Must-see attractions in South Kona Coast

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…

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 …

Many coffee-farm tours are perfunctory 15-minute affairs. This tour, run by the Kona Historical Society, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institute, is…

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…

A pulpit with a view, gravestones cradled by tropical blooms and a little chapel with floor-to-ceiling 'outsider art' make this church a picturesque side…

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 …

Just south of Kealakekua Bay, Keʻei Beach is an attractive cove that's mostly too rough and rocky for swimming, except for a very narrow sandy stretch at…

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…

Just south of the park’s central village area, an oceanfront palm-tree grove holds one of South Kona’s choicest picnic areas. Parking, picnic tables and…

'The temple on the point of the cove,' located a few hundred yards past the main park entrance, was built around 1650 and contains the bones of 23 chiefs…

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…

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…

Leading up to Hale o Keawe Heiau is the Great Wall, separating the royal grounds from the puʻuhonua (place of sanctuary). Built around 1550, this stone…

SKEA is a hotbed of activity, with pilates, Polynesian dance, tai chi and Japanese-ink-painting classes, art shows and poetry readings; check the online…

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…

Not quite pebbles, the smoky stones of this nonsandy beach at the bottom of the Kona Paradise subdivision range from gumdrop- to palm-size. It's a popular…

On its southern side, Kealakekua Bay is rocky and exposed to regular northwest swells, so swimming and snorkeling conditions are poor. That said, Manini…

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…

Near the church on Painted Church Rd, these tranquil 7-acre gardens contain shrines to the world’s major religions and a staggeringly impressive ‘Galaxy…

At this roadside gift shop and tiny historical museum, genial staff will let you in on all the secrets of beekeeping, then give you a peek inside a living…