Ala Kahakai

ALA KAHAKAI NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL: 175 mile long trail located on the island of Hawaii. It is not yet a continuous trail, but can be access at several broken segments along the coastline of the Big Island by Wiki.
We walked between Mauna Kea Hotel and Hapuna Beach Hotel: Beautiful ocean view with nice looking houses on the other side. Not much shade. Recommend early in the morning or evening.

I did two stretches of this coastal walk, both fantastic. My favorite was probably the area between Holoholkai Beach Park and Puako, which is just about a half mile (I think). It was very quiet the day I was there, a weekday in January. I would have gone further than Puako, but the surf was so high due to a storm that there wasn’t much beach to walk on. It’s very much a beach walk so… you need some rocks to walk on! But it’s gorgeous.
The other area I enjoyed is the one between Hapuna Beach and the Mauna Kea Resort. Here you’re traveling up on a bluff, so the views are spectacular and I saw a whale (I understand there is much more of a «whale show» near the Fairmont, they like that area). It’s nice to be up high and the waves crashing on the cliffs provide a dramatic backdrop. The drama on the other side is the many mega mega mega million dollar mansions. Kind of fun to see how the other half lives, although they all look very lightly occupied. Anyway this is a nice walk of about a mile.
P. S. I probably walked on a lot more of this trail… according to the Nat’l Park Service it’s 175 miles long… but most of it isn’t marked in any way, so I imagine that almost any coastal walk you do is technically included.

This is a beautiful trail that snakes through both private and public lands along the ocean. According to the National Park Services website, this trail stretches for 175 miles, traversing hundreds of ancient Hawaiian settlement sites. I am reviewing the section of trail that is located between Pu’ukohola Heiau National Historic Site and Anaeho’omalu Bay, south of Waikoloa Resorts. You can pickup the trail at the south end of Spencer State Beach Park. There is a wood pylon and signage that marks the trail. As you walk through, you will see additional signage intermittently indicating that you are still on the trail.
The views are beautiful and by walking through you will see the most pristine coastline in the Puako area. You will hit every beach access point between Spencer State Beach Park and Anaeho’omalu Bay, so it’s a great way to familiarize yourself with the best spots. It gets HOT, so make sure to bring plenty of water and apply sunscreen. The path can be rocky, and there are several steep inclines/​declines, so I would not recommend this trail for very small children or adults with mobility issues. Otherwise, I highly recommend experiencing this trail.