9 Most Breathtaking Towns In Hawaii

Hawaii is the only US state made up entirely of islands. The state officially counts 137 of them, though only eight are considered main islands and only seven of those are inhabited. Those islands are built of forests and beaches packed with history and life, and they are still being built: the volcanoes underneath keep altering the map. Sometimes lava encases a standing forest and leaves the shapes of the trees behind. Sometimes it cools into a black sand beach that did not exist a decade ago. Here are nine towns where that landscape is at its most striking.

Hanalei, Kauai

Hanalei sits in the middle of Hanalei Bay, the largest bay on Kauai's north shore, and the mountains wrapping around it stay green because this stretch of coast catches an extraordinary amount of rain. The bay is a fine place to swim, and the Hanalei Pier gives you a better angle on those ridgelines than anywhere on the sand.

Just outside town, the Hanalei Valley Overlook looks down on the taro fields that fill the river flats, a crop grown here for centuries and still farmed commercially. Much of that valley is the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge, which protects endangered Hawaiian waterbirds. The refuge itself is closed to general entry, but the overlook has interpretive panels and is where you watch from.

Volcano Village, Big Island

This village sits at 3,700 feet in the rainforest at the edge of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which is the reason to come. Inside the park is Kilauea, among the most active volcanoes on earth and one that has erupted repeatedly in recent years. Conditions change constantly, so check the park's current status before you plan a day around any particular crater view.

The Volcano Art Center, in the 1877 Volcano House building at the park entrance, shows work by local artists and runs classes year-round. For something gentler than lava fields, Akatsuka Orchid Gardens is one of Hawaii's older orchid nurseries and breeds its own hybrids, the best of which get named Volcano Queen.

Hawi, Big Island

Hawi sits at the northern tip of the Big Island in the Kohala district, which is where Kamehameha the Great was born. The original cast of the King Kamehameha statue stands nearby at Kapaau, and the North Kohala coast is dense with heiau and other sites central to Hawaiian history, including Mookini Heiau, a temple whose origins tradition places many centuries back and which remains sacred today. It sits down a rough track near Upolu Point, so check access before setting out.

In town, the Hawi farmers market carries honey, herbs, baked goods, and crafts from growers across the district. Then drive to the end of the road at the Pololu Valley Lookout, where a steep trail drops about 20 minutes down to a black sand beach at the mouth of one of the deep valleys cut into the Kohala volcano. The climb back up is the price of admission.

Kailua, Oahu

Lanikai Beach, in the Lanikai neighborhood of Kailua, turns up on best-beach lists with tiresome regularity, and the water genuinely is that color. It is a half-mile of soft sand with gentle water and the two Mokulua islets sitting offshore, and kayaking out to them is the standard outing.

Above it, the Lanikai Pillbox Trail climbs about 0.9 miles up Kaiwa Ridge to a pair of concrete World War II observation posts. It is short, steep in places, and points due east, which is why locals hike it in the dark to reach the top for sunrise. Back in town, Lanikai Brewing Company builds its beers around island ingredients, and the Kailua farmers market runs on Sunday mornings.

Makawao, Maui

Makawao sits upcountry on the slope of Haleakala, and it is paniolo country: Hawaiian cowboys have worked these ranchlands since the 1830s, and the town still runs a rodeo over the Fourth of July. Start at Komoda Store and Bakery, open since 1916, where the stick donuts and cream puffs are made overnight and sell out most mornings.

The art scene is the other half. Hui Noeau Visual Arts Center occupies a 1917 estate with galleries, studios, and classes open to visitors. Makai Glass runs a glassblowing studio turning out aquatic pieces, and you can book a session and make something yourself. The whole town is a few walkable blocks of false-front buildings.

Haleiwa, Oahu

Haleiwa is the town at the center of Oahu's North Shore, and the surf is the calendar here. In winter, Waimea Bay a few miles east sees waves that can run 30 feet and draws the crowds that come with them; by summer the same water flattens into a snorkeling bay. Laniakea Beach, closer to town, is called Turtle Beach for the green sea turtles that haul out on the sand, and there are volunteers on site to keep people at a legal distance.

The town itself is a run of low wooden storefronts, surf shops, and food trucks either side of the Anahulu River and its twin-arched 1921 bridge. Matsumoto Shave Ice has been the required stop since 1951, and the line moves faster than it looks.

Hanapepe, Kauai

Hanapepe bills itself as Kauai's Biggest Little Town, and its calendar turns on Friday nights, when the galleries along the main street open their doors for Hanapepe Art Night. It has been running since the 1990s, with musicians on the corners and food from the restaurants along the street.

The Hanapepe Swinging Bridge crosses the river at the edge of downtown. It is solidly built and it still sways underfoot, which is the whole experience. Rebuilt after Hurricane Iniki tore through in 1992, it is short, free, and mildly alarming. Out of town, the Hanapepe Valley Lookout opens onto a deep red-walled valley cut by the river. The cane fields that once filled these flats are gone, since Hawaii's last sugar operation shut down in 2016, and taro, coffee, and pasture have taken their place.

Pahoa, Big Island

No town on this list has been reshaped more recently. The 2018 lower Puna eruption sent lava through this district for three months, destroying hundreds of homes and filling in Kapoho Bay entirely. It also left behind something new: at Isaac Hale Beach Park in Pohoiki, the flow built a black sand beach where none existed before, the youngest on the island by a wide margin.

Lava Tree State Monument, just outside town, records an older flow. In 1790 lava swept through a stand of ohia and hardened around the wet trunks, leaving hollow stone shells standing after the wood burned away. A 0.7-mile loop runs through the 17-acre park, with picnic tables among them. Downtown Pahoa is a boardwalked strip of cafes, galleries, and shops with rainforest pressing in at the edges.

Paia, Maui

Paia was a sugar town that became a surf town. Hookipa Beach Park just east of it is one of the best windsurfing breaks in the world, and the Aloha Classic windsurfing contest has run there for decades. Even on a flat day it is worth the stop, because green sea turtles come ashore on the sand most afternoons.

The town is two blocks of brightly painted plantation-era storefronts, and Paia Fish Market serves its seafood at communal tables where you will end up talking to strangers. Paia is also where the Hana Highway properly begins, the road that bends through roughly 600 curves and 50-odd one-lane bridges on its way to Hana. Start early, stop often, and do not try to do it in a hurry.

Which Island, Which Town

Pick by what you want the day to look like. Hanalei and Kailua are the ones for water, with a bay and a beach that live up to the photographs. Volcano Village and Pahoa put you next to an active volcano and the ground it has rearranged in living memory. Hawi and Makawao trade in history, one in Kamehameha's birthplace, one in cowboys and glassblowers. Haleiwa and Paia are the surf towns, one on each island's north shore. And Hanapepe is the one that stays open late on Fridays, which is a different kind of breathtaking but counts all the same.