Plan a walk · Ala Kahakai · Hawaiʻi Island

The open sections · north to south

Five places to put your feet on the Ala Kahakai.

Hours and fees are the posted standard hours as of September 2026; storm days change them. The live park alerts are the final word on the day.

01 · Nā Ala Hele state trail · South Kohala · Chapter 2

Kawaihae to ʻAnaehoʻomalu Bay

15.4 mi one way · moderate · coastal, mostly level, 30 ft gain
Daylight hours · free · beach-park gates and Hāpuna non-resident fees apply
Water and restrooms at the beach parks; none between them

The best-marked miles on the whole trail, and the only ones with signage, from Spencer Beach Park south to Puakō. The route strings together ancient fishermen's paths and Hawaiian Kingdom roads along the shore, past Mauʻumae, Hāpuna and Waialea beaches, the Puakō boat ramp, the Mālama Trail to the Puakō petroglyph field at Holoholokai, and the fishponds of Kalāhuipuaʻa at Mauna Lani, ending at ʻAnaehoʻomalu Bay. It passes anchialine ponds that carry the state's highest protection; look, and stay out of them.

Walk it in pieces. Roughly: Spencer to Hāpuna about 2.5 miles, Hāpuna to the Puakō boat ramp about 2.5, Puakō to Holoholokai about 2, Holoholokai to the Mauna Lani fishponds about 1.5, and the long, hot last leg to ʻAnaehoʻomalu about 4. South of Puakō the trail edges sea cliffs and short sections have been eroded by waves. No mountain bikes.

Access: Spencer Beach Park (Highway 270), Hāpuna Beach State Recreation Area (Highway 19), Holoholokai Beach Park, the Mauna Lani and Waikoloa resort public-access lots, Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Puakō Boat Ramp. Parking, toilets and water at most.

DLNR trail page · Kawaihae conditions · 360° viewpoints

02 · Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site · Chapter 2

The heiau loop

0.5 mi loop · easy · 30-minute audio tour
8:30–4:30 daily · parking gate closes 4:00 · free
Visitor center, water, restrooms

The trail's most accessible half mile: from the visitor center past Mailekini Heiau and Pelekane, the royal courtyard, beneath the massive platform of Puʻukoholā, built in 1790–91 with stones passed hand to hand from Pololū Valley. The state trail begins at the park's southern boundary, so this loop is also the northern trailhead for the Kohala coast section.

NPS · Puʻukoholā Heiau · Kawaihae conditions · 360° viewpoints

03 · Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park · Chapter 4

Honokōhau Harbor to Kaloko fishpond

About 2 mi of shoreline trail · easy but hot · lava and sand
Shoreline open daily; visitor center hours posted by NPS · free
No water in the park. Bring all of it.

The Ala Kahakai runs the length of the park's coast past ʻAiʻōpio fishtrap, the beach where honu haul out most afternoons, ʻAimakapā fishpond with its shorebirds, the petroglyph boardwalk and the restored wall of Kaloko fishpond. The quickest way to the beach is from Honokōhau Harbor at the south end; from the Hale Hoʻokipa visitor center on Highway 19, the Māmalahoa and Ala Hele Ike trails lead about a mile makai to the coast.

NPS · trails at Kaloko-Honokōhau · Kaloko-Honokōhau conditions · 360° viewpoints

04 · Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park · Chapter 6

The 1871 Trail

2 mi round trip · 1–2 hours · rugged, uneven lava · fully exposed
Park 8:15 to sunset · visitor center 8:30–4:30 · $20 per vehicle
Water filling station at the visitor center; none on the trail

The most complete short walk on the entire Ala Kahakai. The old coastal path was widened in 1871 for horse-drawn carts; it leaves the Place of Refuge and runs south beneath the Keanaeʻe cliffs to the Alahaka Ramp, a stone ramp built to lift the trail twenty feet up the cliff, then on to the house sites and hōlua slides of Kiʻilae Village. Stay on the designated trail: entering caves, lava tubes and burial sites is prohibited, and there is a reason.

NPS · hiking the 1871 Trail · Hōnaunau conditions · 360° viewpoints

05 · Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park · the eastern end

The Kaʻū and Puna coast

Backcountry · long, waterless days · permits for overnight
Park open 24 hours · $30 per vehicle · eruption closures vary
Check the volcano status and park alerts before you commit

The trail's eastern terminus lies inside Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, where the coastal trails cross young lava between the Kaʻū Desert and the Puna coast. This is the trail at its most elemental and least forgiving: no shade, no water, cliffs undercut by the sea, and a summit that has been erupting in episodes since December 2024. Go with the park's backcountry office, not with this page.

NPS · hiking at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes · Pele, live

When to go

Mornings, always. Winters, if you can.

The day

Be walking by seven. The leeward coast is calm and cool at dawn; by late morning the sea breeze is up, the black rock is radiating, and heat-index values in the 90s are normal. The light comes back an hour before sunset, which is also when the parks empty. Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau stays open until sunset for exactly this reason.

