Greet the sun at Kona Historical Society’s outdoor yoga sessions, held every Friday morning on the tranquil grounds of the Kona Coffee Living History Farm, the only living history coffee farm in the nation. You’ll feel like you stepped back in time to the 1920s, where the historic coffee mill, farmhouse and coffee tree orchards […]
Waimanu Valley’s ancient green amphitheater streams with white water falling from impossibly high heights. Its star, Waihilau Falls, rains down a series of drops totaling an improbable 2,600 feet. Coveted oceanside campsites in this remote and pristine region—the largest of Hawaii Island’s northern valleys—offer a chance to sleep under a blanket of stars, laze away
Kilauea’s latest lava flow—dubbed 61G, a 5-mile-long flow from Kilauea’s Puu Oo Cone to the southeast on Hawaii Island—has been causing quite a stir. The fiery lava finger points toward the sea within view of two relatively accessible viewing stations in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and Kalapana. Hundreds, if not thousands, have flocked to see
It’s 8:30 p.m., and I’m lying in bed under a mosquito net staring outside the large screen windows that cover the four walls of the one-room cabin. I’m in the middle of the Kapoho jungle, deep in Lower Puna on Hawaii Island. I can’t see anything past the dark shadows cast by the forest’s large
*This story was updated on Apr. 14, 2025. Each spring, the Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium on Hawaiʻi Island roars with exhilaration and pride as thousands of footsteps announce the arrival of hula’s most prestigious event. The same way that sports fans worship championship games during peak season, avid hula fans consider the Merrie Monarch Festival
Welcome to Waipio. Like all who are fortunate enough to find their way into Waipio Valley, photographer Jack Wolford remembers every moment, every feeling and every sight of every visit over the years. “There are few places left where you can, literally, drive down a road into another world and step back into time,” says
The Hawaiian Islands claim 10 of the world’s myriad climate zones, the only place on earth with so many concentrated in one small area. You can visit all of them on Hawai‘i Island, or find a few scattered throughout the Islands. Ready to zone out? Here’s your guide. Hawaii has 10 of the world’s 14
If you love seeing rare native plants and birds, then you won’t want to miss Kipukapualulu Trail, a 1.2-mile loop through one of Hawaii Island’s last vestiges of native forestland. Located just outside of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park in eastern Hawaii Island, the free-to-access trail is also known as “Bird Park” to area residents because
Chances are good that you’ve never been to Waimanu Valley. The largest of a string of remote valleys along a dozen miles of rugged, windswept Hamakua coastline between more accessible and well-known Big Island valleys Waipio and Pololu, Waimanu is not an easy place to visit. There is only one way in—by foot on the
The smell of freshly baked cinnamon scones wafts from the kitchen and down the front stairway of the unassuming two-story house I wait outside at Kukaiau Ranch, a 10,200-acre working cattle operation in the tiny village of Umikoa on the northeast slopes of Mauna Kea volcano. “Hey there!” calls a voice from the top of
“You didn’t pre-order?” As she says this, the woman behind the counter at Two Ladies Kitchen stares at me in disbelief. A line of customers winds behind me and out of the small downtown Hilo mochi shop and onto the sidewalk alongside bustling Kīlauea Avenue. “You have to pre-order. They sell out,” she scolds, gently.
