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Uncle Robert’s Awa Bar and Farmers Market (also known as Uncle Robert’s Night Market) takes place every Wednesday from 5 to 10 p.m. The event features music, dancing, food, and craft vendors, attracting several thousand attendees each week.
Getting to Uncle Robert’s Awa Bar and farmers market
To get there, drive straight to the literal “end of the road,” where Uncle Robert’s Awa Bar is located. After a lava flow abruptly cut off the road in 1962, creating new land extending to the ocean, locals began gathering here, and it has remained a vibrant community spot ever since.
Uncle Robert’s Awa Bar and Farmers Market is an open-air venue featuring semi-permanent tent and tarp structures for protection, picnic tables for seating, and a self-serve bar.
Who attends Uncle Robert’s Awa Bar and Farmers Market?
The crowd is a vibrant mix of locals and adventurous tourists. Hippies, free spirits, families, and kids create an eclectic, family-wedding-like atmosphere. The uneven dance floor doesn’t faze the crowd as they enjoy an 8-piece band with Polynesian vocals, a banjo, two ukuleles, sax, electric guitar, and drums. An older lady by the stage, doing hula hand movements and tapping her feet with the aid of a walker, adds an extra touch of charm to the lively scene.
Some Uncle Robert’s Awa Bar and Farmers Market history
We had thought Uncle Robert’s Awa Bar and Farmers Market was a big late-night party place, but after speaking to locals, we realized it was simply a weekly gathering of the community for food, music and a good time. This was the intent when the Uncle Robert’s Awa Club was established in 1962. At the time, the market was literally “the end of the road”, marking an area of lava flow that had created land that previously did not exist. After Uncle Robert’s death in 2015, the family continued to host Wednesday evening Uncle Robert’s Awa Bar and Farmers Market events.
One resource we found extremely valuable was Lonely Planet’s Hawaii the Big Island. Be aware it was written in 2017 though, prior to some volcanic activity since then in the southern regions. We’ve updated you here with our experiences since then.
If you decide to stay in the Pahoa area
We had stayed at The Tropical Zen in Pahoa, a small town about 15 minutes from the market the previous year. Pahoa, with it’s lush and chill atmosphere, had narrowly escaped the 2018 volcanic devastation, and was a great base for exploring the lava flows that dramatically altered the area.
In 2018, Seaview Estates in the Pahoa region became ground zero for the lava eruption, filling in the Kapoho Tide Pools and transforming Pohoiki Bay into a new black beach at Isaac Hale Park. Living in a volcanic zone means embracing the reality of constant change and impermanence.
We were reminded of all of this on our drive along the Red Road through patches of land completely decimated by fragments and shards of impermeable cooled lava flow, which now prevent passage through what used to be the Puna Triangle on the South Puna coast. We drove back to Kona via Hilo, but the sound of the Coqui frogs at night along the ocean road to Uncle Robert’s Night Market brought back wonderful memories of staying in Pahoa.
Be sure to get updated information when touring this area, since access has been altered, some sites destroyed, and new ones created. The Lonely Planet Guide book for Big Island Hawaii is great, but make sure you have a copy that has been updated since 2018. See links at bottom of this post for where to get your guide book. Curios to learn more about volcanoes? Absolute Expert Volcanoes by National Geographic is a great guide. It features up-to-date geological intel straight from the field, including Mauna Loa.
Accommodations
We stayed in an Airbnb in Kailua-Kona, about 10 minutes from the airport. It was a wonderfully central location to explore all sides of the island, and offered up a beautiful sunset view from the hill, where we toasted to our days adventure each evening at sunset. We planned “adventure days” with relaxed “beach days” to recover in between, but admittedly many hiking adventure days involved a beach at some point – it is Hawaii after all. Why try to escape them?
Here’s where to find our little “Garden Paradise”, in Kailua, hosted by Martina. It was a short drive from the airport, offered great sunsets and was very central for all of our day trips. Book with Martina below, or check out other options in the area available through VRBO and Booking.com
If you’re one of those people who needs to triangulate your accommodation data search, be sure to also check out Hotels.com, or run through the listings on Expedia. (Who knows, maybe you’ll find a cheap flight while you’re there too?!)
We rented a 4×4 Jeep at the Kona airport, in anticipation of driving to the top of Mauna Kea, to experience the Polar Tundra climate at sunset, as well as being able to access some steep roads in the northern regions of the island by Waimea, and to travel lava rock roads in the south by Pahoa – not to mention seamlessly making the pass over the top of the island from Kona to Hilo, which can see snow at elevation in inclement weather. If you plan to venture beyond beaches and restaurants in the Kona and Kailua-Kona Coast areas, a 4×4 definitely is a consideration. Check here for car rental deals. (We’ve rented from both Alamo and National in the past and had a good experience)
I’ve written about many of the beaches on the Kona side previously, which we revisited on our rest days. In fact, last year we rented twin scooters and visited eight. Link here to get a run down on some magic places to spend a restful beach day: Touring Hawaii’s Big Island Kona Coast Beaches by Scooter Aloha!
We’ve combed the internet for some great gift items for travelers – 8 useful, 4 cool and 2 inspirational, plus 2 more that you don’t really need – but will truly want!
TRAVEL INSURANCE
World Nomads travel insurance has been designed by travelers for travelers, with coverage for more than 150 activities as well as emergency medical, lost luggage, trip cancellation and more. We receive a fee when you get a quote from World Nomads using this link. We do not represent World Nomads. This is not a recommendation to buy travel insurance.
PLANNING GUIDES
Great for planning, and you’ll want to pack it along for the trip – check out Lonely Planet’s Hawaii the Big Island. Or search out all of the Hawaii guidebook options on chapters.indigo.ca or on Amazon. If you prefer immediate access in e-book format you can get that through Chapters/Indigo as well, or at ebooks.com Be sure to check get your guide to book tours, activities and attractions in this area too. There’s often deals offered in advance that you won’t be able to secure once in the area.
Looking for a cheap flight to Kona? My new favorite search site is CheapOair.ca It allows you to quickly compare different flight deals available. If you’re not in Canada, be sure to use their CheapOair.com site instead. Check out the flight search tool link below:
When to Buy Flights tool, Get the Lowest FareCheck this site for car rental deals to make comparison shopping easier. If you’re Canadian, be sure to check these flight deals once you’re feeling confident to travel.
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NOTE:
We visited Uncle Robert’s Awa Bar and Farmers Market in Pahoa on Wednesday, March 4, 2020. Little did we know it would be the last public market before tourism shut down a week later due to Covid. As of January 2021, the market remained officially canceled, though there were rumors of live band evenings for close family and locals only on some Wednesdays.
January 2022 update: After hosting virtual music events and private gatherings in 2021, Uncle Robert’s Awa Bar and Farmers Market, also known as Uncle Robert’s Night Market, resumed live events in September 2021. However, the market and vendors are no longer present. Attendance is now capped at 80-100 people per evening with a $20 cover charge for music and dancing. This adjustment, due to Covid restrictions, allows the family to continue the events without vendor support. Occasional Saturday concerts are also held. Masks are required while lining up and being served but can be removed inside the open-air venue for drinks and dancing. Despite losing family members to Covid, the Uncle Roberts family strives to maintain the free-spirited, judgment-free atmosphere that the Awa Bar is known for.