Kona Coast
If what you're after is an almost deserted, postcard-perfect scoop of soft, white-sand beach cupping brilliant blue-green waters, head to 'Maks.' Although…
Must-see attractions in Kona Coast
Kona Coast
The water is usually too cloudy for snorkeling at this beautiful hook-shaped beach with a mix of black lava, white coral and wave-tossed shells, but just…
Kailua-Kona
About 4 miles south of central Kailua-Kona, this small beach (also called White Sands and, officially, Laʻaloa Beach) has turquoise water, great sunsets,…
Kona Coast
This sublime crescent-shaped white-sand beach is fronted by sparkling waters in alternating bands of pale cyan, deeper turquoise, and rich blue. Kua Bay…
Kailua-Kona
This palace is a fascinating study in the rapid shift the Hawaiian royal family made from Polynesian god-kings to Westernized monarchs. Here’s the skinny:…
Kona Coast
Whether young or old, triathlete or couch potato, everyone appreciates the island's most easy-to-access (and admittedly busy) snorkeling spot. Protected…
Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park
Kona Coast
Just north of Honokohau Harbor, on the ocean side of Hwy 19, this 1160-acre national park may be the Kona Coast's most underappreciated ancient Hawaiian…
Kona Coast
Kekaha Kai (Kona Coast) State Park's largest beach has salt-and-pepper sand, rocky tide pools, shaded picnic tables and pit toilets. Swimming usually isn…
Kona Coast
The gorgeous beaches of Kekaha Kai are all the more memorable for being tucked on the far side of a vast desert of unforgiving black lava. This 1600-acre…
Kona Coast
Though obviously artificial (a thin layer of sand laid over concrete is hard on the feet), the beach at Kikaua Point Park is also effortlessly beautiful…
Kailua-Kona
After uniting the Hawaiian Islands in 1810, Kamehameha the Great established the kingdom's royal court in Lahaina on Maui, but he continued to return to…
Kona Coast
Ever popular for weddings, the much-photographed 'Little Blue Church' practically sits in Kahuluʻu Bay. Made of clapboard in the 1880s, with a corrugated…
Kona Coast
The scalloped, palm-fringed coves of Kukio Bay are officially part of the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai. The sand is soft, the swimming is good (even for…
Kona Coast
At the makai (seaward) end of the access road to the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority, this quiet locals' beach is perfectly positioned for…
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Kona Coast
On the former grounds of the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort, just south of Kahaluʻu Beach Park, three restored heiau (temples) and ancient Hawaiian…
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Kona Coast
This Mordor-esque lava plain of jagged ʻaʻa rock that crinkles to the deep blue coast then drops steeply into the ocean, lives up to its name. To get here…
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Old Kona Airport State Recreation Area
Kailua-Kona
Visitors often overlook this quiet park, located a mile from downtown. It's a grand spot for picnicking, jogging and fishing. The beach area is studded…
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Kailua-Kona
Completed in 1836, this church is a handsome building with walls of lava rock held together by sand and coral-lime mortar. The posts and beams, hewn with…
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Kona Coast
Above 3000ft on the slopes of Mt Hualalai, the Kaloko Mauka subdivision is the home of this spectacular 70-acre sanctuary. For the record, a cloud forest…
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Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority
Kona Coast
That funny-looking building with the gigantic solar panels is the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA), a 'zero-net-energy facility' that…
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Kona Coast
Inside the Four Season's Hawaiian cultural center is a small, museum-quality exhibit organized around a collection of 11 original paintings by Herb…
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Kona Coast
At the northern end of Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, this fishpond is especially fascinating because its massive rock retaining wall has been…
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Kona Coast
Amazingly, what with all the other great beaches around, this secluded black-sand beach also belongs to Kekaha Kai (Kona Coast) State Park. Although there…
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Kona Coast
Many tour cruises launch from the small pier at this protected bay. While not worth going out of your way for, the small beach, picnic tables and sand…
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Kailua-Kona
Step inside King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel, just next to to Ahuʻena Heiau, to view historical paintings and a mural by legendary artist and Hawaiian…
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Kona Coast
The Holualoa Foundation for Arts & Culture created this community art center in 2002. There are free exhibits, a plethora of locally made art, plus…
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Three Ring Ranch Exotic Animal Sanctuary
Kailua-Kona
Dr Ann Goody runs this animal sanctuary on five lovely acres in upland Kona. This isn't a zoo, or even a conventional sanctuary; instead, Dr Goody cares…
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Keolonahihi State Historical Park
Kailua-Kona
While largely overgrown with jungle and scrub brush today, this was once a major religious complex for Native Hawaiians. A heiau (temple) here was once…
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Kailua-Kona
Kailua-Kona's only swimmable in-town beach is this teeny-tiny strand between Kailua Pier and Ahuʻena Heiau, where ocean waters are calm and usually safe…
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Kailua-Kona
If you're an avid bodyboarder, Honl's, also known as Waiʻaha ('Gathering Water'), may feel like a historical pilgrimage. It was here, in 1971, that Tom…
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Kona Coast
Keawaiki is as isolated as Big Island beaches get, mainly because the quickest way here is via a 15 to 20 minute walk over an ʻaʻa lava trail that looks…
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Kailua-Kona
Kailua Bay was once a major cattle-shipping area, where animals were stampeded into the water and forced to swim to steamers waiting to transport them to…
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Kona Coast
Kona Leʻa Plantation does not use pesticides or herbicides on its small organic-certified farm, less than 2 miles south of Holualoa. As you drive up,…
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Kona Coast
With its pristine turquoise waters and shoreline fringed with coconut trees, Kiholo Bay is an off-the-beaten-track Big Island beauty. It’s more of a…
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Kona Coast
Located by Kahalu‘u Bay beach, Kahalu‘u Bay Education Center (KBEC) is a family-friendly educational center that provides teaching and instruction on both…
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Keauhou Kahaluʻu Heritage Center
Kona Coast
This unstaffed cultural center showcases a few small exhibits on native Hawaiian culture, with a focus on temple building, cultivation, fishing, and holua…
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Mountain Thunder Coffee Plantation
Kona Coast
This award-winning farm lies in lush Kaloko Mauka upland, a 20-minute drive from downtown Kailua-Kona or Holualoa village.You can visit on an hourly tour…
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Kona Coast
The upland coffee country of the Kona coast has historically been settled and worked by Japanese immigrants and their descendants, and this cemetery,…
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Kona Coast
If you're hoping to see hayseeds in overalls teaching cephalopods how to drive tractors (we entertained the fantasy), the world's only octopus farm may…
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Kailua-Kona
This little beach park is about seven parts 'park' and three parts 'beach'; the beach itself is small and studded with more coral rubble than sand. With…
