When on the Big Island of Hawaii, tour one of hundreds of exclusive coffee farms. We chose the Greenwell Farms ground for exploration and their premium coffee for degustation.
Last updated: October 26, 2025
Spontaneously Visited Greenwell Farms on the Big Island of Hawaii
Coffee is not the first drink I grab in the morning. It’s not even the beverages I reach for most days of the year. On those rare occasions when I drink coffee, it’s never a black coffee, but a concoction made with equal part of coffee and soy milk (sometimes almond or coconut milk).
And yet I had not one, but several servings of premium Kona coffee at Greenwell Farms. In fact, I was game for tasting any coffee flavors offered at the sampling station after a 45-minute guided tour of the farm.
Seeing how this popular beverage is made from harvesting beans to drying and storing them felt like one of the Big Island’s sacred secrets that uncovered right in front of your eyes. A precise, multistep process that is at the core of the agricultural scene of Kona.
Location and Direction
Address: 81-6581 Mamalahoa Highway, Kealakekua, Hawaii 96750
Greenwell Farms is one of more than 200 coffee farms in the Kona District of the Big Island of Hawaii. Operating on nearly 100 acres, the place is one of the leading coffee producers on the island.
Directions: Greenwell Farms is located roughly 11 miles south of Kailua-Kona via Kuakini Highway or 12.5 miles via Kuakini Highway and Māmalahoa Bypass Road.
READ MORE: One Day in Hilo, the Big Island of Hawaii: Things to Do
Tour Greenwell Farms
The coffee farm is open daily for touring and coffee sampling. In addition to harvesting and processing the finest Hawaiian coffee, the farm conducts complimentary tours between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm. The viewings last 45-60 minutes.
During this time, a knowledgable guide invites you to take a stroll across the farm, walks you through different stages of coffee harvesting, and introduces you to the oldest coffee trees in the “Grandma’s trees” garden. These trees date back to 1900 and 1903 and were planted by Tom Greenwell’s grandmother.
No reservations are required to join free tours. Be sure to arrive 10-15 minutes before your desired time slot, though. A new tour starts every 30 minutes. So, even if you’ve missed one, browse souvenirs and gifts at the Greenwell Farm’s store and sample different coffee flavors in the open-air testing room while waiting for the next tour to begin.
Wandering across the farm on your own is not allowed.
Deluxe Tours and Brewing Classes
If you long for an exclusive coffee farm experience, reach out to the Greenwell Farm’s team and book a private viewing of the property. This option opens the doors to different rooms of the farm, such as the cupping and roasting rooms and wet and dry mills, that are unavailable during free tours.
One activity I wouldn’t want to miss at Greenwell Farms – if Dylan was a certain age (12 years and above) – is a Manual Brewing Class. We established earlier that I’m not a big coffee drinker and haven’t changed my mind yet. But I fulfilled some barista duties many years ago while working at Panera Bread. From that experience, I’m pretty convinced that making a perfect cup of coffee is an art.
The trained staff at Greenwell Farms demystify the coffee world and guides you step by step on how to make a divine cup of coffee that even a non-coffee drinker like myself would appreciate.
Greenwell Farms: Kona Coffee Tour on the Big Island in Photos
