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What: Central O‘ahu town surrounded by agricultural land
Where: 20 miles northwest of metro Honolulu
Agriculture has largely driven the town’s remarkably easygoing pace of life since the early 1900s and still does. Pineapple fields managed by Dole and Del Monte that once dominated the landscape north and south of Wahiawā are now also inhabited by smaller, more specialized farm operations producing a multitude of products, from single-varietal sugar cane and goat cheese to cacao, assorted produce, honey, and, yes, pineapple. The continuing operation of the U.S. Army’s Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Airfield installations, just outside of Wahiawā, contributes to a residential population composed of military personnel and longtime area families with agricultural industry roots you’ll find reflected in the town’s unconventional diversity of businesses.
Explore the rustic facades of the town’s Kamehameha Highway main artery and its side streets and you’ll find everything from family markets, homey coffee shops and bakeries to artist studios and tattoo artists. Bring an appetite and choose from an array of unfussy eateries representing multiple cultures and cuisines. Grab the deeply satisfying local combo of a teriyaki cheeseburger and Hawai‘i-favorite noodle dish saimin — made with fresh, housemade noodles — from a decades-old family restaurant, Shige’s Saimin Stand. Take a walk in Wahiawā’s tropical jewel, the highly tranquil botanical garden. And don’t miss taking in the panoramic views from multiple areas of Wahiawā’s unique location deep in the bucolic saddle of the surrounding Wai‘anae and Ko‘olau mountain ranges.
Places of interest in Wahiawā:
• Kō Hana Distillers. The star spirit of this Central O‘ahu distillery is its agricole rum, made from heirloom sugarcane varietals hand-harvested and hand-pressed to juice and distilled in small batches. Eschewing molasses, which is used in most mass-produced rums, Kō Hana’s rum varieties rely on the natural earthiness and sweetness of kō (sugarcane) to coax their flavor. The distillery offers tours and tastings, too.
• Wahiawā Botanical Garden. Created as an experimental tree-planting arboretum for the sugar industry in the 1920s, this 27-acre forest oasis in central Wahiawā is still populated by many of its original trees and a collection of tropical plants that flourish in the cooler, upland temperatures of Central O‘ahu. Explore the gardens via a self-guided tour or take a bench seat and relax under the cool of the trees.
• Dole Plantation. The highlights of a visit to longtime Wahiawā-area pineapple grower James Drummond Dole’s history-of-pineapple-in-Hawai‘i experience are many. Explore the visitor center’s Pineapple Garden Maze (declared the world’s largest by the Guinness World Records in 2008) and its nearly 2.5 miles of paths and more than 14,000 colorful plants. See the ag fields and Central O‘ahu landscape on the Pineapple Express train. Or take the Plantation Garden tour to see the center’s fruit-, flower- and native plant-filled mini gardens. Finish it all with an ice-cold Dole Whip.
• Hawaii Country Club (808-621-5654). Constructed in the late 1950s to offer not just a great course but enchanting Central O‘ahu views of the Koʻolau mountain range and, back then, Pearl Harbor and Lēʻahi, the island’s oldest public golf course is still a beautiful one to play. It remains popular with locals for all of the above and its somewhat challenging hilly and tree-covered terrain within former pineapple fields.
