We started our drive from the Kohala Coast, stopping in Waimea at The Hawaiian Style Cafe for breakfast. It was another recommendation from a local resident that turned out to be fantastic. Although the interior is not impressive, the food is fabulous and the portions are beyond generous. We could have easily ordered two meals instead of four and still have had food leftover. When we told our waitress how bad we felt about having so much uneaten food, she informed us that all scraps are given to the local pig farmers, nothing is thrown away. We literally waddled our way back to our car and continued the lovely, scenic drive across the island to the Waipio Valley Lookout.
Waipio Valley…beautiful, peaceful, remote, a picture perfect place to spend an afternoon. Waipio Valley is located on the Hamakua Coast. Although it is possible to hike down the very steep road to the valley floor, I do not recommend it. I also do not recommend trying to drive yourself down the road. Although it is now paved, it was not at the time of our visit, it is one of the steepest roads on the island and in the entire US. It has an average grade of 25%, going up to 45% in places. In many areas it is only wide enough for one car to pass. Also, many rental car agencies prohibit driving on this road; plus, when you get to the valley floor, none of the roads are paved.
Waipio Valley Lookout
The view from the lookout is stunning. The parking area is small and this area gets extremely crowded, so aim for an early morning visit. There is a large viewing area, behind a chain link fence, with many informational signs describing the valley. There is only one way into the valley, the road. We did see some people who opted to hike down and back and everyone who was walking up the road looked utterly miserable. For the avid and very experienced hiker/backpacker, you can hike up the far side of the valley, but you must have a permit. It is a steep zig zag trail that goes up the 2,000 foot cliffside and into Waimanu Valley. Hiking, a boat or a helicopter ride are the only ways in. The trail is called Muliwai Trail if you are interested in looking up more details for yourself.
The Pacific Ocean at Waipio Valley Overlook
We spent about 15 minutes enjoying the view before we headed to The Waipio Valley Shuttle Company. In general, we are not big on touring companies. We tend to like to do our own thing on our own timetable. However, we were planning on hiking down into a valley at the other end of the seven valleys the next day and did not want to do two hikes like that in a row, especially since this end of the valley offered a ride down. We were incredibly happy with our decision. We had an excellent driver who was funny and informative. He loved the valley, in fact, he used to live in it, until a tsunami hit and his wife refused to continue to live down there. Their compromise was to move to the top of the cliff, but for him to work for the touring company, so he could spend most of his days down in the valley.
When climbing into the touring van if you have a fear of heights, you will want to sit on the left, as the passenger door on the right is left open so that everyone has a better view. The ride down is not for the faint of heart. It is steep, narrow and has people and cars trying to get by on a mostly one land road. Interesting for me was to find out that the road down to the valley is now paved. Our guide told us that the locals who lived in the valley did not want it to be paved because they did not want to be overrun by tourists. The government wanted it paved for emergency situations, such as tsunamis (which unfortunately, the area has been devastated by on several occasions). I guess the government eventually won out.
The total time for the tour is 1 1/2 – 2 hours, the cost is $59 per adult, $32 ages 11 and younger. Ours went long because we had so many questions for our guide and he was happy to keep letting us get out of the van, once we reached the valley floor, to get pictures.
Hiilawe Falls
How spectacular is this? You can only see this from the valley floor, not from the overlook. This is Hiilawe Falls, approximately 1,300 feet tall, the tallest waterfall in Hawaii. The strength of the falls depends on recent rainfall. To get to the falls you would have to hike through private property, which is not allowed, unless you have consent of the homeowner. There is a tour offered in the valley on horseback that gets much closer to the falls than the road allows.
The Immordino’s Christmas Card
This photo was taken by our tour guide and we liked it so much we used it for our Christmas Card. After the photo, our guide grabbed some papayas off a tree and cut them open for us to snack on. I asked if it was ok for us to eat the fruit off the trees because I knew it was on private property. He smiled and said, “It is ok for ME to grab it and give it to you, I know the owners.” He then explained how many of the homeowners allow the locals to take whatever they want off the fruit trees growing near the roads, as there is so much fruit the homeowners could not possibly eat it all. Tourists only benefit from this if they happen to be hanging out with a local.
What a backyard!
Can you imagine having that as your backyard? We paused here so I could get some more pictures and our guide told us that only about half of the homes in the valley had electricity and running water. He informed us that most of the people living here had small taro fields on which they made their living. He also filled us in on the sad history of tsunamis that wiped out the valley on several occasions. At one point the valley had a school, church and some small businesses; however, before the advent of tsunami warnings, the entire valley was wiped out. It never fully recovered after that. It no longer has any businesses beyond the horse stable and there is no longer a school or church, only some homes. Many of the families do not even own cars. In fact, during the last tsunami, the one which his wife refused to return to the valley after, he was driving to his neighbors who didn’t have cars to drive them out of the valley. The valley is only one mile across and five miles deep. He said the water from the tsunami went up to this house, which is the house located the farthest from the ocean. Thankfully, the valley was evacuated in plenty of time. There is a tsunami museum located in Hilo, but we thought that would be a little too depressing to visit.
Crossing the stream in Waipio Valley
At several spots we had to drive across some small streams, yet another reason not to venture down in a rental car. The whole area is just picture perfect and I can understand how the valley attracts its residents. Another fabulous sight was the wild horses that we saw wandering in the valley. These are not owned by the stable, they are truly wild horses.
Wild and Free Horse in Waipio Valley
Our guide preferred the term ‘free’ to ‘wild’, as he felt that ‘wild’ carries some negative connotations in some people’s minds. I thought they were beautiful.
The only disappointment I had on the tour was I thought we would also be going to the black sand beach that is the coastline for the valley. We hadn’t planned on swimming there, but I wanted to walk down the shoreline and take pictures. The guidebooks I read do issues warnings for this beach of rough waters and riptides, especially in the winter. There was nothing I could do about it, so I contented myself with the knowledge that the next day we would be visiting the 7th valley, Pololu, and would be hiking down to that black sand beach. (The northern part of the Hamakua coast is a series of seven valleys. Only the end valleys are accessible without a boat, helicopter or a long and grueling hike which requires a permit.) Even with missing out on the beach, which I mistakenly thought was part of the tour, I 100% recommend this tour. However, if you have young children, they might find it boring, but my teens thoroughly enjoyed themselves. As always, wishing you happy travels and fantastic adventures in this thing called life.
(All pictures are available as Fine Art Prints or Digital Downloads for purchase at full resolution through Alamy. If you see something you like, click on the link. If you are unable to find it, use the Contact Me page and I will make sure the image is available.)
In total, we used four different companies for some of our adventures (ziplining, snorkeling, the valley tour, and a helicopter ride). If you are interested in those adventures follow the links:
Flying High ~ An Aerial View of Kilauea
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Waipio Valley, Hawaii
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