Keaau is located in the Puna District on the east side of the Big Island south of Hilo near the town of Mountain View. Keaau is home to about 2,000 people.
A botanical area in Keaau which is open to the public is called Hi’iaka’s Healing Herb Garden. This one-acre herb garden on 2nd Avenue features endangered medicinal plants from around the world as well as more than 70 species of native plants.
Located at One Macadamia Rd near Keaau is the Visitor Center of the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut corporation, the world’s largest producer of macadamia nuts. The Visitor Center offers a self-guided tour of the company’s processing plant and features a gift shop offering samples of the company’s prized macadamia nuts as well as macadamia nut ice cream.
Keaau is also home to Keaau High School and the Keaau Public Library as well as the Kamehameha Schools Hawaii campus that serves grades K-12.