Tropical Dreams Hawaiian Gourmet Ice Cream

I was craving ice cream after dinner and looked to Unilocal for help. Tropical Dreams was within walking distance from my hotel (about 2 blocks) so I headed on over.
After I sampled three flavors, I chose one. I don’t remember the name of the flavor, but basically it was Rocky Road with macadamia nuts, instead of peanuts. It was delicious. I love that they use cream from the Big Island to make their ice creams and stay as local as possible.
If you sample more than three, you have to wear these sample glasses, which I regret not asking for a fourth sample and getting a picture with the glasses.
If you check in with Unilocal,you will get 10% off. This might only apply to your first visit though.

Move over Lappert’s, Tropical Dreams wins! Their ice cream is dense, rich, and creamy– just how I like it. Also it is not as sweet as it’s competitor. Some of the unique flavors I saw during my two visits were candied ginger, any of their banana ice creams were so good! (I normally hate banana flavored desserts because it has a fake banana taste), POG, Kona Coffee, toasted coconut, lychee cream, and more. Every flavor I tried was delicious! We went two days in a row. I wish they had sugar free options though! It is expensive but good.

We came here after reading other Unilocal reviews, and we were not disappointed! The ice cream was delicious! I had the KonaCoffee Brownie. And even better yet was the helpful and friendly customer service!

Visited place while on business. Place had good ice cream, lots of tropical flavored stuff. Store was also well lit and clean (very good). Got the POG (passion orange guava) flavor… it was pretty good, little tarty. Couldn’t finish the cup size since after a bit the tarty flavor was just too overpowering for me. Wish I went for the lychee cream or coconut almond instead… would’ve probably been able to finish the scoop. Slightly pricey for scoop of ice cream but understandable since buying local ingredients and shop being in a place where tourists stop. Overall, good flavors and friendly service. Would go again and get the less tarty flavors.

Vacationed on the island in February with my wife and our moms, and this shop is the only place in 2 weeks that we hit up multiple times– I think we came 3 or 4 times. The husband and wife owners are super pleasant and friendly, and they introduced us to their great dane, Dizzy!
As a mainlander I’m used to pretty standard flavors, but TD has some very unique flavors, mostly with a tropical bent. We all sampled multiple flavors every time we came in, but it’s really difficult to pick just one. Of all our visits, my favorite was the pineapple coconut. The flavors do swap out frequently, so something you liked one day may not be there the next.
Seems like the negative reviews on Unilocal were for a former owner– which is a failing on Unilocal’s part that you can’t reboot under new ownership. But Jenn and Jason are doing a great job burying those bad reviews by providing great service and a quality product.
Thanks guys, and we’ll see you next time!

So my husband and I travel a lot and we ALWAYS go to several ice cream shops everywhere we go. People told us to go to Lapperts and that was good but this place puts Lapperts to shame!!! Super creamy and fresh and the flavors were to die for! Great service and good prices too! We have been here for a week and will be here one more week driving from Poipu to Kapaa each day to get our ice cream here!

Delicious homemade ice cream & good service.
They don’t offer many different sizes– either a cup ($ 4.50 I believe) or a cone ($ 5.50), but the one size is PLENTY of ice cream since its made from high quality ingredients.
We had Tahitian vanilla, Kona Coffee Brownie & Strawberry Cheesecake. All delish!
Vegan and dairy free options are also available.
Check-​in on Unilocal for 10% off!

Seriously yummy ice cream!!! It’s a little expensive, but totally worth it! I had the cake batter ice cream in a waffle cone and I ate every bite. The ice cream tastes clean and fresh and packed full of flavor!!! I’ll definitely be back before our vacation is over!

I love ice cream, and for the longest time, I was convinced that nothing would ever out-​do Lappert’s for best ice cream on the island. In discovering Tropical Dreams, I was a little hesitant as to what I should expect from a small shop inside a strip mall next to Safeway, but in tasting their ice cream, I know now that Lappert’s has some serious competition. In trying their Chocolate Coconut Macademia Nut ice cream, it’d be the perfect way to describe Kauai in one bite. My family also got around to trying their Butter Pecan and Blueberry Cheesecake scoops and it was all just so heavenly… and dreamy. In any case, if you’re in Kapa’a, definitely check this place out for a hot day snack or after dinner luxe moment.

