For teenagers, the Big Island is the best of the four main Hawaiian islands. An active volcano, swimming with manta rays, the summit of Mauna Kea, ziplines and surf: the things a 13 to 18 year old wants are all here.
Each of those outings has its own minimum age or height. Some want 13 and up, some a height minimum or a confident swimmer, so check your teen against the specific tour before you build a day around it.
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Manta ray night snorkel
Start with the manta ray night snorkel. Boats leave the Kona coast after dark, and you hold a lighted float at the surface while the rays feed below you. A confident teen swimmer who can climb a boat ladder unassisted is fine, though check the operator: at least one sets a 16-year floor for guests coming without an adult. If your teen is a certified diver, they can do the scuba version instead, down on the sand under the action.
Mauna Kea
The summit stargazing tours on Mauna Kea take ages 13 and up, the cutoff set by the altitude at nearly 14,000 feet. Guides drive you above the clouds for sunset, then run a telescope star show after dark. Dress for cold: it can be near freezing at the top while the coast is still warm.
If the 13-and-up cutoff rules out someone in your group, book a lower-elevation tour instead. The stargazing tours that stay below 9,000 feet don’t carry that altitude cutoff, and you see more stars from there anyway. The summit closes to visitors half an hour after sunset, and the thin air up there dims night vision in particular: the eye’s low-light cells need more oxygen than daytime sight does.
Adventure on land
Ziplines cross the Hāmākua gulches on the Hilo side. ATV tours and horseback rides run through the ranch country around Waimea and the north, and a couple of outfitters will rappel you down a waterfall. The minimum age or height varies most here, so check each outfitter against your teen before you book.
In the water
Kahaluʻu Bay south of Kona is the easiest place to get a teen snorkeling with green sea turtles, though the entry is over lava rock. It’s also one of the best places on the island to learn to surf: the waves inside the bay are gentle, and the Kona surf schools will get a first-timer standing up in a morning.
Kealakekua Bay has the clearest snorkeling on the island, but self-guided kayakers can’t land at the cove. You go in on a permitted kayak tour or on a snorkel boat, which needs no permit on your side.
For a first breath underwater, Torpedo Tours takes uncertified beginners from age 10 on a guided intro dive from its morning boat: two dives to 40 feet, as long as your teen can already swim and snorkel. Book it early in the trip, because for 18 to 24 hours afterwards there’s no flying and no driving above 2,000 feet, which rules out Waimea, Volcano, and the Saddle.
The volcano and the longer hikes
Teenagers get the most out of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, because they can do the hikes a younger kid can’t. Walk down onto the Kīlauea Iki crater floor and you’re on ground that still steams from vents, instead of looking at it from a pullout.
You might catch glowing lava or you might not: it depends on whether Kīlauea is erupting, so check the park’s daily volcano update the morning you go. If an episode is running, come back to the overlooks after dark for the glow off the crater.
Rooms, food, and the budget
The room is the one place a teen trip costs more than a trip with little kids. A toddler shares your bed. A teenager usually wants their own, so you’re paying for a second room, a suite, or a condo with two bedrooms, and that’s the biggest single line in the budget. Price it before you book flights.
Almost everything else is easier. Teens handle the long drives and the full days, so you’re not planning around naps and you can fit more into each one. They eat like adults, so renting a condo with a kitchen and doing one Costco run keeps the food bill down.
You don’t need a resort for a teen trip. Put the money into the room you need and two or three of the big outings, and book the manta ray snorkel and Mauna Kea early because they sell out. Leave room to let a good day run long. Our full family guide has the where-to-stay and driving details for the whole trip.