle sequence of Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the island of Bali Ha'i in South Pacific all used these 3,000-foot green cliffs. Accessible by boat tour or the 11-mile Kalalau Trail.
Nā Pali guide
Manawaiopuna Falls
Jurassic Park
The 400-foot waterfall where the Jurassic Park helicopter first descends into Isla Nublar is Manawaiopuna Falls on private Hanapepe Valley land. It earned the nickname "Jurassic Park Falls" and remains the signature helicopter tour destination on Kauai — reachable only by air, never on foot.
Book a helicopter tour
Lumahaʻi Beach
South Pacific (1958)
Mitzi Gaynor washed that man right out of her hair on this sweep of dark sand backed by jungle at the start of the North Shore road. The opening beach scene of South Pacific (1958) put Lumaha'i on the map; the beach is essentially unchanged 65 years later. Strong shore break — swimming is risky, but the view is worth the stop.
Lumahaʻi Beach guide
Hanalei Bay
The Descendants
South Pacific (1958)
Puff the Magic Dragon (1978)
The two-mile crescent bay backed by fluted green mountains is as cinematic in person as on screen. George Clooney filmed several scenes of The Descendants (2011) around the Hanalei area. The surrounding taro fields and valley also feature in the animated Puff the Magic Dragon special.
Hanalei Bay guideMaui
Hāna Coast
The Descendants (2011)
Jurassic World: Dominion
Alexander Payne filmed scenes of The Descendants around the remote Hana coast, using the jungle-to-sea landscape as a stand-in for the kind of old Hawaii money the story centers on. Hamoa Beach — a half-mile arc of dark volcanic sand south of Hana town — appears in several key sequences. Getting here requires driving the full Road to Hana.
Hamoa Beach guide
Haleakalā Summit
Tropic Thunder (2008)
Various sci-fi productions
The 10,023-foot summit crater looks less like Earth than almost any landscape in the state — a landscape of red cinder cones and moonlike lava fields that has attracted filmmakers looking for an alien or post-apocalyptic setting. Portions of the cinder desert near the summit have stood in for Mars in several productions. The sunrise view alone is reason enough to visit.
Haleakalā guideBig Island
Waipiʻo Valley
Waterworld (1995)
Various productions
The mile-wide valley with its black sand beach and 2,000-foot walls has served as a dramatic backdrop in several productions. The Big Island coast near Waimea and Kawaihae was a primary filming location for Waterworld (1995) — the most expensive film of its era, whose $175 million budget became infamous partly because of the Hawaii shoot.
Waipiʻo Valley guide
Punaluʻu Black Sand Beach
Jurassic World: Dominion
Various nature documentaries
The jet-black olivine sand of Punalu'u, formed by lava flowing into the ocean, is unlike any beach in the continental US. The otherworldly color and the green sea turtles that haul out here regularly make it a standout location for nature documentaries and productions looking for a visually striking Hawaii that doesn't look like Waikiki.
Punaluʻu guideBook a Filming Location Tour
Kualoa Ranch's movie site tours are the most popular, but every island has helicopter, boat, and guided tours that hit the famous spots. Compare options on Viator.
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Heavy rain is moving across Oʻahu this morning with rates hitting one to two inches per hour, and it'll keep going through this afternoon. Flash flooding is the main threat—windward and interior valleys are getting hit hardest. A Flash Flood Watch is in effect, so avoid driving through flooded roads.
The rain pulls back Friday with showers becoming scattered and lighter. By Saturday, trade winds settle back to normal and you'll see mostly dry conditions. The humidity that's soaking everything right now drops to seasonal levels by Saturday night.
If you're planning beach time or outdoor activities, Friday afternoon or Saturday will be much better calls than today.
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