Kona Coast
Take an exuberant grab-bag run by a friendly couple and stuff it with Japanese, Hawaiian and bohemian style and sensibility. Put it all on a jungle mountain abutting some coffee plantations and boom, there's Hale Maluhia. We're not fans of the smallest, cheapest rooms, so go up a little in price or opt for one of the excellent private cottages.
The cottages feel like Shinto-Tropical retreat rooms designed by a Zen monk who was really into the Swiss Family Robinson story.
12.72 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…
13.44 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…
Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area
26.98 MILES
Hapuna Beach is world famous for its magnificent half-mile sweep of white powder sand and fabulously clear waters. In summer, waves are calm and allow…
Puʻuhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park
13.95 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…
Puʻukohola Heiau National Historic Site
29.46 MILES
By 1790 Kamehameha the Great had conquered Maui, Lanaʻi and Molokaʻi. But power over his home island of Hawaiʻi was a challenge. When told by a prophet…
5.66 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…
17.01 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 …
2.04 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,…
0.65 MILES
The upland coffee country of the Kona coast has historically been settled and worked by Japanese immigrants and their descendants, and this cemetery,…
2. Three Ring Ranch Exotic Animal Sanctuary
1.67 MILES
Dr Ann Goody runs this animal sanctuary on five lovely acres in upland Kona. This isn't a zoo, or even a conventional sanctuary; instead, Dr Goody cares…
3. Keolonahihi State Historical Park
1.81 MILES
While largely overgrown with jungle and scrub brush today, this was once a major religious complex for Native Hawaiians. A heiau (temple) here was once…
1.91 MILES
This little beach park is about seven parts 'park' and three parts 'beach'; the beach itself is small and studded with more coral rubble than sand. With…
1.98 MILES
If you're an avid bodyboarder, Honl's, also known as Waiʻaha ('Gathering Water'), may feel like a historical pilgrimage. It was here, in 1971, that Tom…
6. Holualoa Kona Coffee Company
2 MILES
Kona Leʻa Plantation does not use pesticides or herbicides on its small organic-certified farm, less than 2 miles south of Holualoa. As you drive up,…
2.04 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,…
8. Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory
2.25 MILES
A must for chocolate fans, these one-hour farm tours detail how Hawaiian chocolate is grown, harvested, processed and packaged, followed by chocolate…