Kailua-Kona, HI

A Yelp-verified former #1 restaurant in America tucked into a condo parking lot off Ali'i Drive — the poke here is built from fish delivered that morning, cut to order, and seasoned with combinations like avocado dynamite and spicy garlic sesame that have been refined over years. They never serve yesterday's fish, which means they sell out almost daily.

Twice-winner of Sam Choy's prestigious poke contest, Umekes operates a proper sit-down bar and grill that sources from local fishermen and ranchers — the poke bowls are the draw, but the fresh-catch plates and loco moco hold their own. The industrial-park location keeps the tourist-to-local ratio refreshingly balanced.

A Kona institution that threads the needle between local comfort food and genuinely creative cooking — the menu changes with what local farms and fishermen bring in, and the open-air room on Kuakini Highway fills up most nights with a mix of regulars and visitors. The seafood trio and their rotating fresh-catch preparations are the things to order.

Kona's most atmospheric outdoor bar — literally built on the rocks and sand of Kailua Bay, with tables that get splashed at high tide and sunsets that stop conversation. The food is solid bar fare rather than fine dining, but the setting makes even a simple fish taco feel like a proper event.

The original Kona Brewing taproom before the brand went national — the beers here are brewed on-site and fresher than anything in a mainland can, and the wood-fired pizzas are far better than a brewery restaurant has any right to be. Sit on the lanai with a Pipeline Porter and watch the resident chickens patrol the parking lot.

A locally owned spot on the upper floor of Coconut Grove Marketplace that puts real effort into sourcing — the menu leans into Kona's produce and catches, and the rooftop-style open-air seating gives you a broad view over Ali'i Drive without the waterfront price tag. This is the kind of place locals recommend to people they actually want to feed well.

A long-running waterfront restaurant with a prime view across Kailua Bay and a menu that stays focused on fresh local fish — the rack of lamb and the catch of the day in macadamia nut crust show up regularly in reviews from people who've been coming for years. The setting is genuinely beautiful at sunset, and reservations fill fast for window tables.

A local Filipino-Hawaiian plate lunch spot in the industrial end of Kona that operates on the principle of large portions, cheap prices, and zero pretension — the garlic chicken, pan de sal, and adobo have the kind of reliability that earns a place on the local rotation. Cash-only, order at the counter, find a spot at one of the few tables.

An oceanfront bistro that has anchored the Ali'i Drive morning scene since 1994 — the coffee is 100% Kona estate, the breakfast plates are made from local organic ingredients, and the breezy outdoor seating makes lingering over a second cup genuinely pleasant. It transitions into a solid lunch and dinner menu without losing the relaxed tempo.

A family-owned Thai restaurant that has been on Ali'i Drive since 1991 and earned its staying power through consistent cooking rather than ambiance upgrades — the green curry and pad see ew are calibrated for actual spice levels, not the tourist-adjusted version, and the oceanfront terrace catches the Kona sunset for free with your meal.

A local plate lunch counter north of central Kona, near the Pine Trees surf break, that locals treat as a daily canteen — the spicy garlic chicken, Korean chicken, and fried rice with Portuguese sausage are the things that people drive past other options to reach. The takeout-only setup keeps it unpretentious and quick.

Kona's most polished Japanese fusion restaurant, anchored at Keauhou Shopping Center with a menu that moves between traditional sashimi, creative maki, and cooked seafood with real skill. The happy hour from 4:30–5:30pm is one of the best deals in town — half-price specialty rolls and discounted cocktails in a proper upscale dining room.

The fine-dining sibling to Huggo's on the Rocks — a proper sit-down waterfront restaurant with white tablecloths, a serious wine list, and a menu built around Kona's daily fish haul. The Hook, Line & Sinker fresh-catch preparation changes every day based on what's landed, and the teriyaki steak has been a loyal-customer order for decades.

A toes-in-the-sand beach bar and restaurant at Waikoloa on the Kohala Coast, where the emphasis is firmly on drinking tropical cocktails while watching the water rather than culinary ambition — the fresh fish tacos and grilled catch are genuinely good, and the barefoot atmosphere is exactly what people imagine when they think of Hawaiian beach dining.

