I have lived on the Big Island for years and driven every road on it more times than I can count. If someone asks me where to watch the sunrise in Hawaii, my answer is always the same. Laupahoehoe Point. No hesitation.
Most visitors never make it over to the east side. They stay in Kona or Waikoloa, watch the sunset from the beach, and that is their Hawaii. Nothing wrong with that. But the sunrise on the Big Island of Hawaii happens on the opposite coast, and the best spot for it is a little park on the Hamakua Coast that almost nobody talks about.
Why Laupahoehoe Point
Laupahoehoe Point is a flat peninsula of black lava that juts straight out into the open ocean. No sandy beach. No resorts nearby. Just jagged rock, huge surf, coconut palms, and a big grassy park where local families come to fish and talk story on weekends.
When the sun comes up here, it rises directly out of the Pacific. The light hits the sea stacks first, turns the spray from the crashing waves gold, then floods across the lava shelves and tide pools. It is not gentle. The waves slam into the rocks hard enough to send mist 20 feet in the air. You feel the ground shake a little. The whole place smells like salt.
If you have a camera, low tide is the move. The tide pools turn into little mirrors that reflect the sky. Photographers love this spot for exactly that reason.
Hawaii Sunrise Time and When to Go
Hawaii sunrise time varies through the year, but not by much. You are looking at roughly 5:50 AM in summer and 6:55 AM in winter. The nice thing about that is even the late risers can handle a 6:30 AM alarm for a winter sunrise.
Get there about 30 minutes early. The pre-dawn colors are half the show. I have seen mornings where the sky goes from pitch black to deep purple to tangerine in about 15 minutes. Other mornings, clouds roll through the Hamakua Coast and you get these dramatic shafts of light punching through gaps. Either way, you win.
Weekday mornings are quieter. On weekends you might share the park with a few fishermen, but honestly, it is never crowded. This is not a tourist attraction. It is just a county park that happens to face the exact right direction.
The History You Should Know
There is something else about Laupahoehoe Point that changes the way you experience it, and you should know about it before you go.
On April 1, 1946, a tsunami hit this peninsula. There was no warning system back then. A small school sat right on the point, along with a fishing village. The waves took 24 people, 16 of them schoolchildren and 5 teachers. The school was never rebuilt there.
A stone memorial stands in the park today with every name. When you watch the sunrise from Laupahoehoe, you are standing where those families stood. The light comes back every single morning. There is something about that.
I am not going to tell you how to feel about it. Just read the names on the monument before you leave.
Getting to Laupahoehoe Point
From Kona, you are looking at about a 90-minute drive up Highway 19 along the Hamakua Coast. It is one of the best scenic drives on the Big Island of Hawaii, so do not think of it as a commute. Old sugar mill towns, one-lane bridges over gulches, waterfalls you can see from the road. The Hamakua Coast is the Hawaii most tourists never see.
Between mile markers 27 and 28, you will see a small sign for Laupahoehoe Point. Turn toward the ocean and follow the narrow road about a mile downhill. It winds through dense jungle and past a few old plantation-era houses. At the bottom: the park, the ocean, and (if you timed it right) the sunrise.
You need a car. There is no bus, no shuttle, no tour that goes here at 5:30 in the morning. That is part of what keeps it empty and special. We rent convertibles, SUVs, and trucks that are perfect for this kind of early morning adventure. A convertible on the Hamakua Coast with the top down at dawn? Trust me on that one.
Park Amenities
Restrooms, outdoor showers, picnic tables, covered pavilions, a boat ramp, and plenty of parking. It is a county park, well maintained. You can hang out after sunrise and have breakfast at the picnic tables without any rush.
Safety
Do not swim here. Seriously. The surf is violent, the rocks are sharp, and the currents will pull you out before you realize what happened. No lifeguards. Enjoy this one from dry land. It is a watching-and-listening kind of place, not a swimming one.
What Else Is Nearby
After sunrise, you are already on the Hamakua Coast, so keep driving. The Laupāhoehoe Train Museum is a couple minutes up the hill and worth a quick stop if you are curious about the old sugar plantation days. Akaka Falls is about 20 minutes further north. Or head south toward Hilo for breakfast. Cafe 100 has been making loco moco since 1946 (the same year as the tsunami, coincidentally) and it opens at 6:45 AM.
If you are doing the Mauna Kea summit during your trip, you could combine both in one big day. Sunrise at Laupahoehoe in the morning, stargazing on Mauna Kea that night. That is a full Big Island day right there.
Look, the Kona side has the resorts, the snorkeling, the sunsets. I get it. But the sunrise on the Big Island belongs to the other coast. And Laupahoehoe Point is where you go to see it done right.
