South Kona Coast
Keʻei Cafe has carved a name for itself as a solid outpost of haute Hawaiian cuisine. Cracking peanut miso salad sets the stage for powerful mains like roasted chicken served with red curry sauce – or, if you’re in the mood, a more Western peppercorn gravy.
Reservations recommended; request a lanai table.
19.62 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…
20.32 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
7.13 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…
12.07 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…
10.17 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 …
5.65 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
2.5 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…
24.34 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…
1.05 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…
1.22 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…
1.23 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…
2.01 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
2.5 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…
2.94 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…
3 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…
3.18 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…