Kawaihae Harbor Hawaii Island
Frequently Asked Questions
At Kawaihae's deep-water harbour on the Kohala coast, in a basin sheltered by a breakwater. It is primarily a cargo port — freight berths, tanks, sheds — and mostly hosts expedition ships and small luxury vessels.
You need a vehicle for most of it. The hamlet of Kawaihae is just a few restaurants and art galleries within walking distance, but Puukohola Heiau, the beaches and Waimea all require a taxi or an excursion. There is no public transit.
Start with Puukohola Heiau, less than two kilometres from the harbour: the roughly 800-metre loop trail and visitor centre take a good hour. Follow with Hapuna Beach or Spencer Park for a swim, and leave time for fresh poke in the hamlet before sailing.
The temple that founded the Hawaiian kingdom. Kamehameha had it built between 1790 and 1791 for the war god, on the advice of a prophet who promised him mastery of the whole archipelago in return. The prophecy came true. The national historic site is open to walk and its visitor centre is free.
Two options, both lifeguarded. Spencer Beach Park, just south of the historic site, offers a calm, shaded shore with sheltered water and picnic tables. Farther along the coast, Hapuna runs nearly a kilometre of pale, gently sloping sand and is regularly ranked among America's finest beaches.
Yes, if you aim for Spencer Park: calm water, shade, picnic tables and lifeguards. The Puukohola Heiau trail is short and flat. Two cautions: the sun is intense and shade is scarce, and coral makes water shoes necessary away from the guarded beaches.
From December to April, yes. Humpback whales come to calve in the archipelago's warm water and pass regularly off the Kohala coast, sometimes visible from the temple promontory itself.
A set of several hundred figures carved into the lava along the coast near Kawaihae: warriors, paddlers, sails. It is one of Hawaii's largest petroglyph fields and records centuries of Hawaiian presence on this shore.
Yes, about fifteen minutes inland by road. Lava gives way to grassland: Waimea lives by Parker Ranch, one of the oldest and largest in the United States, where paniolos — Hawaiian cowboys — preceded their Wild West counterparts by several decades.
The US dollar and English. Credit cards are accepted at the restaurants and galleries, and the historic site's visitor centre charges no admission.
