Wai-mea (aka Kamuela) means red water due to the iron content in the water found in this area. It is an up-country ranch eclectic town, with a 3,000-foot elevation situated in the green foothills of the Kohala Mountains. It is centrally located at the northern cooler mountainous part of the Island, only about a 20-minute drive to the Kohala Coast, a 45 minute drive from the Kona-International Airport, an hour drive from Kona, and an hour fifteen drive from Hilo. It is the center of the Parker Ranch, a 225,000 acre ranch first developed by John Parker Palmer over 150 years ago. TheParker Ranch is in the Waimea-Kamuela district is at the foot of Mauna Kea. It is the second largest cattle ranch under the American flag, and the largest privately owned cattle ranch in the world.

Waimea is the home to a diverse group of residents that includes Hawaiian-Portuguese-Mexican "paniolo" cowboys and international astronomers who work on the five observatories on the 13,794-foot peak of Mauna Kea, the tallest point in Hawaii. Many physicians & nurses at the new state-of-the-art North Hawaii Community Hospital, astronomers for the Keck and Canada-France-Hawaii Observatories, faculty, staff and students of the prestigious college-prep school Hawaii Preparatory Academy also live here. The island houses the world's biggest telescope and more scientific observatories in one place than anywhere else in the world.

Waimea boasts some of the finest restaurants on the island, including Merriman's Restaurant, Edelweiss Restaurant, The Koa House, and Daniel Thiebaut's.

In the early 1960s, the governor of Hawaii invited Laurance S. Rockefeller to survey the state for resort possibilities. When Rockefeller flew over the idyllic white sand beach of Kaunaoa Bay in a chartered airplane, he was captivated. The site would become the home for his hotel formerly known as The Rock Resort. The Rockefellers then sold the property which is the now-famous Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, the first of the five-star resorts in the Kohala Coast area. A local tour guide told us that when the Rockefellers sold the hotel, their 3 chefs from Europe stayed behind & established their own restaurants, the Merriman's Restaurant (by Peter Merriman) & the Edelweiss Restaurant. The Merriman's has a reputation for excellent food and the chef utilizes local and unusal ingredients. Even if you're not staying in Waimea, it's worth a drive there.

We found a Filipino store & restaurant right along Route 19 called GJ's Filipino Restaurant & Store. We had a refreshing glass of halo-halo!

The gentle green meadows of Waimea is a refreshing contrast to the barren lava fields of the Kona Coast! At the foot of its hills toward the Kohala coast is an ongoing construction of big new homes. To those who are thinking of relocating to the Big Island, Waimea is the place!