The main tourist centre of Kailua-Kona Town in the centre of the dry and sunny west coast has surprisingly few beach locations along its hotel-lined coastline. Where white sand emerges there are usually crowds, especially at weekends. Of the two small beach spots worthy of mention, Kamekahonu Beach in the heart of town and facing a lovely restored Hawaiian temple is good for swimming. Along Ali'i Drive is the popular White Sands Beach with good swimming and snorkelling - but, every year after the winter storms (Jan-April), the sand gets completely washed away and reappears in May. Further south is Kahalu'u Beach, a rich fishing area about 5 miles to the south of town. The water offshore is shallow and protected and you'll see lots of fish, but the waters a little further out are dangerous with currents and sharks.

kailua waterfront

kailua town

kailua beach

kailua beach

There are several nice sand beach locations a five minute walk north of Kailua Town just beyond Honokohau Marina. Honokohau is a quiet secluded beach popular with nudists and has an interesting ancient Hawaiian temple half submerged in the water. You can walk for almost a mile along the coast here and find natural swimming pools and green turtles.

honokokau marina

honokokau heiau

heiau

kailua beach

Less than 10 minutes north of Kailua Town, just past the airport, are several attractive beaches but neither have safe swimming. Pine Trees is renowned for its wild waters and surfing, whilst Kona Beach State Park is calmer and is a popular fishing spot for locals. Both make nice beach strolls.

The best snorkelling on the Big Island is at Captain Cook (Napoopoo Bay) and Honaunau Bay about 15 miles to the south of Kailua Town, although the beaches here are mostly rocky. This is a rural residential area with several very quiet seaside villages. Ke'ei has a small beach with rock pools and Hookena, a little further south, has a long stretch of grey sand beach which has great swimming and body surfing with showers and camping facilities.

heiau

captain cook

kailua view

lava flow

The South Kona region on the slopes of Mt. Hualalai on the west coast of the Big Island is home to some of the finest small holding coffee farms in the world. Enjoying a perfect coffee growing climate with strong morning sun and light afternoon drizzle, Kona coffee farms and the regional Kona coffee mill make an interesting tour.


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Readers may also be interested in the following destinations:

Cook Islands Travel Guide
Fiji Travel Guide
Samoa Travel Guide
Tonga Travel Guide
Tahiti Travel Guide

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Other Recommended Websites: South Pacific Travel Guides South Pacific Holiday Planner : Cook Islands Holidays ; Fiji Holidays ; Samoa Holidays ; Tonga Holidays ; French Polynesia Holidays ; Hawaii Holidays