has an extensive event calendar and handy links to sites and services around the island, not just the Kona side. Those fascinated by the island’s active volcanoes—including Kilauea, which saw dramatic eruptions at its summit and in lower Puna between May and September 2018—should check out the updates, maps, photos, videos, and webcams on the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory website (hvo.wr.usgs.gov), which also tracks the island’s frequent but usually minor earthquake activity.
The Island in Brief
The Kona Coast
Kona means “leeward side” in Hawaiian—and that means hot, dry weather virtually every day of the year on the 70-mile stretch of black lava shoreline encompassing the North and South Kona districts.
North Kona With the exception of the sumptuous but serenely low-key Four Seasons Resort Hualalai
The rightly named Alii (“Royalty”) Drive begins in Kailua-Kona near King Kamehameha’s royal compound at Kamakahonu Bay, which includes the off-limits temple complex of Ahuena Heiau, and continues past Hulihee Palace
Beaches between Kailua-Kona and Keauhou tend to be pocket coves, but heading north toward South Kohala (which begins near the entrance to the Waikoloa Beach Resort), beautiful, uncrowded sands lie out of sight from the highway, often reached by unpaved roads across vast lava fields. Among the steep coffee fields in North Kona’s cooler upcountry, you’ll find the rustic, artsy village of Holualoa.
South Kona The rural, serrated coastline here is indented with numerous bays, from Kealakekua, a marine life and cultural preserve that’s the island’s best diving spot, down to Honaunau, where a national historical park recalls the days of old Hawaii. This is a great place to stay, in modest plantation-era inns or bed-and-breakfasts, if you want to get away from crowds but still be within driving distance of beaches and Kailua-Kona—you may hear the all-night cheeping of coqui frogs, though. The higher, cooler elevation of the main road means you’ll pass many coffee, macadamia nut, and tropical fruit farms, some with tours or roadside stands.
The Kohala Coast
Also on the island’s “Kona side,” sunny and dry Kohala is divided into two distinctively different districts, although the resorts are more glamorous and the rural area that much less developed.
South Kohala Pleasure domes rise like palaces no Hawaiian king ever imagined along the sandy beaches carved into the craggy shores here, from the more moderately priced Waikoloa Beach Resort at Anaehoomalu Bay to the posher Mauna Lani and Mauna Kea resorts to the north. Mauna Kea is where Laurance Rockefeller opened the area’s first resort in 1965, a mirage of opulence and tropical greenery rising from bleak, black lava fields, framed by the white sands of Kaunaoa Beach and views of the mountain. But you don’t have to be a billionaire to enjoy South Kohala’s fabulous beaches and historic sites (such as petroglyph fields); all are open to the public, with parking and other facilities (including restaurants and shopping) provided by the resorts.
Several of the region’s attractions are also located off the resorts, including the white sands of Ohaiula Beach at Spencer Park
Keck Observatory in Mauna Kea
Waimea (Kamuela) & Mauna Kea Officially part of South Kohala, the old upcountry cow town of Waimea on the northern road between the coasts is a world unto itself, with rolling green pastures, wide-open spaces dotted by pu’u (cindercone hills, pronounced “pooh-ooh”) and real cowpokes who work mammoth Parker Ranch, the state’s largest working ranch. The postal service gave it the name Kamuela, after ranch founder Samuel (Kamuela) Parker, to distinguish it from another cowboy town, Waimea, Kauai. It’s split between a “dry side” (closer to the Kohala Coast) and a “wet side” (closer to the Hamakua Coast), but both sides can be cooler than sea level. It’s also headquarters for the Keck Observatory, whose twin telescopes atop the nearly 14,000-foot Mauna Kea
North Kohala Locals may remember when sugar was king here, but for visitors, little-developed North Kohala is most famous for another king, Kamehameha the Great. His birthplace is a short walk from one of the Hawaiian Islands’ largest and most important temples, Mookini Heiau
Once the center of the Big Island’s sugarcane industry, Hawi remains a regional hub, with a 3-block-long strip of sun-faded, false-fronted buildings holding a few shops and restaurants of interest to visitors. Eight miles south, Lapakahi State Historical Park
The Hamakua Coast
This emerald coast, a 52-mile stretch from
