Wainaku, Hawaii

About Wainaku

Set in the southeastern part of Hawaii, Wainaku is a small unincorporated community.

Wainaku holds the status of a census-designated place — a real, named community that residents call home, governed at the county level. The community covers 1.32 square miles.

📰 Wainaku News Today

• Lala is again a tropical storm, sending drenching rain and winds across Hawaii NPR · Aug 16
• Hawaii’s Big Island narrowly avoids direct hit from Hurricane Lala but the danger isn’t over wbay.com · Aug 15
• Lala is again a tropical storm, sending drenching rain and winds across the Hawaiian islands - KWKT KWKT - FOX 44 · Aug 16
• Lala is again a tropical storm, sending drenching rain and winds across the Hawaiian islands WOWK 13 News · Aug 16
• Haaheo Elementary returns to Wainaku campus following $25M upgrade Hawaii News Now · Aug 3

Live headlines via Google News — updates through the day.

What Makes Wainaku Unique

• The only place in America named Wainaku — a truly one-of-a-kind name among 32,000+ US communities.
• An unincorporated community — no city hall of its own, which often means lower local taxes and county-managed services.
• Island living in the Pacific — year-round tropical climate.
• Positioned in southeastern Hawaii, convenient to the region's corridors and crossings.

Why People Love It Here

• Small-town pace of life: less traffic, more community, and neighbors who wave.
• Cost of living typically runs below the big-metro average.
• Well connected: 3+ neighboring communities within 4 miles.

📍 Neighborhoods in Wainaku

Click a neighborhood to see it on the map.

🍽️ Where to Eat in Wainaku

• Antics — pizza
• Anuenue On the Bay — coffee shop (café)
• Cafe Boba — bubble tea (café)
• Cafe Pesto — pizza
• Coco Cantina — mexican
• Coffee Notes — coffee shop (café)
• Hilo Bay Cafe — american
• Ibisuya — japanese
• Jackie Rey's Ohana Grill — american
• Ka Lihikai — american

Local spots mapped by the OpenStreetMap community.

🎡 Fun Things to Do

• Antics
• East Hawaiʻi Cultural Center · Museum
• Extreme Exposure · Art gallery
• Kenyan K. Beale Community Robotics Center · Museum
• Lyman Museum · Museum
• Mokupāpapa Discovery Center · Aquarium
• Pacific Tsunami Museum · Museum
• Boiling Pots · Attraction
• Dreams of Paradise · Art gallery
• Lyman House Memorial Museum · Museum

Attractions mapped by the OpenStreetMap community.

🏞️ Parks & Outdoors in Wainaku

• Kaiwiki Park reviews ★
• Wailuku River State Park reviews ★
• Clem Akina Park reviews ★
• Gilbert Carvalho Park reviews ★
• Hilo Bayfront Park reviews ★
• Hilo Watershed Forest Reserve · Nature reserve reviews ★
• Kaipalaoa Park reviews ★
• Kalakaua Park reviews ★
• Keaukaha Beach Park reviews ★
• Kuhio Kalanianaole Park reviews ★
• Liliʻuokalani Gardens reviews ★
• Lincoln Park reviews ★

Parks mapped by the OpenStreetMap community · "reviews" opens each park's live Google reviews.

⚡ Quick Facts

🗺️ Map of Wainaku

🏘️ Nearby Communities