The year

Humpbacks are in the sanctuary waters from December to April, and the Kawaihae and Kealakekua overlooks are as good as any boat. Winter north-west swells reach the west-facing shores from Kohala to Hōnaunau; summer south swells and passing storms hit Kaʻū and Ka Lae. Hurricane season runs June to November; a storm passing west of the islands, as Lowell did in September 2026, closes parks for high surf without ever making landfall.

The wind

Trade winds from the north-east keep the leeward coast clear. When the trades fail and the wind turns southerly (kona weather), Kīlauea's sulphur plume drifts west along this coast as vog. It shows up on the air quality readings and in your lungs; people with asthma should plan around it.

Carry & wear

The NPS list, plus what the rock teaches.

Water: two liters per person minimum for short walks, more for anything over an hour. There is no water on any trail section and none at all in Kaloko-Honokōhau.
Sturdy closed shoes. The NPS puts it plainly: falling on lava is like falling on broken glass. Long, light hiking pants for the same reason.
Sun: wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses, long sleeves, mineral-based (reef-safe) sunscreen. UV on this coast runs 9 to 12 most of the year.
Salty snacks and electrolytes. You will sweat more than you notice in the wind.

An offline map. Cell coverage is intermittent on the Kohala coast and absent in Kaʻū. Download this site's map layers or the park brochure before you leave the highway.
A tide time. Low tide opens tide pools and fishpond walls; high tide and any swell put the wave-cut shelves under water. Check the tide charts.
A turnaround time, and the discipline to keep it. Do not hike after dark; the lava does not forgive a headlamp stumble.
Reef-safe everything, a small first-aid kit, and a bag for what you carry out (and, ideally, a little of what others left).

Ocean sense

The sea is the trail's other edge.

Never turn your back

Sets arrive in long intervals on this coast. A shelf that has been dry for ten minutes is not a dry shelf. Watch a spot for a full set before you stand on it, and stay off wet rock entirely when the surf forecast reads advisory or warning for your shore.

Currents and cliffs

Ka Lae is where two swells meet; the current off the point runs seaward and does not turn around. The cliffs at South Point, Keanaeʻe and along the Kohala coast are undercut and unfenced. The NPS's own words: expect strong winds, steep and unstable sea cliffs, and high waves.

Where to swim instead

The trail's coastline includes real beaches you can drive to: Spencer, Hāpuna, Kīholo, Kua Bay, Kahaluʻu, Two Step at Hōnaunau, Hoʻokena, Punaluʻu. Lifeguarded beaches and the county's beach safety pages are the right place for swimming decisions; the trail is not.

Right now

Respect · mālama

You are walking through someone's history, and someone's home.

Places

Stay on the trail. Curbstones, stepping stones and ahu are part of the archaeological record. Do not build cairns or add to them.
Heiau are sacred sites, some still in use. Do not enter, climb or move stones. Leave offerings where they are.
Caves, lava tubes and any place that might be a burial are closed to entry everywhere on the trail. Some are marked. Most are not.
Petroglyphs: stay on the boardwalks, take nothing, make no rubbings, do not step on them for a photo.
Take no rock, sand, coral or plant. Fishpond walls, anchialine ponds and kīpuka forest are protected habitats.
Much of the corridor is private land. Where a path is signed as access, it is access, not an invitation to wander.

Living things

Honu (green sea turtles): stay 10 ft back and never between a turtle and the water. They bask; they are not stranded.
Hawaiian monk seals: 50 ft, and more from a mother and pup. Federally endangered; disturbance is a crime.
Humpbacks: 100 yd by federal rule, from shore, kayak or boat.
Do not feed any wildlife, on the trail or in the parks. Nēnē on the road, kōlea on the flats, ʻōpaeʻula in the ponds: look and move on.
Drones are prohibited in all national park units.
Fishing villages and homesteads (Miloliʻi, Puakō, Kaʻū) are communities, not attractions. Park where you are asked to.

Contacts & sources

Who to call, what to check.

Emergencies

911 for police, fire, ocean rescue. Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense alerts: hawaiicounty.gov/active-alerts. NWS Honolulu: weather.gov/hfo.

Trail managers

Ala Kahakai NHT, National Park Service, 73-4786 Kanalani Street #14, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740 · nps.gov/alka.
Nā Ala Hele Trail & Access Program, DLNR · hawaiitrails.ehawaii.gov.

The parks

Puʻukoholā Heiau NHS · Kaloko-Honokōhau NHP · Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau NHP · Hawaiʻi Volcanoes NP · Hawaiʻi State Parks.

Distances between access points on the Kohala coast are approximate; the DLNR figure of 15.4 miles is the whole route. Hours and fees were checked against the NPS API and DLNR pages in September 2026 and are repeated on the conditions page next to the live park alerts.

Where the trail is open, and how to walk it well.