The most awarded Kona coffee farm on the island offers a 45-minute paid tour that moves through the orchard and roasting room before ending with a tasting of competition-grade coffees using proper cupping protocols — the difference between this and a casual farm visit is tangible. The beans they sell on-site regularly place in national competitions.

The waterfront bar at the Royal Kona Resort pours the most legitimately tropical cocktail experience in Kailua-Kona — the mai tais are large, properly balanced, and served while you watch the sun drop into the Pacific. The food menu is a notch above standard bar fare, and the outdoor seating extends right to the water's edge.

The most historically loaded hike on the Kona coast descends 1,300 feet through lava fields and kiawe scrub to Kealakekua Bay — where Captain Cook was killed in 1779, and where the snorkeling is among the best in Hawaii. The reward at the bottom is as good as it gets; the price is a steep, exposed return climb in full sun.

A cross-lava scramble north of Kona that leads to one of the most beautiful and isolated white-sand beaches on the island — the 1-mile path across ʻaʻā lava is not difficult but requires attention to footing on uneven ground. The beach itself, with its natural lava pools, is the kind of place you want to keep quiet.

A flat, 2.5-mile coastal walk through the national historical park that connects ancient fishponds, petroglyph fields, and two beaches — easy enough for families, interesting enough to slow down historians and birders alike. Green sea turtles are almost certain on the beach in the afternoon.

A lightly trafficked 3.7-mile loop through native tropical forest inland from Kona that gains real elevation and offers unobstructed panoramic views of the coast from the top — a good antidote to the beach-and-snorkel routine. Endemic Hawaiian birds and plants are the draw for anyone who wants to see the island's interior ecosystem.

A volcanic cinder cone in the Puʻu Waʻawaʻa Forest Reserve inland from the Kona coast, with a summit view that takes in the Kona shoreline, Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and Hualālai all at once. The trail passes through native dryland forest with endemic species, and a unique obsidian outcrop on the flanks is an unexpected geological detail.

A section of the ancient Hawaiian coastal trail along the Kohala Coast connecting Puʻukoholā Heiau to Spencer Beach — roughly 2 miles of lava shelf walking with historical markers, ocean views, and a clean beach at the finish. This is how Hawaiian people traveled the coast for centuries before roads, and the corridor still feels unexpectedly remote.

Kailua-Kona sits above one of the only reliable manta ray feeding grounds in the world — boats anchor over underwater lights at night, which attract plankton, which attract mantas with wingspans up to 14 feet. Floating face-down with reef mantas circling inches below is an experience that stops being describable pretty quickly.

The longest-running locally owned snorkel cruise operation in Kona, running half-day trips to the Red Hill marine sanctuary — a protected reef where the fish have been undisturbed long enough to be genuinely dense and confident around snorkelers. Breakfast and lunch are included, and the boat has a waterslide and high dive that make the return trip its own event.

A family-operated catamaran business since 1971 that holds an exclusive mooring in Kealakekua Bay — which means their passengers snorkel where others can't anchor, in some of the clearest and most fish-dense water on the island. The boat has waterslides, restrooms, and shaded seating, and the crew has been doing this long enough to know where the turtles are.

Kona's most central luau, running out of the King Kamehameha Hotel at the Kailua Pier and covering dances from across Polynesia before capping off with a Samoan fire-knife show. The buffet leans into traditional imu-roasted kalua pig and lomi-lomi salmon, and the oceanfront setting means the show has a natural backdrop.

An annual November festival spread across the Kona Coffee Belt that opens farm gates for tours, hosts a coffee cherry picking contest, and culminates in competitive cupping events where the year's best Kona beans are ranked and sold. Even outside festival season, the Belt's farms offer year-round access — but November is when the whole region leans into it.

The Ironman World Championship starts in Kailua Bay and sends athletes up the Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway through the lava desert to Hawi — the course is public road and open to anyone who wants to cycle or run it on any non-race day. Even as a spectator experience during race week in October, the energy of watching 2,500 athletes on Ali'i Drive is something Kona does unlike anywhere else.

A small coffee-belt village four miles above Kailua-Kona where galleries, studios, and coffee shops occupy old plantation-era buildings along a single main street — the monthly First Friday gallery walk brings everything open at once, but the village rewards a midweek visit when it's genuinely quiet. The elevation means it's 10 degrees cooler than the coast.

