Attractions

If what you're after is an almost deserted, postcard-perfect scoop of soft, white-sand beach cupping brilliant blue-green waters (got your attention?), head to 'Maks.' Although popular, this string of idyllic coves …

This crescent-shaped white-sand beach is fronted by sparkling turquoise waters that offer first-rate swimming and bodyboarding, and good snorkeling on the north side of the bay (by the large rock outcroppings) when …

At this beautiful hook-shaped beach with a mix of black lava, white coral and wave-tossed shells, the water is usually too cloudy for snorkeling, but just standing on shore you'll see honu (green sea turtles). You m…

Though obviously artificial (a thin layer of sand laid over concrete is hard on the feet), Kikaua Beach is also effortlessly beautiful. Palm trees do the whole sway in the breeze thing, the sand is white, and the co…

With its pristine turquoise waters and shoreline fringed with coconut trees, Kiholo Bay is yet another off-the-beaten-track Big Island beauty. It’s more of a series of beaches than one contiguous stretch of sand, an…

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 site. Hidden among lava fields lies evidence of the innovation…

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 park has four beaches, only one of which has paved access. Th…

That funny-looking building with the gigantic solar panels is the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA). This 'zero-net energy facility' was voted one of the USA's 10 greenest buildings in 2007. Lear…

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't good, but during big winter swells, there's plenty of surfi…

Above 3000ft on the slopes of Mt Hualalai, the Kaloko Mauka subdivision is the home of this spectacular 70-acre sanctuary. It's not just any forest – a cloud forest is a moist woodland where mist and fog are constan…