Agricultural Tours

Macadamia nut farm production line. Photo by Kirk Lee Aeder, HVCB Image Library.

A number of farms and ranches now invite visitors to see how some of Hawaii Island’s finest products are made. You can visit a working cattle ranch for a barbecue and branding (of a piece of wood) at An Evening at Kahua Ranch. Or learn about macadamia nut production and processing at Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Factory and Hamakua Macadamia Nut Co., or about tropical fruit growing at The Twelve Trees Project Orchard and Educational Center. There’s also the great tour of farms followed by a gourmet dinner at Merriman’s Farm Visits & Dinner. After visiting some of the Big Island’s finest farms on this 4-hour tour, you’ll sit down at Merriman’s Restaurant in Waimea for a gourmet dinner including fresh local produce, fish and meats. Or maybe you want to learn about macadamia nuts. Guests who stay two nights at Macadamia Meadows Farm Bed & Breakfast get a free orchard tour, and 3-night guests can pick their own nuts and purchase what they pick at a good price. Likewise, at Bjornen’s Nut Farm vacation rental, guests are welcome to pick up nuts off the ground and take them home.

For a great round-up of farm visit opportunities, go to www.hawaiiagventures.com.

Amy Greenwell Garden. Photo courtesy Big Island Visitor Bureau.

To appreciate the Polynesian agricultural heritage, you’ll want to visit the Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden, where you will see more than 200 varieties of plants cultivated by early Hawaiians.

Then get a glimpse of the future already very much coming true at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii in Kona. NELHA is an ocean science and technology park involved in various activities—educational, research and commercial—that range from deep-ocean energy generation and whale research to farming of pearls, lobsters and micro-algae. Some of these facilities welcome visitors. Find out more from the Friends of NELHA at www.keaholepoint.org.

And while you’re in Kona, of course there are coffee farms and mills to visit. Some are by appointment only, so call first. An excellent starting point is the Kona Historical Society’s Kona Coffee Living History Farm (contact info below).