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Agri Tourism Flourishes on Big Island Farms
Hawaii’s Big Island is emerging as a popular agri-tourism destination.
Agri-tourism include farm visits, tours of farming regions,
dude ranches, farm-related bed and breakfast
accommodations, and agricultural fairs and festivals.
As vacationers seek more substance during their precious leisure time,
Hawaii’s Big Island is quickly surfacing as a destination that offers
many unique options. "Agritourism," a rapidly growing entity within
more conventionally known definitions of tourism, is one way people
can learn more about the place they are visiting.
Agritourism is loosely defined as the overlap between agriculture and
tourism. Its components include farm visits, tours of farming regions,
ranches and dude ranches, farm-related bed and breakfast accommodations,
restaurants serving regional cuisine, living history farms, and even
agricultural fairs and festivals celebrating agriculture.
Bed and Breakfasts located on working farms are becoming more popular
with the increased interest in agritourism. Farm B&B’s offer Big
Island first time and repeat visitors a way to learn more about
Hawaii, its natural resources and its people.
Of nearly 5,500 farms statewide offering agritourism activities,
over 3,000 are located on the Big Island. Some offer tours,
accommodations, activities, and direct retail of their products.
Many of these farms boast some of the most diverse crops grown
anywhere in the United States and perhaps the world.
The Big Island leads the state in growth, production and export of the
majority of Hawaii’s orchard crops. Macadamia nut and Kona coffee are
the best known. Other prevalent crops include avocado, banana, guava,
mango and papaya. Exotic crops that are also grown locally include
carambola, durian, longan, lychee, mangosteen, moya, lilikoi and
rambutan. These varied orchard crops are grown on nearly one million
Big Island acres, more than all other islands combined.
Carambola, more commonly known as star fruit, has adapted well in
Hawaii and is becoming a popular ingredient in Pacific-Rim Cuisine.
Rambutan may appear to look more like a cactus than a fruit but once
the bright-crimson, soft spiny skin is removed, its pearl white, sweet
fruit is the reward. If you would like to sample sweet, fresh-picked
papaya or juicy, tree-ripened mango the color of a brilliant sunset,
there are numerous choices of farms and ranches that also offer
accommodation options. We outline a few for you here.
Spend a night at Macadamia Meadows Bed and Breakfast and begin your
morning with a walking tour of their orchard. Learn the history of
macadamia farming in Hawaii along with the latest macadamia nutritional
research. Try your skill at cracking a fresh nut still in its hard
outer shell. Savor the flavor, the freshness of this heavenly nut.
If your stay is long enough, you can pick, crack and husk your own
bag of nuts to take upon departure.
Guests often select
Lucky Farm for their Big Island stay because it
reminds them of their own days growing up in the country. Others
want to be closer to the land and get a true feeling of the Hawaii
they have dreamed of for so long. All are hungry for knowledge.
A tour of Lucky Farm greets visitors with fruits they’ve perhaps
eaten but never seen actually growing. The coffee they had for
breakfast is ripening on the branches of trees just outside the
door. Lucky Farm’s proprietor explains it this way, "Our guests
are reminded that eggs really do come from chickens and fruit
tastes especially wonderful when sun ripened on the tree."
For an "upcountry B&B experience,"
Kahua Ranch on the slopes of the
Kohala Mountains combines its large ranching operation with its
farm-related bed and breakfast and offers ATV rides, horseback rides
and paniolo BBQs.
A stop at the
Fuku-Bonsai Cultural Center and Hawaii State Bonsai
Repository in Kurtistown should be a part of your agritourism
explorations. The Center is home to a collection of bonsai from
some of the top bonsai growers and trainers in the state. They
represent artistic potted plants that are some of the most
varied in the world. The center offers introductory bonsai
workshops where visitors can enjoy the collection, purchase
bonsai, learn from the staff and get free workshop instruction
and supervision.
Whether staying with a friend, in a luxury resort or a quaint island
Bed and Breakfast, you will have experienced agritourism. Each meal you
have in any one of the island’s restaurants, whether at the corner
café or in an elegant luxury resort, will undoubtedly include much
of the produce you see during your island excursions. Island-made
goat cheeses, island-grown herbs, fruits and vegetables are highly
sought after by Big Island chefs. A part of your Big Island vacation
will be even more memorable when it includes a tour of one of the
island’s many visitor-friendly farms or ranches.
You will leave this Big Island Paradise having learned and experienced
something new and unexpected. Your vacation will be unlike any you’ve
had before. You will return, wanting again to savor the flavors of the
tropics.
For more information on Hawaii’s Big Island’s many ranches, farms,
and farm B&B’s, visit
HawiiAgTourism.com.
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Related Links
Hawaii Island - Main Menu
Islands of Hawaii
Hawaii for Visitors
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