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Top Attractions in Waimea

Pua Mau Place Arboretum and Botanical Garden

Pua Mau Place Arboretum and Botanical Garden is an early-stage, nonprofit arboretum and botanical garden located off Highway 270 at 10 Ala Kahua, Kawaihae, on the dry slopes of the Kohala Mountain Range on Hawaii, Hawaii. It is open daily with an admission fee. The garden was established in 1974 by Dr. Virgil Place and friends to specialize in ever-blooming woody plants. Its stated mission is to promote awareness of, and conduct research on, the uses of flowering plants in a Hawaiian arid environment for ornamental, agricultural, and bio-regional purposes. The garden currently features a maze planted with over 200 varieties of hibiscus, outdoor sculpture, and an aviary with about 150 peafowl and guineafowl. Plants are marked and an information booklet is available.

Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area

Hāpuna Beach State Recreation Area is a large park and sandy beach on the Big Island of Hawaii. The Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel is also located adjacent to the beach. Hāpuna is popular with residents and visitors. This is one of a few other white sand beaches on the west coast of the Big Island. The few others include Kua Bay, Kaunaʻoa Bay, known as Mauna Kea Beach, and Samuel M. Spencer Beach Park. It was named the Best Beach in America by Florida International University professor Stephen Leatherman, known as "Dr Beach", in 1993. The 61.8-acre park is located at coordinates 19°59.4789′N 155°49.3809′W, west of Hawaii Belt Road on Hapuna Beach Road. It is about 2.3 miles south of Kawaihae, Hawaii. A part of the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail runs through the park from Spencer Beach to the north, to Puako to the south. Hāpuna beach has lifeguards, but can be hazardous during high surf conditions since the beach is not protected from the open ocean. The park has free admission for Hawaii residents and $5 for visitors, paved parking, pavilions, picnic areas, restrooms, and showers. Camping permits are available.

Kohala

Kohala is the oldest of five volcanoes that make up the island of Hawaii. Kohala is an estimated one million years old—so old that it experienced, and recorded, a reversal of magnetic field 780,000 years ago. It is believed to have breached sea level more than 500,000 years ago and to have last erupted 120,000 years ago. Kohala is 606 km2 in area and 14,000 km3 in volume, and thus constitutes just under 6% of the island of Hawaii. Kohala is a shield volcano cut by multiple deep gorges, which are the product of thousands of years of erosion. Unlike the typical symmetry of other Hawaiian volcanoes, Kohala is shaped like a foot. Toward the end of its shield-building stage 250,000 to 300,000 years ago, a landslide destroyed the northeast flank of the volcano, reducing its height by over 1,000 m and traveling 130 km across the sea floor. This huge landslide may be partially responsible for the volcano's foot-like shape. Marine fossils have been found on the flank of the volcano, far too high to have been deposited by standard ocean waves. Analysis indicated that the fossils had been deposited by a massive tsunami approximately 120,000 years ago. Because it is so far from the nearest major landmass, the ecosystem of Kohala has experienced the phenomenon of geographic isolation, resulting in an ecosystem radically different from that of other places. Invasive species introduced by man present a problem to Kohala's ecosystem, as they push native species out of their habitat. There are several initiatives to preserve Kohala's ecosystem. Crops, especially sweet potato , have been harvested on the Leeward side of the volcano for centuries as well. The northern part of the island is named after the mountain, with two districts named North and South Kohala. King Kamehameha I, the first King of the Kingdom of Hawaii, was born in North Kohala, near Hawi.

Mauna Kea Trail

The Mauna Kea Trail is considered the easiest route to hike to the summit of Mauna Kea volcano, the highest volcano on the island of Hawaʻi. The trail is 6 mi long and loosely follows an unmaintained dirt road. Iron poles mark the path every 500 ft . The trailhead begins at the Visitor Information Station at the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy at 9,200 ft , at 19°45′42″N 155°27′22″W which can be reached by car from the Saddle Road and then turning north on the Mauna Kea Access Road. Registration is required and there is a drop box for hikers who might start before the visitor center opens. The first 0.2 miles of the trail is on the Mauna Kea Access Road after which it veers left off the road onto dirt. From 10,000 to 11,000 ft the path consists of scree. From 11,000 to 12,800 ft the area is predominantly a'a lava flows and is not as steep. At 13,130 ft the road forks, with one path going to Lake Waiau and the other fork to the summit. At 13,200 ft , the trail meets the Mauna Kea Access Road. From this point on the trail continues by following the road and the 2 switchbacks to the rim of the crater at 13,680 ft where the observatories on the top are located. From this point, there are multiple routes to the highest point of the rim. Since the mountain is considered sacred to the Native Hawaiians, there is sign posted requesting hikers to respect the culture and environment and not hike to the actual summit. The actual wording is "Aloha. Mauna Kea is historically, culturally and environmentally significant. Help preserve our cultural and natural landscape and show your respect by not hiking beyond this point to the summit". The summit region is typically very cold (winter storms can drop up to 2 feet of snow on January and February), and sunscreen for protection from UV rays is recommended. Water is also recommended, although Lake Waiau is also drinkable. The air is 40% thinner at the summit than at sea level. Also, because of the atmosphere above Mauna Kea, there are many large telescopes and other space observation instruments. Mauna Loa is usually visible from the summit area as well as most of the trail.

