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 like it was plucked from Dante Alighieri's darkest dreams. Your reward for getting here: a rocky, black-sand beach overlooked by a lone palm tree, and the blue ocean – which can be quite rough, so be careful if you swim. The path begins at a parking pull-off near Mile 79.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Mauna Kea's Summit Area
28.45 MILES
At 13,796ft in the air, you are above 40% of the atmosphere and 90% of its water vapor – apparently perfect conditions for growing the giant mushroom-like…
Makalawena Beach
10.23 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…
Kua Bay
8.45 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…
Magic Sands Beach
20.69 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,…
Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park
16.23 MILES
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…
ʻAnaehoʻomalu Beach Park
2.28 MILES
Don't worry about that tongue twister of an official name; everyone on the island calls this beach 'A Bay.' 'A-plus' is another way of putting it: this…
Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park
28.49 MILES
Beautiful, historic Kealakekua Bay is scalloped out of the mountains, a deep-blue half moon set against a low lava point to the north, tall reddish pali …
St Peter by the Sea
21.45 MILES
Ever popular for weddings, the much-photographed 'Little Blue Church' practically sits in Kahuluʻu Bay. Made of clapboard in the 1880s, with a corrugated…
Nearby Kona Coast attractions
1. ʻAnaehoʻomalu Beach Park
2.28 MILES
Don't worry about that tongue twister of an official name; everyone on the island calls this beach 'A Bay.' 'A-plus' is another way of putting it: this…
2. Kuʻualiʻi and Kahapapa Fishponds
2.29 MILES
Physical evidence of the ancient aquaculture system that once formed a crucial component of Native Hawaiian foodways is located smack-dab behind…
3. Ala Kahakai
2.34 MILES
A portion of Ala Kahakai – the King's Trail – winds through Waikoloa, offering a somewhat incongruous dose of ancient Hawaiian history and heritage within…
4. Waikoloa Anchialine Pond Preservation Area
2.49 MILES
Here's your daily dose of science: anchialine ponds are coastal ponds that have no surface connection to the ocean, but that nonetheless rise and fall…
5. Kiholo State Park Reserve
2.51 MILES
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…
6. Waikoloa Petroglyph Preserve
2.63 MILES
This collection of petroglyphs carved in lava rock is so easy to access that it merits a stop, although the Puako Petroglyph Preserve further north is…
7. Kalahuipuaʻa Fishponds
4.39 MILES
These ancient fishponds are among the island's few remaining working fishponds. As in ancient times, they're stocked with awa (Hawaiian milk fish). Water…
8. Kalahuipuaʻa Historic Trail
4.62 MILES
The first segment of this easy trail meanders through a 16th-century Hawaiian settlement, passing lava tubes once used as cave shelters and a few other…