Where the island is still growing.
Manta rays after dark, Kilauea’s glow, coffee on the Kona slopes and the long climb to the Mauna Kea stars: what each one is really like, what it costs, and where to book.
Seven you won’t regret booking.
First trip or fifth, these carry the week: the manta ray night swim everyone comes home talking about, Kilauea after dark, and the reef at Kealakekua where the water turns to glass.
Kona Manta Ray Snorkel Tour in Keauhou Harbor
Night manta ray snorkeling in Keauhou Harbor with a small boat, a 150,000 lm light board, and a return-free guarantee.
From $25 per person
Read the review →
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★ 5.0Books out fastKONA Manta Ray Night Snorkel – FREE re-ride if no SightingsFrom $492,212 reviews
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Kilauea is why you came.
Drive down to the caldera, walk out through a lava tube, then time it so the crater is glowing red once the sky goes dark. It is a long day from either coast, and it is the one people plan the whole trip around.
Kona side or Hilo side?
The island splits in two: a dry, sunny west coast and a wet, green east. Where you base decides your week. Here is what each side does best, all of it already reviewed and priced.
The west coast
The Kona side
4 hours (approx.) · from $85 · 34 tours
Sun almost every day and the calmest reef water on the island. This is snorkel and manta country: Kealakekua Bay, the Captain Cook monument, coffee farms up the Hualalai slope and the sunset sails out of the harbour.
See the Kona coast →
The volcano
Down to Kilauea
11 hours (approx.) · from $264 · 70 tours
The reason the island is famous. Steam vents, lava tubes and a caldera that glows after dark, about ninety minutes from Hilo and a good deal further from Kona. Give it a full day and start early.
See the volcano tours →
The east coast
The Hilo side
11 hours (approx.) · from $264 · 39 tours
Rain feeds the waterfalls, so the windward side stays greener and wilder: Akaka Falls, the Hamakua gulches, rainforest ziplines and black sand where the honu haul out. Bring a jacket and take it slow.
See the Hilo side →
The island’s second shift.
When the sun drops, the water off Kona fills with manta rays feeding under the lights, the summit sky turns to stars, and Kilauea starts to glow. The best of the island happens after dinner.
The reef does the rest.
Warm, clear, full of turtles and, some nights, manta rays. Three easy ways into the water off the Kona coast, from the Kealakekua reef to a raft over the drop-off.
Coffee, cacao and a long lunch.
The only US soil where coffee and chocolate both grow. Tour the farms up the Kona slope, taste your way down the row, then stay out for the luau once the sun drops.
Slow down on the wet coast.
The windward side trades sun for rainforest: waterfalls stacked up the Hamakua gulches, ziplines over the canopy, and Waipio Valley dropping straight to a black beach. This is the half of the island people forget to plan.
Seven corners of one island.
It runs from the Kona coast to Hilo’s rain, up to the Mauna Kea summit and down to the black sand at Punalu’u. Each corner is a day, and each one is here.
Know what you’re after?
Twelve ways to spend a day on the island. Pick the one that sounds like you and every option behind it is already reviewed and priced.
Your first three days here.
The island is bigger than it looks, so a first trip works best in blocks: one coast, then the volcano, then the other coast. This is the order we would hand a friend flying into Kona tomorrow.
Day 1
Ease in on the Kona side
A morning snorkel at Kealakekua Bay, coffee up the hill in the afternoon, then the manta ray night swim once the lights come on. Warm water, no rush.
Plan day one →
Day 2
Down to the volcano
The long drive south to Kilauea: lava tubes, steam vents and the caldera overlook, timed so the crater is glowing red by the time you turn for home.
Plan day two →
Day 3
Cross to the wet side
The green east coast for Akaka Falls and the Hamakua gulches, a zipline over the canopy, and black sand at the end of the day. Bring a jacket.
Plan day three →
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