Must-see attractions in Kona Coast

  • Makalawena Beach on Big Island Hawaii, USA, a beautiful remote white sand beach and turquoise water.; Shutterstock ID 1583199166; your: Sloane Tucker; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI
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    Makalawena Beach

    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…

  • Maniniowali Beach - Kua Bay, Big Island, Hawaii; Shutterstock ID 1467691745; purchase_order: 65050; job: ; client: ; other:
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    Kua Bay

    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…

  • A thatched canoe house in Kaloko-Honokokau National Historical Park.
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    Honokohau Beach

    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…

  • United States, Hawaii, Big Island,

    Magic Sands Beach

    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,…

  • Kiholo State Park Reserve

    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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Surfer at Kahalu'u Beach Park, Kailua Kona.

    Kahaluʻu Beach Park

    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…

  • Green Sea Turtle at Kaloko-Hono Kohan National Historical Park, Kailua Kona.

    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…

  • Kekaha Kai State Park
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    Kekaha Kai State Park

    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…

  • USA, Hawaii, Big Island, palm grove at sunset at the beach of Kikaua Point Park
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    Kikaua Point Park

    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…

  • End of the World

    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…

  • Donkey Mill Art Center

    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…

  • 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…

  • Holualoa Kona Coffee Company

    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,…

  • 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…

  • Hulihe'e Palace in Kona Kilauea. Thsi is a view of the back of the palace which has an ocean view. One of three palacesin the United States.
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    Huliheʻe Palace

    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:…

  • USA, Hawaii, Big Island, Kona, Mahai'ula Beach
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    Mahaiʻula Beach

    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…

  • Historic Ahu' ena Heiau Temple in Kamakahou Bay Kona, Hawaii
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    Ahuʻena Heiau

    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…

  • Surfboards lined up at a outdoor recreation beach spot in the beautiful tropics. Kukio Beach, Big Island, Hawaii, USA. Kikaua Point Park.
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    Kukio Beach

    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…

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Wawaloli Beach Park, Kalaoa, Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i - September 18, 2019:  Woman enjoys the protected waters of the tide pools at Wawaloli Beach while the surf crashes in the distance.
Wawaloli Beach Park, Kalaoa, Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i - September 18, 2019:  Woman enjoys the protected waters of the tide pools at Wawaloli Beach while the surf crashes in the distance.

    Wawaloli Beach

    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…

  • 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…

  • Mokuʻaikaua Church

    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…

  • Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary

    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…

  • Kaʻupulehu Cultural Center

    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…

  • Kaloko Fishpond

    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…

  • Makoleʻa Beach

    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…

  • Herb Kane Paintings

    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…

  • Honl's Beach

    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…

  • Keawaiki Beach

    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…

  • Japanese Cemetery

    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,…

  • Kanaloa Octopus Farm

    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…

  • ʻAimakapa Fishpond

    Kona Coast

    In the southern section of Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, ʻAimakapa is the largest fishpond on the Kona Coast. It's home to aeʻo (Hawaiian…

  • Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory

    Kona Coast

    A must for chocolate fans, these one-hour farm tours detail how Hawaiian chocolate is grown, harvested, processed and packaged, followed by chocolate…

  • Hula Daddy Kona Coffee

    Kona Coast

    With jaw-dropping ocean views from a breezy lanai, this epicurean tasting room and eco-conscious farm is the place to learn about cupping. Ask about the…

  • Ocean Rider Seahorse Farm

    Kona Coast

    Ocean Rider sustainably raises seahorses for research and aquariums, thus avoiding the ecological perils of catching these creatures in the wild…

  • St Peter's Church, Kailua Kona.

    St Peter by the Sea

    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…

  • Kahuluʻu Manowai

    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…

  • 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…

  • Kamakahonu Beach

    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…

  • Kailua Pier

    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…