I attended Uke night a few weeks ago and had an absolute blast. I surprised myself by coming home with my first ukulele, and shortly after ended up upgrading as I loved it so much. I have tried ukulele before but never stuck with it; I’m now realizing the cheap ukuleles I used in the past really impact the sound and your perceived skill. Highly recommend Honolua ukuleles to anyone!
I just received my new solid top, baritone ukulele, and I’m having a blast with it. Took guitar lessons when I was very young, but haven’t played it for many years. I am finding the ukulele to be so much easier to play and with all the lessons that can be had , it’s making it so easy to learn the ukulele. The ukulele has a very nice tone and is keeping in tune quite well. I would highly recommend the Kahala ukulele to anyone looking for a uke. I also love the fact that 5 trees and 5 kelp were planted when I bought my ukulele.
Hey really enjoying my new guitalele. I took it on a trip to San Josef Bay on Northern Vancouver Island.
This is truly a great instrument for this price point. Rich, deep tones which is what I've been hoping for. My only pet-peeve is a miniscule scar on the front. Honestly, I don't think I would have noticed it at all because it barely visible. I first noticed it when playing, one of my fingers landed there and it feels like, perhaps a piece of sand or something got coated on to it during the finish. If I gently run my nail over it catches at that spot. Hopefully you can recommend a quick fix that I can do at home.
I may, once I learn a song, working on a simple version of Malaguena, post a video here too.
This was a gift to myself as I wanted a solid top uke and it did not disappoint. The tone and sound was as expected and the workmanship is great. Looking forward to many hours of enjoyment.
Beautiful ukulele. I'm very pleased with the sound and the look of this uke.
Just received my new baritone ukulele. Looks and sounds great! Also, great customer service.
I went to uke night with a friend and had such a great time I purchased my first ukulele.
I love it so much I cut my long nails so I can play better!
It has a great sound and I'm so happy with my purchase.
I received my very first ukulele; it is very beautiful and high quality. I’m so happy with my purchase! The shipping is also fast!
I’m so happy I treated myself to a new soprano from Honolua. I’m a beginner and have an inexpensive soprano from another brand, but even to my inexperienced ears it sounds thin. My new one has a much fuller sound and is so beautiful in the spalted maple. Dave was a great help.
Great bright sound and feel. I like the bigger frets a tenor gives you to play. The gig bag was a nice surprise and the extra strap holder is well worth the extra cost.
As a guitar player who loves deep tones, I was hesitant to try a ukelele, but limited energy required something smaller to play from bed. I purchased a concert ukelele and boy does it sound beautiful. The tone is much warmer than I expected & I look forward to picking it up!
I love it, is perfect!!!
Took a Hawaiian cruise. Spent 10 days at the ukulele lessons offered by the cruiseship with a really good guy Bryan from the islands. Met 2 fellow musicians who were extremely talented in other areas but not the uke
Enjoyed it so much. Joe recommended Honolua Ukulele in Calgary and Dave Simpson to help in buying one
He was very knowledgeable and friendly. Obviously loves his craft. Bought a hard top electric uke. Love it. The sound is amazing. Feels like back on the islands
Thank you Dave
I am a beginner ukelele player and started out with a cheap soprano ukelele. I enjoy playing and decided to buy a Kohala deluxe solid top concert acoustic electric ukelele. I wanted something that I could grow into but which was affordable and of good quality. This ukelele not only looks beautiful but more importantly sounds beautiful. It has a very bright, warm, balanced, rich resonant quality. The quality of the instrument is outstanding. Their customer service is fantastic. Quick communication and shipping. And a Canadian family run business!! Very pleased with my purchase and highly recommend this business.
“This thing sounds like it should cost $2,000–$5,000.”
Mary Schneebeli · real review, Judge.me
Dave spent twenty years in the music industry — as a player, in retail, inside the factories that build some of the most respected instruments in the world. What he kept seeing in the beginner market was the same thing: instruments built to a price point and nothing else, and customers who blamed themselves when it didn’t work out.
In 2018, he started Honolua in Calgary to fix that. A real instrument and a clear place to start, for anyone who’s ever thought “I wish I played music.”
Read our story →If anything about your instrument isn’t as it should be, you write to Dave and he handles it himself. No support tickets. A real person who designed your instrument and inspected it before it shipped.
“The contact us option is NOT a black hole.”
Deborah McGale · real review, Judge.meMost first ukuleles end up in a closet because nothing came with them.
A real course, proven on over a thousand complete beginners.
Includes The Fast Track · three sessions over three days
Tuning, the parts, how to hold it. The first hurdle, behind you.
Four shapes, one at a time — and then a song you actually know, played all the way through.
Full songs, with Dave playing along. Sixteen is a beginning, not a ceiling.
No theory, no nursery rhymes, your own pace. It’s built for standard GCEA tuning only currently. After the sixteen, the Uke Night Songbook — at an exclusive Honolua customer discount.
Meet Your Match asks about you — your hands, your comfort, what you want it to sound like — and lands on both the right size and the right model. No wrong answers, no experience needed.
Instruments start as trees, so every order plants five through Greenspark — and every solid-top model plants five kelp in Canadian waters. We believe in leaving more than we take.
See our impact →Yes. The Starter Course assumes nothing — not one lesson, not one chord. It starts with how to hold the instrument and has you playing your first real song within hours, one short step at a time. Most of our players started past fifty.
“She has never played the ukulele before, but has already learned half a dozen songs in only a few days.”
William ClelandIf you’re having any trouble, you reach out to Dave — he’ll help. You have thirty days if it’s not for you. But the course exists so it doesn’t come to that: one small, doable thing each time you sit down, so the instrument earns a spot on the couch arm instead of the closet shelf.
“I purchased the Honolua baritone about 6 months ago. I have played it every day since then.”
Greg JohnstonEvery instrument is checked and adjusted in Calgary before it ships, shipping is free across Canada and the US, and if something isn’t right when it arrives, Dave makes it right. Your order is processed through Shopify’s secure checkout — the same platform used by millions of stores worldwide. Hundreds of customers across Canada and the US have ordered this way, and you’re buying from a small Canadian family business that shows up in the ways that matter.
“The website is super helpful for helping you to pick a ukulele as a beginner. The ukulele arrived promptly and looked exactly as advertised.”
Sayde Spiteri-JamesEach instrument is designed by Dave in Calgary, manufactured by our factory partner overseas, and then personally checked and adjusted by Dave in Calgary before it ships to you. It’s how we keep a real instrument at a fair price.
“The value for the dollar that this ukulele represents is exceptional.”
Dennis AlfanoMost beginners are happiest on a concert — roomy enough for adult hands, small enough to feel friendly. But hands, arms, and living rooms differ, which is why the Match Quiz asks about you before it suggests anything. One thing worth knowing if you’re drawn to a baritone, a ukulele bass or a guitalele: those are tuned differently, and the free Starter Course teaches standard tuning.
“Am so happy with my decision and the ukulele Honolua’s quiz picked out for me!”
Randy Hutton
