Lifestyle on the Kohala Coast · Community guide
Kailapa: a native Hawaiian homestead community
Kailapa is a Hawaiian Home Lands community in the Kawaihae area, built for native Hawaiian beneficiaries under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act. It is not a market community: homes sit on leasehold land held from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, and eligibility is limited to beneficiaries. I include it in these guides because anyone looking at the Kawaihae area will see it, and it deserves a plain, factual description of what it is.
01 · Location and character
Location and character
Kailapa lies mauka, uphill, of Akoni Pule Highway in the Kawaihae ahupuaʻa of North Kohala, on the dry slopes of Kohala volcano. The Hawaiian Homes Commission established the community in 1996, with roughly 190 home sites on about 180 acres, and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands continues to award leases as they become available.
The setting is dry and open, ranch country above the harbor, with the same views across the channel to Maui, down the coast, and inland toward Mauna Kea that the rest of this shoreline enjoys.
02 · Lifestyle and amenities
Lifestyle and amenities
Kailapa is a working homestead community, not a resort and not a typical subdivision. The Kailapa Community Association, a Native Hawaiian Homestead Association, represents residents and manages community facilities, including the Piko community resource center, and works to build residents’ capacity to steward residential, agricultural, and pastoral lands. That stewardship is the life of the community.
The land around the homesteads is given to homestead use, with pasture and agriculture part of the district’s character. Life is rural, dry-side, and neighborly in the way small homestead communities are, with the harbor, the beaches, and Puʻukoholā Heiau are a short drive below.
03 · What living there is like
What living there is like
Residents are the community’s own: native Hawaiian families who have qualified for homestead leases and who steward the land together. Homes sit on DHHL homestead leases rather than fee-simple ownership, and the association, board-run, governs the community’s affairs under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act framework.
For buyers who are not Hawaiian beneficiaries, this community is not an option, and it is important that it be stated plainly: Kailapa exists for native Hawaiians under a specific federal and state framework. For eligible beneficiaries, it represents the Hawaiian Homes vision on the Kohala Coast, homestead land held for the benefit of the Hawaiian people.
04 · Who it fits, and who it doesn’t
Who it fits, and who it doesn’t
Eligibility comes first, before any lifestyle questions, and it shapes everything else about this community.
Who it fits
- Native Hawaiian beneficiaries who qualify for a DHHL homestead lease
- Beneficiaries who want homestead land near the harbor and the coast
- People committed to community association stewardship and governance
- Those who value the cultural purpose of the homestead program itself
Who it doesn’t
- General-market buyers looking for fee-simple ownership
- Investors, since homestead leases are not an investment vehicle
- People who want resort services, association-free living, or resale flexibility
- Anyone who does not meet the beneficiary eligibility requirements
05 · Practical realities
Practical realities
Tenure at Kailapa is leasehold, held from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, with eligibility under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, generally requiring beneficiaries who are at least 50 percent Hawaiian. The Kailapa Community Association governs the community. As across much of dry North Kohala, water supply and cost have been real concerns for residents in recent years, worth understanding before planning on the land.
- Leasehold tenure held from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands
- Community association run by and for residents
- Kohala volcano band, the island’s lowest lava hazard
- Mauka of Akoni Pule Highway in the Kawaihae area
- Residential homestead community, not a market subdivision
- Water supply and cost have been resident concerns
This summary reflects public records and the community’s own published materials. Lease eligibility, rules, and availability are administered by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, and any beneficiary should confirm current requirements directly with them.
06 · Related reading and nearby guides
Related reading and nearby guides
Questions about this community?
With aloha,
Carol