Humpback whales migrate from Alaska to Hawaiian waters every winter and Kona's offshore depth allows for sightings surprisingly close to shore — boats typically find animals within 30 minutes of departure and encounters include breaching, spy-hopping, and calf behavior that is hard to witness anywhere else. Multiple operators run trips from Honokohau Harbor.

Kona's most beginner-accessible surf school operates from the gentle break at Kahaluʻu, where the waves are small and consistent enough for first-timers to actually stand up — the same bay that's famous for snorkeling has a section near shore that's been used for surf instruction for decades. The rental shop also outfits bodyboarders and stand-up paddlers.

A Polynesian production set directly on the waterfront of Kailua Bay at the Royal Kona Resort, running four nights a week with a format that traces the settlement of the Pacific from Southeast Asia to Hawaii through dance and music. The bayfront setting is the strongest element — the production itself is traditional luau rather than Broadway.

The public pier at the heart of downtown Kona is free, always open, and positioned to face directly west — the kind of nightly sunset gathering that organically includes local fishermen pulling in their lines, cliff jumpers testing their nerve, and visitors sitting on the seawall with a shave ice. No ticket, no wait, no reason not to show up.

A natural lava breakwater keeps this bay calm and shallow even when the open coast is rough, making it the most reliable beginner snorkel on the Big Island. Green sea turtles haul out on the rocks here with surprising regularity, and the fish density — tangs, parrotfish, Moorish idols — rewards even a short dip.

Hawaiʻi's largest Marine Life Conservation District — decades of no-fishing have produced reef walls packed with fish that swim close enough to touch. Spinner dolphins rest in the bay most mornings, and the obelisk at Kaʻawaloa Cove marks where Captain Cook was killed in 1779, giving the snorkel a strange historical edge.

A two-story lava-rock retreat built in 1838 that became the summer home of Hawaiian royalty — the inside is full of koa furniture, feathered cloaks, and personal effects that read more like an intimate family home than a state museum. Sitting right on Ali'i Drive with the ocean just across the road, it anchors the historic heart of Kailua Village.

Hawaii's oldest Christian church, built from lava rock and coral mortar in 1837, still holds weekly services and anchors the Ali'i Drive streetscape with its 112-foot steeple. After a six-year restoration completed in late 2025, the interior details — hand-hewn ohia beams, antique woodwork — look better than they have in decades.

A reconstructed Hawaiian temple on a small island of land at Kamakahonu, where King Kamehameha the Great spent his final years governing a unified Hawaii. The ki'i akua (temple images) are striking against the blue of Kailua Bay, and the free access from the hotel grounds makes it one of the easiest cultural stops in town.

A 1,160-acre lava-coast park just north of Kona that preserves ancient fishponds, petroglyphs, and heiau used by Hawaiians for centuries — and a mile-long sandy beach that somehow never crowds up. Green sea turtles bask on Honokohau Beach most afternoons, and the light on the black lava fields in the late afternoon is remarkable.

The largest and best-preserved heiau in Hawaii, built by Kamehameha the Great in 1790–91 as the culminating act before unifying the islands — the scale of the dry-stacked stone platform is hard to process until you're standing next to it. Free admission, a thoughtful visitor center, and a coastal view toward Spencer Beach make this one of the most undervisited important sites on the island.

Half a mile of wide, white sand beach with clear, calm water — routinely ranked among the best beaches in the US and the longest white-sand beach on the Big Island. The gradual slope makes it genuinely swimmable, and the southern rocky point offers solid snorkeling when the water is calm.

A fourth-generation family coffee operation in the heart of the Kona Coffee Belt, offering free guided tours that walk you through the orchard, wet mill, roasting room, and a proper cupping — no upsell pressure, just genuine enthusiasm for the crop. Voted Hawaii's Best Farm Tour multiple years running by Hawaii Magazine.

Ancient Hawaii's version of sanctuary: lawbreakers who reached this 'place of refuge' before being caught were absolved, and the royal grounds surrounding it still hold massive stone walls, ki'i akua carvings, and a royal fishpond. The park is compact but packed — two to three hours is enough to read every panel and walk the coastal path.