Kawaihae

Kawaihae is an unincorporated community on the west side of the island of Hawaiʻi in the U.S. state of Hawaiʻi, 35 miles north of Kailua-Kona. Its harbor includes a fuel depot, shipping terminal and military landing site. Outside of the man-made breakwall of the harbor is a popular surf spot and the Pua Kailima o Kawaihae Cultural Surf Park. The small town features a handful of restaurants and art galleries. To the north of the harbor is the Kawaihae Canoe Club and a small boat ramp. To the south is Puʻukoholā Heiau national historic site, built by King Kamehameha I in 1791. Also to the south is the smaller Mailekini Heiau and the Hale o Kapuni Heiau, which is submerged. Kawaihae served as the seat of kingdom of Hawaii island during the reign of the usurper king Alapaʻinuiakauaua, whose family, the Mahis, hailed from the Kohala district; he was the king that sought to kill the infant Kamehameha at his birth. His successor Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who overthrew Alapaʻis son Keaweʻopala, moved the capital back to the Kona district where his family originated. In the late 1700s, Kawaihaes naturally sheltered bay was considered one of the more suitable commercial harbor for western ships on the Big Island. Its harbor and proximity to the fertile uplands of Waimea ensured its status as an important stopover for many early European voyagers and merchantmen needing to make repairs and resupply their ships during the early period of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Kawaihae or "Too-yah-yah" was first sighted by James King, serving under Captain Cook, on February 6, 1779, after departing from Cooks initial visit to Kealakekua Bay. Failure to find anchorage prompted them to return to Kealakekua Bay, where Cook met his demise. King returned a few months later after Cooks death, but was not impressed with the area he deemed "little cultivated" or the people, whom he called "of the lowest class that inhabited ". It became the principal residence of King Kamehameha I from 1790 to 1794 where he built the Puʻukoholā Heiau and sacrificed Keōua Kuahuʻula, his last opponent on the Big Island, and where he plotted out his conquest of the remaining islands in the archipelago. He lived in the royal compound of "Pelekane" on the shoreline northwest of Mailekini Heiau, which he named after the Hawaiianized name for England. Kamehamehas British advisor John Young also resided in the vicinity of Kawaihae with his family, and the ruins of their homestead, the remains of what is believed to be the first western-style house in Hawaii, could still be seen today near the Puʻukoholā Heiau. Another British explorer, George Vancouver, the first to successfully anchor off Kawaihae Bay in February 14, 1793, paid a visit to King Kamehameha and John Young and gave the king cattle, introducing the species for the first time to Hawaii. After the development of Parker Ranch by John Palmer Parker, Kawaihae served as the main center for loading and shipping cattle and beef in Hawaii. It was in Kawaihae, on April 1, 1820, that the first company of American missionaries to Hawaii led by arrived aboard the Thaddeus and set foot on the islands. Kawaihae thrived for the duration of the sandalwood trade, which depleted its forest, and the whaling age. Whalers and merchant ships annually visited its harbor, where they would stock up on agricultural products and beef from the region. But by the late 1800s, Kawaihae had decline in importance due the end of whaling, the decimation of its population by foreign diseases and migration of its people to other parts of Hawaii; it became a sleeping and forgotten village serving mainly as a cattle landing. The United States Army Corps of Engineers dredged the harbor and built the breakwall between 1957 and 1959 and brought the village back from obscurity. In 1970, construction of a small boat harbor began to the south of the main harbor entrance by several institutions under the name of Project Tugboat. It was designed as a test of the use of high explosives to create harbors in hard substrate and as a proof of the concept that small nuclear charges could be used for civil works projects. Over 100 tons of conventional explosives were buried in the Kawaihae reef and detonated to clear the basin and the entrance. It is the home of Kawaihae Canoe Club. It also served as the launching point for the film Waterworld with Kevin Costner. The artificial reef or floating island was just off the coast with headquarters for the movie at the harbor.
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