Ala Kahakai Nationa Historical Trail is a 2.9 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Kailua Kona, Hawaii, Hawaii that offers the chance to see wildlife and is good for all skill levels. The trail is primarily used for hiking, walking, and nature trips.
February 26, 2021
February 10, 2021This is hardly worth the walk. Most of the “hike” is on loose rocks in an area that is not great in comparison to the rest of the island.
January 23, 2021Walk on rocks and on sand, no shade, be prepared.
January 22, 2021Turtles!
January 1, 2021Short and sweet. Beautiful
November 22, 2020A beautiful coastal hike, easygoing. Just try to avoid high tide as part of the trail may be flooded
November 21, 2020Sand everywhere
November 13, 2020November 11, 2020November 3, 2020Easy relaxing trail with scenic and breathtaking views of the ocean. Spotted some turtles relaxing on the beach as well. Do wear good closed toed hiking shoes. The lava rocks are quite loose near the end of the trail
September 27, 2020There’s actually a couple different directions to this trail. One takes you on a heavy Sand Beach which could be difficult for some people to go the distance on. The other takes you on a lava rock trail towards visitor Center, which in all honesty, I didn’t quite make it to. There’s where my recommendation comes in… Go early! It’s hot out there! I would not recommend this trail for strollers or wheelchairs or any seniors that have difficulty walking on anything but a flat surface. Otherwise, it’s very Hawaii, and I enjoyed it.
July 20, 2020Isolated with lots of tide pools to explore. Scrambled at a few rocky areas to stay next to the water, but there where other routes more inland you could take. Overall, a nice and short evening walk :)
March 19, 2020Love birdwatching here. Today there weren’t too many to photograph.
February 9, 2020First and last half miles are all sand. Lava rock paths are super cool.
February 6, 2020This was a nice beach walk. Part of the trail was washed out from recent high tide, but it was definitely passable. The trail is sand and lava rock.
January 22, 2020Great hike rough in some areas with the lava but most is smooth. Nice stretch along the beach where u can see sea turtles
January 18, 2020A fun place that you can see turtles!!!!! My son loves it.
November 27, 2019fun hike, but tough to run given the trail conditions.. even though, I fully enjoyed the park.
September 26, 2019Une bele balade le long de la plage. Le couché de soleil y est magnifique. Fait en courant sans difficulté.
September 1, 2019Not really a hike - more of a long walk to the beach. The last half mile was washed out loose lava boulders. Did see a turtle that was hanging on the beach.
August 29, 2019August 21, 2019Interesting archaeological treasures, artifacts, fishponds and remains of ancient dwellings can be found all along the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail. The trail more or less follows the coastline for 175 miles (282 kilometers) from 'Upolu Point (northernmost point of the Big Island), along the entire west coast to Ka Lae (South Point), then northeast up to Waha'ula Heiau at Puna. Ala loa is the Hawaiian term for a long coastal trail around an island. Kahakai means shoreline. Ala Kahakai is the name originally given to the section of the ala loa trail from 'Upolu Point to Kailua, then later used as the name for the entire 175 mile National Historic Trail. We happened upon this trail while staying near the Fairmont Orchid and highly recommend walking as much as you can. My wife and I hiked at least 8 miles south of Fairmont and the scenery is amazing from fish ponds with moray eels to turtles resting on the beaches, hidden coves and beaches, lava rock outcroppings, historic settlements... amazing way to explore the coast of the Big Island and no one seems to walk this trail! We walked it every day for a week and hardly saw anyone on it.
August 6, 2019About a 20-30 minute walk from the visitors center to the beach. First it’s gravel and then it turns into lava rock for about 2/3 of the trail but we were able to do it in flip flops. The walk is well worth it! The beach is not crowded, has shade from palm trees, and we saw 5-6 different sea turtles in our 2.5 hours there. You must make this a visit if you want to see some turtles!
