Everywhere you look, there are changes throughout Hamakua – it’s been 10 years since the sugar industry left this Big Island’s windward coast. A recent kumiai (community association) gathering acted as a microcosm of this change. Where once, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino as well as Portuguese laborers made up the population base of the area, at present we see a migration of small farmers, urban escapees, second-home buyers and affluent, early-retiring baby boomers. Great realtors were quick to point out this change in population – and they’ve distinguished that islanders who have left Honolulu and Maui and those who have moved from the West Coast of continental US make up the new population base of the Hamakua Coast’s Hawaii real estate.
Ten years prior, Honoka’a was a depressed economic area, a plantation town that had just experienced the closing of its sugar mill. More than anything else, restaurants, cafes, galleries and theatres are beginning to dominate this once-depressing site. Even its economy dealt with a radical change – before, sugar was king, but now, this was replaced by banana, sweet potato, rambuttan, mangosteen and macadamia nuts. Diversity is the new by-word for the Hamakua coast, with entrepreneurial farmers also trying their hand at eucalyptus farming (for paper production) as well as hardwood stands of teak and mahogany. Additionally, the Hawaiian Sturgeon and Caviar Company attempted to raise sturgeon for caviar there. Truly, the Hamakua Coast and its Hawaii real estate are making a comeback.
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