The Place
The Hāmākua Coast.
Forty miles of cliff and gulch running north from Hilo, cut by the sugar plantations a century ago and left mostly alone since. It rains here, often and briefly. That is the whole reason it looks the way it does.
What is actually near the houses.
Distances below are from Honomu, where three of the six homes sit and a fourth is a short drive north. The two Kona properties are on the opposite coast and get their own note at the bottom.
Five minutes
Akaka Falls State Park
A paved loop through bamboo and banyan to a 442-foot waterfall, and a second one at Kahuna Falls on the same walk. Half an hour, small parking fee, no hiking required. Go early or go late; the middle of the day belongs to the tour vans.
Five minutes
Kolekole Beach Park
A stream meets the ocean under a railroad trestle. Locals swim in the freshwater pool below the falls rather than the surf, which is serious here. Picnic pavilions, cold water, and almost never a crowd on a weekday.
Walking distance
Honomu town
One street of plantation storefronts left over from the mill. Shave ice made with real syrups, a woodworker, a couple of galleries, and the Odaishisan Buddhist temple at the end. Twenty minutes is enough, and worth it.
Twenty minutes
Hilo
The town side of the island. Farmers market Wednesday and Saturday, the Imiloa Astronomy Center, Rainbow Falls before eight in the morning, Liliuokalani Gardens, and the best poke on this coast. Also the closest full grocery.
Forty minutes
Volcanoes National Park
Kilauea, the caldera, the lava tube, and the Chain of Craters Road down to the ocean. A full day, and worth planning around the current eruption status rather than the guidebook.
The other side
Kailua-Kona
Dry, sunny, and about two hours across the saddle. Kahaluu Beach for snorkelling straight off the sand, manta rays at night, Aliʻi Drive for dinner. Our Keauhou condo sits above the golf course a mile from the water, and Kinohi at He'eia is oceanfront on the bluff above the bay.
Practical
Things worth knowing.
- Rent a vehicle. There is no useful public transport on this coast, and one of our properties requires four-wheel drive to reach.
- Hilo International is twenty minutes from the Honomu houses. Kona International is two hours across the island from them, and fifteen minutes from the Keauhou condo.
- It rains on the Hāmākua side most days, usually in short bursts. Pack a light shell, not an umbrella.
- Ocean access along this coast is cliff and rock rather than sand. The swimming beaches are south toward Hilo or over on the Kona side.
- Cell coverage is good in town and patchy in the gulches. Download the map before you drive out to Ninole.