Terrific stop for a perfect Sweet treat! Seriously the coconut Mac ice cream was to die for! Owner was there and couldn’t be nicer — super friendly and welcoming. The price was a bit steep but I’m on vacation so no worries!

Awesome ice cream shop! The ice cream was incredibly good, the flavors were creative and the service was impeccable. The whole shop was clean and sparkling. The owners clearly pride themselves on customer service. After a few days of bad «local» customer service at other establishments, I can’t say enough about how well we were treated at this shop. We will be going back nightly for the rest of our trip.

Disappointing soft serve swirl ice cream cone last night! It was made with coconut milk not milk. She didn’t tell us that til after we paid for them or I wouldn’t have got that. Was not creamy more icey texture that melted so fast my wafer cone got soggy in the bottom that I had to dump it before I could eat half.
So sorry don’t want to write a bad review, she was very friendly but I think your soft serve ice cream could use some improvement. When I want dairy-​free I’ll ask for it.

Great ice cream, fantastic assortment of flavors
We had several dinner parties while staying in Kauai and a couple of our friends bought every single flavor they had (I think there were over 20) and brought them for dessert.
The ice cream was rich and creamy, the sorbets refreshing. Everything was flavorful so we tasted the components and not just sugar.
Go with whatever flavors sound good to you, you can’t go wrong. We had a couple dozen to sample and there wasn’t a single dud in the bunch.

This little shop is first class all the way from the ingredients to the artful selection of flavor combinations to the friendly customer service. If you are a gourmet ice cream junkie, this is a must try. I’m going to burn my Lappert’s card!

This ice cream was a bit pricey but worth every penny! I really enjoyed that they had an assortment of flavors I’ve never seen before: purple sweet potato, matcha green tea, thai iced tea. I ended up getting 1 scoop of thai ice tea and 1 scoop of cherry chocolate chip. Both were delicious! My husband got the pineapple coconut and pineapple guava sherbet. The sherbert was too tart for him but he really enjoyed the pineapple coconut. The people running the place were really nice. Definitely recommend! Also it is one of the few ice cream places near there that was open late, just FYI!

Loved my dole pineapple soft serve. Hubby had chocolate fudge brownie and that was just ok.

With the relatively recent change in ownership, this is now our go to place for delicious ice cream! Jen & Jason are such nice people, they’ve brought happiness & aloha back to a shop that has the best ice cream!
Made on the Big Isle with a lot of Hawaii grown ingredients, these ice creams, sorbets & gelatos leave nothing to be desired…
There is always a great selection of flavors to choose from, with new ones being requested by the new owners, so if you thought you’ve tried them all, there’s still usually a new one, or new combo to try.
Oh, and it’s kid-​friendly now too! Big plus for us. If you’re in the area, give it a try!

We spent the day running around shopping and decided to go for a scoop of local made ice cream. The staff inside the shop was super friendly, made conversation and let me try 5 (yes, 5, I’m high maintenance) different tastes before I decided to go for one of the best sellers, Blueberry cheesecake. After we strolled out, I noticed even the wafer come was stamped «HAWAII», which I thought was a really cool touch.

We sampled so many great flavors… macadamia nut, ube (a lightly sweetened purple sweet potato ice cream), pineapple coconut and the lychee/​strawberry sorbet. All were excellent and the staff was sweet each time we went in.
This is in the Safeway parking lot, two or three doors down from Starbucks.

Embarrassing story: We came, ordered our ice cream, accepted our ice cream, and didn’t have cash/​check to pay (they only take cash/​check). The manager was one of the two employees serving the ice cream and had a very Hawaii-​laid back attitude of «no problem, enjoy your ice cream and take care of the money later.» I couldn’t really enjoy the ice cream because it was our last stop before we left the island and now had 2 hours to figure out how to get her $ 10 with nothing but credit cards… my wife actually ended up in tears because these situations can stress her out to no end. We ended up setting up a bill-​pay check to be sent to her via USAA’s app (I showed her) but WOW I couldn’t believe how nice the manager was and understanding… she was going to let us just go without paying but I insisted on sending the money via check.
The ice cream was good, but it was unfortunately overshadowed by the looming stress of making $ 10 appear out of thin air. I had macadamia nut and chocolate. They make their own ice cream, of course, so I can appreciate the quality. I highly recommend trying this place out if your are coming through the lovely Kapaa!