Waimānalo Country Farms — Attraction in Oʻahu

We’ve been wanting to visit this farm for the past year but missed the opportunity before it closed last season. This year, we were determined to support this local business and even went nearly an hour out of our way to visit—bypassing another farm closer to home—because we genuinely wanted to support local.

We were excited to visit for the first time, but our experience was ruined by an unprofessional and disrespectful interaction with a staff member regarding their cow ride.

To start on a positive note: parking was easy, no fee was charged, and entry was clearly marked. We arrived at 10:30 a.m., purchased four entry tickets (two adults at $10 each with Kamaaina rate, two children at $8 each), and were told the next cow ride would be at 11 a.m. We explored the petting zoo area, which had a variety of animals and was enjoyable for the kids. The facilities included several portable restrooms.

At 11 a.m., we returned and paid $15 for the cow ride (for two children and one adult—myself). The attendant asked how many were riding, took payment, and said nothing about restrictions. No signage indicated a weight limit or that adults were not allowed. In fact, we saw a mom riding with her child earlier, so we assumed it was permitted. We paid $15 and boarded as instructed. At no point were we told it was for children only.

After completing the ride, we were approached in a confrontational manner by a woman (not in uniform or identifiable as staff) who told us we were not allowed to ride due to a 55 lb. weight limit and accused us of not paying. Not only was this false—we paid in full—but her rude, condescending tone was completely out of line.

I returned to the attendant to clarify and express my concern about the lack of signage and her failure to inform us when selling the tickets. Her response—also referencing "common sense"— not even acknowledging the fact that she sold us the tickets, KNOWING that 1 was for an adult and 2 for the children, we were ALL standing in front of her when she sold us the tickets.

I encountered the original rude lady a few minutes later and tried to explain to her it was our first time, there's no signage to indicate weight limit and restrictions, and she doubled down and told me 'it's common sense', when I informed her another parent rode the cow ride before we came in, she commented that the woman 'had no common sense as well'. Instead of owning their lack of communication, she blamed us. Ironically, after our conversation, they put up a sign. That only proves the lack of communication beforehand.

This kind of treatment toward paying, first-time visitors is unacceptable. There was no accountability, no apology, and zero professionalism shown by either her or the original attendant. Staff training and basic customer respect are clearly lacking here.

Instead of owning the staff’s failure to communicate or sell tickets appropriately, we were blamed and insulted. There was no apology—just attitude and condescension. This was our first time visiting, and we were made to feel unwelcome and embarrassed without cause.

A simple explanation or respectful conversation would have gone a long way, but instead, we were met with blame and assumptions. For a first-time visitor, being treated this way was disappointing and unacceptable. This interaction single-handedly ruined what should have been a pleasant day at the farm.

I’m all for supporting local businesses, but this is one I will never return to or recommend. Customer service matters—and when a business can’t provide basic respect or accountability, they don’t deserve your support.

What should’ve been a nice day with our children turned into a frustrating and disappointing experience. We will not return, and I do not recommend this...

I had been to another sunflower farm on the island last year, but this was my first time to Waimanalo Country Farms. I was initially disappointed because we missed out on the main sunflower fields for this year (we literally got there the day after the last day they were open). But luckily, we managed to catch their miniature sunflower patch which they opened for kids and dogs.

The place was pretty easy to find using Google Maps (which I very much appreciated). When we got there, they charged us $3.00 for admission, which wasn't bad at all, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they did in fact take credit card. The mini-patch was a lot smaller than their main sunflower fields, so there were only about three rows to walk up and down. They had a tub and some white chairs for people to sit on and take pictures with. The weather was beautiful that day as well. It was slightly overcast, but the breeze was what made it most enjoyable.

They weren't serving food the day we went, but they were selling their delicious lemonade which both I and my husband partook of. I got the strawberry lemonade and he got the regular lemonade. Both were cold and delicious to the taste. A great way to wrap up a hot walk around the fields.

Overall, the experience was great at the farm. My only complaint is that I wish they advertised a bit better when it comes to their hours and how long they will stay open during blooming season. It's really not fun to drive all the way out there only to find out they've shutdown for the year. If you want to catch them while their open, make sure to follow their IG and Facebook pages as they regularly post updates on current operations. We made the mistake of going off of Google and Yelp to know when they were open and that's a good way to miss out, as they let us know that they don't manage their Google or Yelp pages, so don't use that as your main source of...

Wish I could give it 0 stars. Have been happy with the sunflower event in the past. Made reservations for the pumpkin event. Arrived to a line of cars. They never checked for reservations. My 3 year old was so excited about the hayride. My mom stood in line right away. After about an hour of the hayride not running, someone went to go ask a staff member. They said the staff was busy helping managing parking, and that they had nobody to run the hayride. They said maybe at 11. At 11:30 we left because we had been in line for 2 hours and hayrides were still not running. Told the guy as we left and he said he is the one that drives the tractor and is still helping with parking so no hayrides any time soon. So we basically spent $30 to stand in line. The pumpkin guns were also not running. Wait for food was an hour (30 minutes in line to order and 30 minutes to get your food). They do not have a drink only line. So, if you want a photo op, to walk through the pumpkins and sunflower fields, pay to feed the animals, and pay for an overpriced pumpkin have at it. Not sure why they are taking reservations as they never even checked to see if you had reservations like they did at past events. Feels like they are just wanting to get as many people parked for their $10/person entrance and not take care of the people once they are in. And will say that the photo ops are also not as good this year. A tractor with pumpkins around it and some hay bales, pumpkins, with an “aloha”...