Located on the Hamakua Coast on the east side of the town of Hilo on the Big Island, Onomea Bay Beach has a small rocky shoreline with a very little amount of black sand. The beach is secluded and located on the shores of Onomea Bay and has a beautiful backdrop of the Hawaiian Tropical Bioreserve & Garden. In the early 1800s, Onomea Bay, which was formerly known as Kahali'i in Hawaii, had transformed from a fishing community to a shipping point for the local sugar mill. The trail was nicknamed “Donkey Trail” because it was the trail for donkeys packing cargo that led to the bay from the hills above where the mill was located. Later, the area was largely abandoned and became overgrown until it became privately owned in 1978, and in 1984 it opened to the public as a botanical garden. There are two short hiking trails leading to Onomea Bay Beach, namely the Onomea Trail and the Donkey Trail. Onomea Trail is an eight-tenths-of-a-mile-long hiking trail along Alakahi Stream, whereas Donkey Trail follows the Hanawï Stream, which empties into the ocean here, where visitors can also see a small waterfall named Onomea Waterfall, which offers an Instagram-worthy view of this tropical area. It is important to note that the trail will be very muddy and slippery, especially during and after rain, so we advise caution.
