Kona: Top things to do?

[Stlhuskers]

My wife and I are going to Kona for 6 days this summer. We enjoy the outdoors (hiking, snorkeling, etc.) and I'm looking for input on top things to do from people that have been there. We will be staying near Kona and will have a car.
Mahalo.

 

[Huskerchief]

Golfing at hotel resorts on Kona coast can be interesting with ocean views and lava rough. Deep sea fishing is an option. We did helicopter tours but easy to get motion sickness near the volcano.

 

[rrthusker]

Night snorkeling with manta rays. You will never forget it.

 

[Husker.Wed.]

Volcanoes National Park of course. Also, if you are in moderate-advanced hiking shape Mauna Loa is a must. It is 6.5 miles each way and around 3000 altitude gain. Sounds "intermediate" until you consider you start around 11kft and end up at 13.6kft. A true ballbuster. People do that hike one day and take the bus tour the next day to recover. The bus tour takes you through Parker Ranch, which was interesting to me since that family has owned a huge chunk of the island for 150 years. There is a secluded nude beach that requires a fairly high-slung rental car or SUV to get to. If you are into that kind of thing you can ask the locals in Kona and they can give you directions.or maybe there is a map online.

 

[N-sane]

Night snorkeling with manta rays. You will never forget it.

That would give me a serious case of the heebie jeebies I would never forget, no matter how hard I tried!

 

[Lincoln gopher]

That would give me a serious case of the heebie jeebies I would never forget, no matter how hard I tried!

They have a public snorkeling beach just on the south edge of Kona that is still some of the best snorkeling I have done. Dozens of species of fish and of course turtles. As someone stated the volcano national park is very cool. The nice thing is on the Kona side it never rains. Been to Kona 3 times, really enjoy the big island.

 

[BigKCHusker]

We were on that side of the Big Island about a month ago. We stayed south of Kona on a resort. The resort was Mauna Kea and they had a great beach area. At night, you could snorkel with the mantas a very short distance from the shore and we regret not doing it. The also have a very nice, but a bit expensive, restaurant called Manta which is a great place for a romantic dinner and view of the sunset.

We did take a day trip to Hilo and enjoyed it. Weather-wise it is the exact opposite of Kona and they have interesting rain forests in that area. We did the helicopter trip from Hilo and enjoyed it. We did not have any problems with the "bumpy" ride someone else mentioned. Was interesting to see the area impacted by the last eruption (believe they said 1984). Quite a force of nature.

Definitely a different feel on the Big Island from the other 3 islands we have visited.

 

[TheBeav815]

Some of the best food you'll ever have is this place: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...rant-Kailua_Kona_Island_of_Hawaii_Hawaii.html

Let me tell you that any reviews on here that say it wasn't excellent, those people are morons who don't know good food and a nice meal. This is French cuisine and I've never had anything there that wasn't perfectly cooked. Small place, maybe like 6 or 8 tables, owned by a wonderful couple. They take great care of our family any time we're there. They cook and serve everything themselves. You would definitely need a reservation. This is a nice meal we're talking, so if going to expensive restaurants makes you uncomfortable just don't go.

Tell your bank you're going to Hawaii. I got to the checkout at the grocery store and my card wouldn't work because evidently BofA can't connect the dots when you use your card to eat at a string of airports and then a day later you're in another state. Also there are no plastic bags there, so either bring reusable bags to the store or you'll have to buy bags.

There is a boat tour called The Fair Winds that is a lot of fun...but not with a hangover. Wife and I scheduled that for New Year's morning and we "fed the fish" off the back of the boat for the whole ride to Kealakekua Bay. So don't drink a bunch of margaritas the night before and you'll have a good time. They serve fruit and muffins for breakfast while you ride out there, then you snorkel, you can dive off the top of the boat, there's water slides. You can do "SNUBA" which is like SUBA except the tank is up on the surface in a little raft you pull around with you and you have a long air hose. You only go about 20 feet down and you don't have to be certified. Lots of fun. https://www.fair-wind.com/

Hapuna Beach is excellent, huge with soft sand, bathrooms, showers. Bring a cooler and make a day of it. It's about 40 mins to an hour drive. Check before you go to make sure it's not closed for high surf or anything. Good place to go boogie boarding.

One of the resorts north of town near the airport has a FREAKING AMAZING buffet. It'll cost you at least about $40 a person, but fresh fish and seafood like no other, plus any other kind of breakfast food you could want. I think it might be the Four Seasons but I'm not 100% on that.

 

[TheBeav815]

Volcanoes National Park of course. Also, if you are in moderate-advanced hiking shape Mauna Loa is a must. It is 6.5 miles each way and around 3000 altitude gain. Sounds "intermediate" until you consider you start around 11kft and end up at 13.6kft. A true ballbuster. People do that hike one day and take the bus tour the next day to recover. The bus tour takes you through Parker Ranch, which was interesting to me since that family has owned a huge chunk of the island for 150 years. There is a secluded nude beach that requires a fairly high-slung rental car or SUV to get to. If you are into that kind of thing you can ask the locals in Kona and they can give you directions.or maybe there is a map online.

Lol there is? I had no idea that existed.

The volcano is cool, as long as you like to hike around and you understand that it's going to smell like sulfur. I'd put it to you like this: If you've never been, you should go. I have been, and the only time I'll go back is when my kids are big enough.

 

[Husker.Wed.]

Lol there is? I had no idea that existed.

The volcano is cool, as long as you like to hike around and you understand that it's going to smell like sulfur. I'd put it to you like this: If you've never been, you should go. I have been, and the only time I'll go back is when my kids are big enough.

You should probably return sooner to return the rock you stole from the volcano so Goddess Pele stops ruining your life.

