Kapaau, HI Summary

Kapaau is a town along Hwy 270 on Hawaii’s North Kohala Coast where macadamia-nut farming and small-scale tourism carry the local economy. This remote, quiet little town has one claim—the original statue of King Kamehameha the Great, in front of the Kapaau Courthouse. Commissioned by King Kalakaua in 1878, the original statue was thought lost in a shipwreck, so the artist was commissioned to reproduce it. That copy stands across the street from the Iolani Palace on Oahu. The original was recovered from the sea not three months after the new statue was completed. Since Kapaau was the heart of Kamehameha’s ancestral homelands, it was sent there. The bronzed sculpture gets a fresh coat of paint each year before Kamehameha Day, June 11.

The courthouse is a senior activity center and here town elders volunteer information, give courthouse tours, and provide a free guide to North Kohala. The nearby Ackerman Gallery offers displays of crafts and fine art.

Kapaau is the last place to stop for supplies on the way to the Pololu Valley Lookout, one of the best scenic lookouts on the island and inhabited by the endangered Hawaiian hawk. On the way is Keokea Beach Park, a favorite with locals, where camping is allowed by permit only.