South Kona Coast
Randy's may only be open twice a week, but during those hours it packs in the customers, who come for Styrofoam boxes of huli huli chicken (smoked and basted with a teriyaki-esque barbecue sauce), ribs and brisket. One platter on Friday ought to fill you up until Randy's opens again Thursday.
There are some picnic tables here, but most people take their food to go. Note that Randy's may sell out if you arrive too late.
19.78 MILES
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…
20.48 MILES
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…
Puʻuhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park
6.97 MILES
This awesome park is an ancient place of refuge – or puʻuhonua, a sanctuary where kapu (taboo)-breakers could have their lives spared. A half-mile walking…
12.22 MILES
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…
10.01 MILES
This modest, charcoal-colored beach is backed by a steep green hillside. When calm, the bay's waters are good for swimming, kayaking and snorkeling …
5.8 MILES
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 Coffee Living History Farm
2.35 MILES
Many coffee-farm tours are perfunctory 15-minute affairs. This tour, run by the Kona Historical Society, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institute, is…
24.19 MILES
The top sight in Miloliʻi is about a mile's walk south of the town itself. Honomalino Bay is simply gorgeous; with sand the color of all Big Island…
0.89 MILES
This 150-acre family farm, established in 1850, is run by fourth-generation Greenwells and is one of Kona’s oldest and best-known coffee plantations. It…
1.07 MILES
Housed in one of Kona's oldest buildings, this museum is a taste of 19th-century Hawaiʻi. Built in 1875 and meticulously restored, it has educational…
1.38 MILES
The first building you see when entering Honalo from the north resembles a cross between a low-slung red barn, a white-roofed villa and a Japanese shrine…
2.17 MILES
If you have young kids, head north a mile or so from Honalo and enjoy shady Higashihara Park. Its unique Hawaii-themed wooden play structure is both…
5. Kona Coffee Living History Farm
2.35 MILES
Many coffee-farm tours are perfunctory 15-minute affairs. This tour, run by the Kona Historical Society, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institute, is…
2.85 MILES
Above Kealakekua Bay, the 'sacred cliffs of Keoua' were named for a chief and rival of Kamehameha I. Several high, inaccessible caves in these cliffs…
3.05 MILES
This tall white obelisk in Kaʻawaloa Cove is visible from a mile away at Kealakekua Bay. It marks the spot where Captain Cook was killed in an armed…
3.08 MILES
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…