16 Honokaa Coffee Shops Worth a Detour (2026 Guide)

Honokaa is the Hamakua Coast town that holds Mamane Street and the slow rhythm of the old plantation district above Hilo. The coffee here is the small-farm version. Papaaloa Joe is the coffee company of Lean-To Farm, a small operation Ian and Dionne planted in 2010 at twelve hundred feet above the coast. The roastery is on the farm, and the retail counter at 45-3625 Mamane Street in Honokaa runs the cafe side of the program.

Below is one Honokaa cafe drawn from the editorial coverage. The list is short because the town is small, but the Papaaloa Joe operation is one of the more interesting Hamakua Coast small-farm programs. The Pulled directory plots every cafe across the radius with check-in support.

Mornings in Honokaa start cool. The Hamakua Coast catches the trade winds and the elevation keeps the temperature mild. The Mamane Street row holds the cafe, the bakery, the bookstore, the kind of small main-street rhythm that the Big Island still runs in places. Papaaloa Joe runs the coffee version of that, with beans grown a few miles up the coast and roasted in small batches at the farm.

Hamakua coffee is one of the lesser-known Hawaii coffee districts. Kona and Kau get the reputation. The coast that runs from Honokaa north to Waimea has a smaller but real specialty scene that the editorial work catches in pieces. Papaaloa Joe is one of the standouts.

The rest of the Big Island has more cafes per square mile. Honokaa has the working-coast version, the small-farm program that the editorial attention earns. The Pulled directory plots every cafe across the Hamakua radius and the morning route options open up once you commit to the drive north from Hilo.

Papaaloa Joe

45-3625 Mamane Street, Honokaa, 96727

Papaaloa Joe is the coffee company of Lean-To Farm, a small operation Ian and Dionne planted in 2010 at 1,200 feet above the village of Papaaloa on the Hamakua Coast, north of Hilo on the Mamalahoa Highway. Three acres of red caturra grow on land that went back to guinea grass and waiawi after the sugar plantations left. The farm hand-picks, wet-ferments and solar-dries every cherry, then roasts in small batches on a drum roaster on site. The coffee fills the cups poured a mile down the road at the Papaaloa Country Store and Cafe, which has anchored the village since 1905. The crowd is Hamakua farmers, Honokaa locals coming south for groceries, and travelers winding the coast road between Hilo and Waipio. Order a cup of Papaaloa Joe at the country store if you want Hamakua coffee where Hamakua actually drinks it. Order a bag from the farm if you want to take the coast home.

Visit Papaaloa Joe on Pulled →

A Honokaa morning that starts at Papaaloa Joe on Mamane Street is one stop on the Hamakua Coast. The Pulled directory plots every cafe across the radius with check-in support for the iOS app.

Pulled Coffee maps every cafe in Honokaa. Check in with the iOS app to start earning real cash. Visit /earn for the rules.