Kailua Kona boasts perfect weather, beautiful beaches and tons of outdoor activities. This makes Kona the most popular destination on the Big Island, and you definitely should try to include at least a couple of days of Kona (or more in general: the west coast of the Big Island) in to your itinerary.

These are our unmissable activities for Kailua Kona:

Beaches

Mauna Kea beach and Hapuna beach are two of the most popular white sand beaches on the west side of the Big Island, but there are many more beaches to explore. Don’t forget to pick up some snorkeling sets at the local supermarket to bring along with you, because everywhere where there is water you can snorkel. Many of the snorkeling spots around Kailua Kona can be found in our favorite snorkeling spots on the Big Island

Manta Ray night dive

The one activity that absolutely all people keep raving about is the manta ray night dive.  This is a nightly diving or snorkeling excursion where enormous but harmless manta rays are attracted by shining a big light onto the water (which attracts the plankton that the manta rays feed on). You will float between them as they play and feed and come so close you could touch them if you wanted to.

You do not have to be a scuba diving die-hard to see the manta-rays.If you join a snorkeling tour very little experience is needed, and you still will get to see a very big part of the “show”.

Kona Coffee

The slopes of the volcanoes around Kona are home to the world famous Kona coffee, so if you are into coffee try to visit a Kona coffee farm. You can of course also get a fresh cup of Kona coffee in town If you are not that much into coffee but still want to know what all the fuzz is about.