Kailua-Kona to Hilo runs 1 hour 32 minutes over Saddle Road. The north-coast highway, the route that looks obvious on a map, is 92.5 miles and 1 hour 47 minutes. Saddle Road is 15 minutes faster. This map covers roughly 36 miles of leeward coast, from the Puakō petroglyphs down to Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau, with the towns and stops in between.
Start with the 13 minutes and 8.2 miles from KOA to Kailua-Kona town. Then check the far end: Hawaiʻi Volcanoes is 2 hours 8 minutes over Saddle Road, so budget a full day for it.
Table of contents
- Map of Kona
- Where Kona is on the Big Island, and how the coast is laid out
- Drive times from Kailua-Kona to everywhere else (with table)
- The towns along the Kona coast, north to south
Interactive Map of Kona
Details and map locations below last verified July 2026.
| Name | Type | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| 1Puakō Petroglyph Field | Sight | North of the airport, near Puakō |
| 2Waikoloa Petroglyph Field | Sight | North of the airport, at Waikoloa |
| 3Kona International Airport (KOA) | Airport | 13 min and 8.2 miles to Kailua-Kona town |
| 4Mountain Thunder Coffee Plantation | Farm tour | Free tours daily, 9:30am to 3:30pm |
| 5Hula Daddy Kona Coffee | Farm tour | Tours $35, reservation only, Mon to Fri |
| 6Kona Brewing Company | Food & drink | Brewery tours daily, 12pm to 5pm |
| 7Fish Hopper | Food & drink | On Aliʻi Drive, serves breakfast |
| 8Kona Farmers Market | Food & drink | Wednesday to Sunday, 7am to 4pm |
| 9Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory | Farm tour | Tours Wed and Fri, 9am and 11am, $30 |
| 10Kahaluʻu Beach Park | Snorkeling | 14 min south of Kailua-Kona on Aliʻi Drive |
| 11Kona Joe Coffee | Farm tour | Tours from $30, open daily 8am to 4:30pm |
| 12Kealakekua Bay | Snorkeling | 33 min south of Kailua-Kona |
| 13Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau (Two Step) | Snorkeling | 37 min south of Kailua-Kona |
What’s on the map
The most repeated piece of Kona folklore is that the coffee farm tours are free. One farm still is. Mountain Thunder runs its tour daily at no charge, and everyone else now takes a card at the door, so check the price before you build a morning around a tasting. Two of the four farms pinned here will not let you in without a reservation. Our Kona coffee farm tour guide compares 15 farms on price and on what you see.
One address to get right. Kona Brewing Company‘s pub is on Pawai Place, behind the highway, not on Aliʻi Drive where people go looking for it.
The snorkel pins run south: Kahaluʻu Beach Park, Kealakekua Bay, and Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau, where the entry is the Two Step lava shelf. North of the airport, the Puakō and Waikoloa petroglyph fields are pinned. For eating, our Kona restaurants guide has 15 places we go back to, and the Kona Farmers Market on Aliʻi Drive is the easiest stop of the lot.
The map pins no hotels. Use our Kona hotels and accommodation guides instead, which are kept current in a way a map pin cannot be.
Looking for another part of the Big Island? We also have interactive maps of Waimea, Volcano Village, and Hilo.
Where Kona is, and how the coast is laid out
Land at Kona International Airport and the ocean is on your right, with town 13 minutes south. It rarely rains on this side of the island.
Kona sits on the dry, leeward west side. Kailua-Kona, the town, runs 70 to 80°F year round and gets about 27 inches of rain in a year. The wet, green half of the island lives on the other side, and Hilo is 1 hour 32 minutes away over Saddle Road. The waterfalls and rainforest in the photos sit an hour and a half away, over the middle of the island.
The coast runs north to south along the water, and the map above covers about 36 miles of it, from the Puakō petroglyph field in the north down to Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau in the south. The airport sits in the middle of that stretch, 8.2 miles north of Kailua-Kona town.
North of the airport is the resort coast. South of town is where the snorkeling and the historic sites are.
How long it takes to drive anywhere from Kailua-Kona
Saddle Road is the fast way to Hilo, 1 hour 32 minutes and 77.6 miles across the middle of the island. The north-coast highway covers 92.5 miles in 1 hour 47 minutes.
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is 2 hours 8 minutes and 103 miles over Saddle Road, or 2 hours 11 minutes and 94.2 miles going south down Highway 11 along the coast. Three minutes apart. Driving out over Saddle Road and back on Highway 11 costs you three minutes and shows you two different halves of the island. Drive Highway 11 down and Highway 11 back and you see the same 94 miles twice.
| From Kailua-Kona | Drive time | Distance | Route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kahaluʻu Beach Park | 14 min | 4.9 miles | Aliʻi Drive |
| Keauhou Bay | 17 min | 7.7 miles | Kuakini Highway |
| Kona International Airport (KOA) | 13 min | 8.2 miles | Highway 19 |
| Hōlualoa | 23 min | 9.0 miles | Palani Road, then Highway 180 |
| Kealakekua Bay | 33 min | 16.6 miles | Kuakini Highway, then Nāpōʻopoʻo Road |
| Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau (Two Step) | 37 min | 22.3 miles | Kuakini Highway, then Highway 11 |
| Waikoloa Beach Resort | 34 min | 25.7 miles | Highway 19 |
| Waimea | 53 min | 39.2 miles | Highway 190 |
| Hilo | 1 hr 32 min | 77.6 miles | Highway 190, then Saddle Road |
| Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park | 2 hr 8 min | 103 miles | Saddle Road |
The towns along the Kona coast
Kona is a string of small places along one coast road, and where you sleep changes what your week looks like.
Start north of the airport. Waikoloa Beach Resort, 34 minutes out, is where the Kohala resort coast begins: the big-hotel end of the island. Waimea is the outlier. It sits inland at 53 minutes, up in cool ranch country with no water in sight.
Kailua-Kona is the main town and the default answer. Aliʻi Drive is the waterfront strip, and it’s where you’ll sleep and eat unless you have a reason not to.
Hōlualoa is 23 minutes straight upslope, into the coffee belt. You look down at the coast from up there instead of standing on it.
South of town the drives stay short. Kahaluʻu is 14 minutes down Aliʻi Drive, and it’s the snorkeling beach park. Keauhou, 17 minutes south, is the resort-and-marina end of the coast. Both are close enough to snorkel from a Kailua-Kona base and be back before the day heats up.
Kealakekua and Captain Cook sit above Kealakekua Bay, 33 minutes south. Hōnaunau is 37 minutes south, and it holds Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau and the Two Step snorkel entry.
The practical read: base in Kailua-Kona and every stop between Waikoloa and Hōnaunau is inside 40 minutes. Waimea, inland at 53, is the exception. Hilo and the volcano are day trips. Base at Waikoloa and you’ve added roughly half an hour to every southern snorkel stop, each way. Our Kona beaches guide covers what is worth the drive at each end.