 

[Mack In Motion]

You should probably return sooner to return the rock you stole from the volcano so Goddess Pele stops ruining your life.

Was that rock stolen sometime around the end of 2001 by chance?

 

[TheBeav815]

You should probably return sooner to return the rock you stole from the volcano so Goddess Pele stops ruining your life.

If this is what a ruined life looks like, I'll take it.

But seriously though, I'm not sure I'm following the reference. Is it a Moana joke?

 

[Lars72]

Brady Bunch?

 

[Husker.Wed.]

If this is what a ruined life looks like, I'll take it.

But seriously though, I'm not sure I'm following the reference. Is it a Moana joke?

The US Post Office closest to Volcanoes National Park receives several packages every day from people who ignored the curse of Goddess Pele who punishes anyone who removes her rocks from the site. Legend has it if you return the rock to the site, the misfortunes she is heaping on your life will end. Apparently people really believe they are cursed and mail the lava rocks back. At least that is what the tour guide told me.

 

[Jarhead Red]

I'll be heading back over to the Big Island March 18th again for a couple weeks - It'll be my 13th trip over...Love that Island - there's so much to do!

Hike the lava trail to Makalawena beach - about a 20 min hike to the best beach on the island (nude is optional - lol!)
Night swim with the Mantas is a must like rrthusker recommended.
ATV tour with ATV Outfitters in Kapaau (The far northern part of the island)
Rent a kayak at Kealakekua Bay or take the Fairwind or Hula Kai snorkel tour trips down there. (Captain Cook Memorial)
A trip over to the East side of the island to Onomea Bay and the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden - spectacular!
Visit to Kahuna Falls and the free-falling ‘Akaka Falls, which plunges 442 feet, or Rainbow Falls both on the East side of the island north of Hilo.
Hike to Mahana Beach or (Green Sand Beach) at the southern most part of the island.
Visit Punaluu Black Sand Beach Located between Volcano National Park and the small town of Naalehu.

This is just a small portion of my favs - there's so much to do and explore, it's hard to list everything.

 

[dinglefritz]

My wife and I are going to Kona for 6 days this summer. We enjoy the outdoors (hiking, snorkeling, etc.) and I'm looking for input on top things to do from people that have been there. We will be staying near Kona and will have a car.
Mahalo.

sweat

 

[TheBeav815]

The US Post Office closest to Volcanoes National Park receives several packages every day from people who ignored the curse of Goddess Pele who punishes anyone who removes her rocks from the site. Legend has it if you return the rock to the site, the misfortunes she is heaping on your life will end. Apparently people really believe they are cursed and mail the lava rocks back. At least that is what the tour guide told me.

That's pretty funny. We used to have some lava rock around the house when I was a kid, but I don't know about now. Back in the 80s you could leave with bags full of shells and coral and crap, they don't allow that any more.

If I'm gonna get cursed for anything, it's the snails and hermit crabs I soaked in buckets of bleach when I was a kid so I could keep the shells.

 

[TheBeav815]

I also strongly recommend "have a couple of mai tais and take a really awesome nap."

 

[bkrrrrr]

I also strongly recommend "have a couple of mai tais and take a really awesome nap."

Unfortunately every "mai tai" I've had on this island is very NON-authentic. Fruity cheap tourist crap - yes, even at "don the beachcomber" which claims to be "authentic". Lots of places don't even have real limes to make it with.

I highly recommend a sunset reservation at Lava Lava Beach Club for dinner. Food is decent, but more importantly it's just a great place to be after sunset. We spend hours there when we go for dinner, and nap on the beach chairs until they close down.

The Volcano Park is the obvious place to go, but also "Place of Refuge" which is part of the national park system too. Place of Refuge is a good place to see tidepool critters. Some people like seeing the cliffs at South Point, but beware the gnarly road that goes out to green sands beach beyond that. The road through Ka'u on the south side of the island is very scenic in the morning. The Body Glove dinner cruise out of Kailua is a nice way to see the coastline. The area around Hawi and Kapaau is cute, leading to Pololu Valley, and you can drive Kohala Mountain Road to/from Waimea. Honokaa Town, Honomu, Pahala, Waiohinu and Naalehu are cute plantation towns along the road around the island. The upper road far above Kailua that goes through Holualoa is also nice. The galleries in Holualoa are only open in the middle of the day - they're very small. Holuakoa is a nice place for brunch if you stop there - again, only open limited hours.

 

[Stlhuskers]

WOW! You are better than any book or 10 websites I could visit. Thanks for all the input. We will need to do some planning to hit a few of these key ones or I may need to extend the vacation another 2 weeks to hit them all! Mahalo!

 

[skintight]

try this bike ride if you dare https://www.pjammcycling.com/4.--mauna-loa--hi.html
or this https://www.pjammcycling.com/1.--mauna-kea---test2.html


do some SUP

most of all relax

 

[huskersawyer1]

My wife and I are going to Kona for 6 days this summer. We enjoy the outdoors (hiking, snorkeling, etc.) and I'm looking for input on top things to do from people that have been there. We will be staying near Kona and will have a car.
Mahalo.

Just went there with the family in January with family to go see some relatives. Definitely go to Hapuna Beach and Kua Bay. Kua Bay has got some snorkeling and there's a rock you can swim out to and jump off of. Also check out Captain Cook for more snorkeling. Just google that and I'm sure you'll find some snorkeling groups that will take you to that spot. Go over to the other side of the island and see Rainbow Falls in Hilo, Hawaii. It's such a great trip you both will have a lot of fun!

 

[TheBeav815]

Oh yeah, be sure to catch the sunset every night. Must-see.