Holualoa is a small artists' town on the slopes of Hualalai, about 1,400 feet above Kailua-Kona — close enough to the coast that the climb takes 15 minutes by car, but a different climate altogether. The temperature is 10 degrees cooler than the coast, morning clouds drift through, and the air smells of coffee blossoms and red ginger.
A single short main street, Mamalahoa Highway, runs through the village. Most of its dozen-odd buildings have been converted to galleries — ceramics, glass, paintings, jewellery, mostly by artists who actually live and work in the area. Holualoa hosts a Saturday art walk on the third weekend of each month. The Kona Coffee & Tea Company and Holualoa Kona Coffee Company both have small tasting rooms on the highway, and the surrounding hills are coffee country, the same volcanic-soil belt that has made Kona coffee famous.