Camp Penguin at the Hilton Hawaiian Village

My family recently spent three weeks in Hawaii. During these three weeks my husband and I were busy taking our kids around to explore Oahu and entertaining them non-stop.

Needless to say, we were quite exhausted by the time we checked into the Hilton Hawaiian Village. We needed a kid free day to relax, shop and surf.

Luckily we had the opportunity to sign up the kids at Camp Penguin at the resort.

Camp Penguin is the only program of it’s kind in Waikiki. Camp Penguin is designed to give kids a true Hawaiian experience and is run by professional camp counsellors.

Camp Penguin offers three programs every day of the week. You can sign your kids up for a Full Day (8:00am – 3:00pm), the Morning Program (8:00am – 12:00pm) or the Afternoon Program (11:30am – 3:00pm). Siblings always stay together at Camp Penguin (unless otherwise requested). Lunch is served during the full day program.

Camp Penguin review Hilton Hawaiian Village

Every day is a new adventure at Camp Penguin.

Sunday – Wild About Hilton: A day exploring the resort.

Monday – Hawaiian Ocean Explorer: Learn about Hawaiian fish and go on a field trip to the Waikiki Aquarium.

Tuesday – Makahiki Day: Play Hawaiian games, feed the resort fish and play in the keiki pool.

Wednesday – Treasures of Hawaii: Learn more about Hawaiian culture and visit the Bishop Museum.

Thursday – Discover Hawaii: Learn about why Hawaii is considered a “melting pot” and visit the Hawaii Children’s Discovery Center.

Friday – Waikiki Aloha Friday: Go shell hunting and create your own Aloha Friday souvenir postcard.

Saturday – Hawaiian Safari: Discover all the wildlife at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and go on a field trip to the Honolulu Zoo.

Camp headquarters is located in the Diamond tower of the Hilton Hawaiian Village. This is where you drop off your kids in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon. The Camp Penguin room is large, filled with lots of tables and chairs. It is stocked with art supplies, books and movies. It’s a very fun looking place!

Drop off is very well organized. Each camper receives a Camp Penguin t-shirt (which makes them identifiable to camp counsellors) and a name badge.

Camp Penguin review Hilton Hawaiian Village

Camp Penguin review Hilton Hawaiian Village

The Camp Penguin Experience

My kids attended Camp Penguin on a Monday which happens to be the most requested day of the week. Soon after being dropped off they were taken by shuttle on a field trip to the Waikiki Aquarium where they got to learn more about ocean animals in Hawaiian waters. After the aquarium they returned to the resort for games and arts and crafts. They were then served lunch in the Camp Penguin room. My kids ate a turkey sandwich, chips, juice and had fruit and cookies. After lunch the group was taken on a tour of the wildlife at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and for a swim in the keiki pool.

My kids absolutely loved their day at Camp Penguin. My son (who was very nervous to be dropped off) loved it so much he kept asking us to go back. If we weren’t checking out the next day I would have absolutely signed him up for another day at camp.

My husband and I really appreciated how good the camp counsellors were with the kids. When they saw that my son and daughter were nervous they took them under their wing and made them feel comfortable right away. I also really liked how my kids were together for the entire day. My kids made friends from other countries and had a very special day at Camp Penguin.

Overall our Camp Penguin experience was fabulous. I trusted that my kids were well taken care of during the day and really liked what the program offered.

Our “day off” was much needed. We enjoyed every minute of our kid free time in Waikiki.

I would absolutely sign my kids up for Camp Penguin again.

Camp Penguin review Hilton Hawaiian Village

To learn more about Camp Penguin check out their website. It is highly recommended to sign up your children well in advance.

To read more about my family’s experience at the Hilton Hawaiian Village check out these posts:

Disclosure: The Hilton Hawaiian Village offered my children a complementary day at Camp Penguin in exchange for this review. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

I’d love to know, have you ever sent your kids to a kids club or camp while on holidays? What was their experience like?

16 Comments

  1. Sounds like a great opportunity for both the kids and the parents, the kids get to have fun with other kids and the parents can relax or go out and do grown up stuff, love this idea!!

  2. What’s great about this program is how interactive it is, going on fieldtrips, & learning, instead of just being a place to drop off the kids & have them draw or color all day being bored like some places.

  3. It certainly sounds like a good place for kids to spend some time. Despite your children not being too happy to start with, you could tell from the photos that they had enjoyed it after getting over their nervousness.

  4. Every year there seems to be more camps and summer activities for the kids and thats great !

  5. I love this! Love that the focus is on Hawaii as well, with a discover Hawaii day. This would be so nice to be able to slip away to a spa, or even an hour on the beach, and know my little one was safe and having fun!

  6. I have sent one of my kids to a camp before. She had tons of fun doing the crafts and the walks

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