Since the 1990s, Waikoloa's shopping was greatly expanded with the addition of Queen's Shops with lots of services for residents including a post office.

Yes, they were ok.ĪND WHAT IS MY CURRENT REAL ESTATE CONNECTION WITH THE MOVIE 'WATERWORLD'?įast forward to my listing at the Mauna Kea Resort which lies close to Kawaihaie Harbor and Waipio Valley (where the last scene of 'Waterworld' was filmed) to the north, and Waikoloa Resort a few miles to the south where the crew hung out and where I had my office. There, Steven Spielberg was just finishing up the movie 'Jurassic Park', in fact, it was their last day. Even though it was not all that devastating on the Big Island of Hawaii generally, it destroyed Kauai in September, 1992 with its sustained winds of 130 mph. The production was also expensive because of the collapse of a multi-million dollar set during Hurricane Iniki which I remember VERY well. They own the Ferrari Coffee Plantation on the Big Island.īelow is a photo that was taken at the time of the happy Steakhouse employees!

My best friend at the time also had a daughter my daughter's age, who met her future husband there. To say their tips were good was an understatement and it paid for their tuition and then some. My daughter was taking courses at the University of Hawaii on the island, and was working at the Steakhouse as a cocktail waitress and her fiancee was the bartender. I don't know this for sure, but what I do know is that they had a great time night after night at the Big Island Steakhouse, their favorite watering hole and eatery in the King's Shops at the Waikoloa Beach Resort.Īt the time, I was the public relations consultant for the Waikoloa area, and had my office at the King's Shops. The crew had such a good time on the Big Island of Hawaii, they probably just didn't want to leave and stretched out their production stay. It claimed to be the most expensive movie ever made at that time (still?) and I can tell you a few reasons why, and it was not necessarily because of the production costs. 'Waterworld', a post apocalyptic science fiction film, was filmed on the Big Island of Hawaii early in the 1990s and released in 1995.

Waterworld movie location