Honokaa, Hawaii County, Hawaii
There is a nice historic appeal to Honokaa and you will find the downtown district to me an easy adjustment. The economy was based mainly on sugar production (The Hamakua Sugar Company) from 1873 to 1994. Since Hawaiian sugar grew out of demand the economy has been in a bit of decline. However, Honokaa is still very much striving.
The Honokaa People’s Theatre was built in 1993 and hosts the Hamakua Music Festival every year in fall season. This festival hosts a number of jazz, classical, Hawaiian folk and many other musical selections. You can be sure to bet that tourism has gone up due to this wonderful and unique attraction to Honokaa. If you like music and downtown night life, Honokaa is definitely for you!
If you think that Honokaa is a forgotten relic of the past, you're dead wrong. Honokaa is very much alive and kicking with it's must-see tourist spots. The main attractions and the rich historical background of Honokaa adds dimension and vibrancy to the town's historical sites.
It's a good idea to explore Mamane Street, where you can find beautifully crafted timber stores including the famous octogenarian James Rice's Hawaiian Shop, if it's your first trip to Honokaa.
Just in the northern coast of the luscious island of Hawaii lies a rural yet scenic paradise of Honokaa. Honokaa is considered as one of the biggest Hamakua towns located behind the deep blue ocean. One hundred years ago, you wouldn't recognize this historic and exotic town because it's mostly comprised of sugar plantations. In fact, sugar industry is the main source of income in this town. Incidentally, The Hamakua Sugar Company operated from 1873 to 1994. It just proves that sugar plays a big role for this simple and yet exciting town.
Gone are the days of rural life; for this town contains eveything you want to see in a town. It boasts of bakery shops that sell the best and most mouth-watering pastries in the world. Honokaa is also known for art galleries and museums, which depict the town's long colorful history, that history junkies will surely enjoy. Since the Honokaa community cares about its people and its tourists, it has health centers to provide for medicines and check-ups that people need
The main attractions in Honokaa are the rich Waipio Valley and the cultural Honokaa People's Theater. The said theater is where the yearly Hamakua Music Festival is held; top class musicians perform during this event. On the other hand, Waipio Valley, "the tropical grand canyon", is a place to do fun summer activities like biking, hiking, kayaking, fishing, and ocean swimming. The valley is situated in Highway Twenty-four where people can see the tropical Maui island and watch the sunset. In addition, people can have picnics and valley explorations via horseback rides. With the fresh and unexplored town of Honokaa, locals and tourists will definitely discover its hidden beauty amid its rural qualities.
Honokaa is situated between the lovely and commercial cities of Kona and Hilo. With this convenient and strategic location, you can visit any tourist spots in the island without the hassle of travelling for long hours. In fact, there's no need to see other tourist spots of the Hawaiian island because right at the heart of this town, you can discover many tourist attractions that you will truly treasure. This is no ordinary simple town; it's a historic town opening itself for the world to see.
Honokaa's History
Honokaa, a haven located approximately one hundred fifty-five degrees west of Prime Meridian and twenty degrees north of equator is composed of two thousand one hundred eighty-six people and seven hundred eighty-one families. It is a closely knit rural community that is known for its sugar plantation economy, The Hamakua Sugar Company, which is the number one source of economy from 1873 to 1994.
Meanwhile during the 1930's, the Tanimoto Family created the Honokaa People's Theater. However, it was only in 1993 that the said theater was used to host numerous music shows by famous bands and singers. Due to attractions like Honokaa People's Theater, the culture as well as the economy of Honokaa is continually on the rise. Problems that came Honokaa's way did not dampen the development and growth of this town.
Speaking of problems, Honokaa experienced a devastating loss, economically speaking, when Hamakua Sugar Company closed down its operations in 1994. The main sources of income and livelihood in Honokaa depends on Hamakua Sugar Company and when it closed for good, people were left with no jobs. Luckily, Honokaa has been receiving economic fundings and financial aid from the federal government that enables Honokaa to recover from such loss. Up to now, Honokaa has been focusing their attention and market to tourism since a lot of foreigners have started to discover the beauty of Honokaa. Nowadays, the people exert effort to make the place more appealing to entice foreigners as more and more people visit the place despite Honokaa being a rural community.
Honokaa's Attractions
You will find the rarest anthropological and antique pieces, which you wouldn't find anywhere else in the world, at the James Rice's Hawaiian Shop. Some of the things they sell are oriental pieces such as Aladdin lamps, buddhas, mummies, fertility statues, bottles, and masks from Papua New Guinea. At first glance, you wouldn't appreciate the outside of James Rice's Hawaiian Shop for it looks like an ordinary junk shop, but don't be fooled by such appearance; the world's greatest treasures can be found inside that shop. If you're not satisfiedy with what you see inside James Rice's Hawaiian Shop, you can visit other antique shops located along the highway of Hilo, but they're not at par with what James Rice's Hawaiian Shop has to offer.
After shopping for unique pieces, it's better to have a picnic with your loved ones in Waipio Valley where you can get a perfect view of the soothing sight of the ocean. You can also try trekking or even exploring the valley with the help of a tourist guide. There are horseback and mule wagons that you can ride to fully experience the rich valley. But if you're a daredevil and won't settle with discovering valleys, you can try kayaking and ocean swimming.
For the romantics at heart, you can watch the sun creeping down behind the ocean. At night, it's best to go to Honokaa Peoples Theater and celebrate music with other tourists in their annual Hamakua Music Festival in October. As a last stop, visit Macadamia Nut Factory and buy gifts to bring to your family. With these sights to see, you'll definitely go back to Honokaa.
Honokaa's Economy
The ups and downs of Honokaa's economy is one of the greatest struggles in the history of Honokaa. Based from their records, Honokaa's livelihood largely depended on The Hamakua Sugar Company since 1873 until it's shutdown in 1994. When this sugar plantation closed down, a lot of people were left with no jobs to feed their families. At that time, tourism was not an alternative answer to enhance the economy. According to statistics, 9.66 percent of Honokaa's population is underneath the poverty line. As a form of aid, Honokaa received fundings from the federal government to help them cope up with their financial crisis. Needless to say, sugar was the number one source of income for these people.
Today, Honokaa has risen above it's crisis and problems in economy. They manage to channel their resources and strategic location into a lively tourism economy. They successfully marketed the beautiful sites of Honokaa like the Honokaa People's Theatre and Waipio Valley. The rich historic background and rustic life in Honokaa enticed thousands of tourists to come to these places every year.
However, tourism is not the only source of income for Honokaa. Residents of this town also engage in agriculture, manufacturing, fishery, forestry, transportation, arts and entertainment, food business, and education as well. The top most source of income is agriculture and fishery with 4.8 percent of Honokaa's people working in that field. Although Honokaa has experience economic struggles, this don't stop them from coping up and becoming one of Hawaii's most visited places. Just like their name Honokaa means (rolling bay), Honokaa rolls together with the tough times and emerges successfully.
Honokaa Statistics:
Population: 2,233Households: 761
Median resident age: 40.2 years
Median household income: $41,964
Median house value: $156,600
Land area: 1.3 square miles
Elevation: 1114 feet
Latitude: 20°4'N
Longitude: 155°27'W
Zip code: 96727
County: Hawaii
