Longtime Beat of Hawaii reader Carl wrote us again this week asking for an update on Coco Palms. He’s asked several times, and after June’s enormous $431 million financing announcement, we understand why. But while the resort’s reopening keeps getting pushed further into the future, some of the people who made Coco Palms unforgettable are no longer here to ever see it happen. Larry Rivera died in 2023, and his wife Gloria died this August, both without seeing the resort reopen.
Hurricane Iniki closed the resort in September 1992, and it’s been 34 years since then. Larry entertained generations of guests there, while Gloria was an essential part of his performances and helped build his musical career. Bob Jasper, who devoted years to preserving the resort’s history and showing visitors through its abandoned grounds, was another of its most persistent advocates. He recently passed away and administered the Coco Palms Facebook group, which boasts over 10K members.
The people who kept Coco Palms alive.
To countless visitors, Larry Rivera was Coco Palms incarnate. He started working there in 1951 and eventually became the resort’s best-known entertainer, performing his Love and Aloha Show and sharing stories of Kauai, its music, and its people. Long after the hotel closed, he continued welcoming visitors and speaking about his hopes for its restoration.
When we reported Larry’s passing in January 2023, readers responded with memories spanning decades. One remembered meeting him on a honeymoon in 1985 and then returning to Coco Palms years later, where Larry appeared during a tour, ukulele in hand. Others recalled the torch-lighting ceremonies, his music, and the warmth he brought to their visits.
Gloria was far more than just Larry’s wife, standing beside a famous performer. According to her family’s obituary, she handled lighting and sound for Larry’s shows, made leis, and helped promote and distribute his recordings through Coco Palms Records. Together they raised six children while building a family entertainment tradition that became part of the resort and the island’s identity.
Gloria died at her Wailua home on August 18, 2026, at age 91, three and a half years after Larry. Her passing adds another chapter to the history of a resort that remains closed long after the performers who helped make it famous are gone.
Bob Jasper played a different but equally memorable role. After Iniki, when most people saw an abandoned hotel, Jasper continued bringing visitors through the grounds and telling its stories. As the former owner of Hawaii Movie Tours and a longtime caretaker, he helped preserve a connection to Coco Palms after the guests and entertainers were gone.
In testimony before the Kauai County Council in 2013, Jasper explained that his site-management role was unpaid and that he had escorted prospective developers through the property for years. He described his personal passion for Coco Palms, which grew from showing visitors around the resort to trying to help bring it back.
One BOH reader, Karen, remembered both Larry’s hula shows and a private tour with Bob long after Hurricane Iniki. Her recollection captured just how the resort remained meaningful to people who hadn’t been able to stay there for decades.
The resort is still awaiting its next chapter.
The redevelopment now has substantial financing, something previous plans lacked. Reef Capital says below-grade construction is underway, but the new hotel buildings have not begun rising, and the anticipated opening remains 2028.
That’s two years later than the 2026 opening originally promoted with the Kimpton announcement. We reported the abandoned deadline in April, and the developer’s current website acknowledges that construction delays pushed the timetable back. The 2028 date remains a target, not a confirmed opening plan.
A new legal development has also emerged. On August 13, Hawaii’s Supreme Court agreed to review part of the challenge Friends of Mahaulepu brought over the redevelopment permits. The court postponed oral arguments scheduled for October 6 and has not yet ruled on the underlying issues. Accepting the appeal does not itself invalidate the permits or halt planned construction.
For those asking what has actually changed since June, the developer reports continued underground work, but no new hotel structures are standing. The money and the planned resort are real parts of the current redevelopment plans, but neither has produced a place for guests to check in or a date for when they can.
Larry Rivera once expressed a wish that now feels particularly poignant. As we recalled in our 2023 tribute, he hoped to live long enough to see Coco Palms operating again, saying he wanted to see the place in full swing before walking away and waving goodbye.
He never got that chance. After 34 years, Coco Palms is still waiting for the reopening that Larry, Gloria, Bob, and so many others worked to keep alive in people’s memories.
Did you ever take a tour with Bob Jasper, see Larry and Gloria perform, or stay at Coco Palms before Iniki? We would love to hear your memories of the people who kept this resort alive. Please share them in the comments below.
By Rob and Jeff, Beat of Hawaii.
Some of Hawaii’s most meaningful parts are the ones visitors walk right past without knowing they are there. We’ve spent nearly 20 years finding them firsthand for BOH as full-time Hawaii residents reporting on travel, culture, and island life, and telling you what they mean for your trip. Join us →
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