Jun 26, 2023

What to do in Kona Hawaii | Big Island Travel Blog

Our favorite place in Hawaii so far is Kona on Hawaii Island, or Big Island! It is such a fun town. And, there is so much to do! From boat excursions to snorkeling, to dining, Kona has it all and then some. Big Island is split into two main sides with different climates. The Kona side is a drier climate with calmer seas. The Hilo side is a wet rainforest climate with rougher ocean waters. For this blog post, we'll be focusing on the Kona (and Volcano) side of the island. For our best things to do in Hilo, click here. For Honolulu/Waikiki/Oahu, click here.

This list will be added onto as we explore more of Kona Hawaii! If you have faves, leave them in the comments!

Snorkeling - Our favorite Hawaii activity is snorkeling! Big Island is famous for some really great snorkeling spots with lots of cool fish and big reefs. For a beginner spot, we liked Kahalu'u Beach Park. It's an enclosed-ish shallow reef with lots of tropical fish feeding. Other spots we loved were Two Step Beach, our personal favorite for the visibility due to lack of sand, and Pahoehoe Beach Park. They are a bit deeper and open ocean.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park - This isn't in Kona, but I wanted to include it in this list because it's a can't miss activity! Volcano, Hawaii is about an hour and a half from Kona. There is so much to do in the park! We loved seeing the active volcano, Kilauea, and hiking through Thurston Lava Tube.

Manta Ray Night Snorkeling - If you're going to do an excursion on Big Island, I highly recommend Manta Ray Night Snorkeling! At first it seemed a little scary, but as I read more about it, I was so excited to try it. Even my mom, who hates swimming and doesn't snorkel, loved it. Hang Loose Boat Tours took us out on the ocean at sunset, and we ended up seeing 25-30 mantas! The average is 1-2. We swam out to floating platforms and they swam within inches of our faces. It was such an amazing experience.

Downtown Kona - The cutest little town we saw! There are little shops, restaurants and parks in downtown Kona. We were lucky enough to dine at sunset with a great view. There is an ABC store where you can get anything from snacks to souvenirs, and lots of other really cool shops.

Captain Cook Monument - The only piece of British soil in America is at the Captain Cook Monument, honoring the first non-native explorer to land on the Hawaiian Islands. There are also a few native Hawaiian monuments in the area that are really cool to learn about.

Royal Kona Luau - We liked the Voyagers of the Pacific Royal Kona Luau at the Royal Kona Resort! You'll enjoy luau performances for a few hours right next to the ocean. The resort is beautiful. There's an all you can eat buffet with classics such as Kalua Pork, fish, beef, pineapple, and much more, plus an open bar. We were gifted a shell lei each as well! Pro tip: if you want a floral lei as well, head to the Kona Walmart before the luau where they are very inexpensive.

Kona Brewing Co - Kona Brewing Co has some seriously amazing pizza. We loved it! The atmosphere is so cool, with lots of tropical plants and lights. They even have a little shop in the restaurant! You can eat outdoors or indoors. I got the Garlic pizza, and it was amazing. Highly recommend!

Get professional vacation photos done - There is no better Hawaii souvenir than professional photos! I love going to a gorgeous location and being able to have fun, get dressed up, and have someone take photos so I don't have to worry about it. Daylen and I travel all of the time for photos and we love it! Click here for more info.