Hawaiʻi Island (the Big Island)

The main town of the west coast, with a seafront lined with shops and restaurants. Huliheʻe Palace, a nineteenth-century royal summer home, and Mokuʻaikaua Church face each other across Aliʻi Drive, and nearby Kamakahonu, beside the pier, was where Kamehameha the Great spent his last years.

On the cool, cloudy slopes above Kailua, a narrow belt of small family farms grows Kona coffee, one of the few coffees grown in the United States. The village of Hōlualoa makes a pleasant base, with galleries along the main road, and many farms offer tours and tastings from the tree to the roaster.

TipCheck the label: only coffee labelled "100% Kona" is entirely from the region; "Kona blend" may contain as little as a tenth.

Reef manta rays, with wingspans of up to four metres, gather off the Kona coast at night to feed on plankton drawn by lights. Boat trips from Keauhou Bay and Honokōhau Harbor take snorkellers and divers to watch them loop and somersault just below the surface. It's one of the most memorable wildlife encounters in Hawaiʻi.

TipFloat flat on the surface, keep your hands to yourself and never touch a manta; touching damages the protective coating on their skin. Choose an operator that follows the responsible manta-viewing guidelines.

A deep, sheltered bay and Marine Life Conservation District with some of the clearest water and best snorkelling on the island, and frequent spinner dolphins. In 1779, Captain James Cook was killed here at Kaʻawaloa, on the bay's northern shore, where a white obelisk now stands. Hikiau Heiau, a sacred temple platform, rises behind the beach at Nāpōʻopoʻo.

TipReach the monument by the steep Kaʻawaloa Trail (bring water; there are no facilities) or a guided kayak tour with a State Parks permitted company. Every vessel, even a rented kayak, needs a transit permit, and landing at Kaʻawaloa is not allowed for permitted vessels. Don't walk onto the heiau.

A place of refuge, where those who had broken a kapu (sacred law) could escape death if they reached its walls. A great stone wall separates the puʻuhonua from the royal grounds, and the reconstructed Hale o Keawe temple, guarded by carved kiʻi, once held the bones of chiefs. Palm-fringed lava shoreline, tide pools and green sea turtles complete the scene.

TipNext door, the boat ramp area known as Two Step is a popular snorkelling entry; it's outside the park and gets busy, so go early.

One of very few green-sand beaches in the world, tucked inside the eroded cone of a cinder hill near Ka Lae (South Point), the southern tip of the United States. The colour comes from olivine crystals weathered out of the lava. The land is Hawaiian Home Lands, and the only legitimate way in is a hot, exposed hike of about 4 kilometres each way along the coast.

TipThe paid truck rides offered at the car park are not authorised and have scarred the land with ruts; walk instead. Bring plenty of water and sun protection, take no sand, and be very careful in the water, as currents here are strong.

A crescent of jet-black sand, formed when lava shattered on meeting the sea, fringed with coconut palms. Hawaiian green sea turtles often haul out to rest on the sand, and endangered hawksbill turtles nest here. Cold freshwater springs bubble up near the shore.

TipKeep at least 3 metres from turtles, and never take black sand or stones; removing them is illegal and they are being lost.

The heart of the national park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and home of Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes. Crater Rim Drive and its overlooks look into the vast caldera and Halemaʻumaʻu crater, where episodic lava fountaining has been taking place since December 2024. Between episodes there may be little to see but steam; during one, fountains can rise hundreds of metres, and at night the glow lights the sky. The renovated Kīlauea Visitor Center is due to reopen in late 2026.

TipCheck the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory for the latest activity and the park's alerts page for closures before you go. Overlooks close temporarily when tephra and Pele's hair fall downwind, and in October 2026 the Halemaʻumaʻu Trail and part of Byron Ledge Trail closed because of summit inflation and earthquakes. Parking can be full by mid-morning.

Kīlauea Iki, "little Kīlauea", is a crater whose floor was a lava lake in 1959. A classic loop trail of about 6 kilometres descends through rainforest and crosses the steaming, cracked crater floor. Close by, Nāhuku (Thurston Lava Tube) is a walk-through lava cave reached by a short rainforest trail, reopened in August 2026 after its entrance bridge was replaced.

TipNāhuku is lit from 8am to 8pm; go early or after dark to avoid the crowds, and bring a torch outside those hours.

The road drops about 1,000 metres in 30 kilometres from the summit to the sea, past pit craters, lava flows from different decades and the Puʻu Loa petroglyph field, one of the largest in Hawaiʻi. It ends at the coast, where lava flows cut it off. The Hōlei Sea Arch, long the road's final sight, collapsed into the ocean in September 2026.

TipThere's no fuel, food or water beyond the summit. Stay well back from the sea cliffs, which can collapse without warning.

The island's largest town has a relaxed, old-fashioned feel, with wooden plantation-era shopfronts, a busy farmers market, Japanese-style Liliʻuokalani Gardens and the Pacific Tsunami Museum, which tells the story of the waves that struck the town in 1946 and 1960. ʻImiloa Astronomy Center explains Maunakea's science and Hawaiian voyaging traditions.

Waiānuenue, as it's known in Hawaiian, is a broad waterfall on the Wailuku River on the edge of Hilo, pouring over a lava cave said to be the home of the goddess Hina. Rainbows form in the spray on sunny mornings. It's an easy stop, a short walk from the car park.

A short, paved loop through rainforest of ginger, orchids and bamboo leads to ʻAkaka Falls, plunging 135 metres into a mossy gorge, one of the highest waterfalls in Hawaiʻi that's easy to reach. The park opens daily from 8.30am to 5pm.

TipNon-residents pay per person and for parking, by card only; pay online before you arrive, as mobile signal is weak. Check park notices, as part of the trail has been closed by fallen trees.

At the end of the road through the old sugar town of Honokaʻa, the lookout gazes into Waipiʻo, the "valley of curved water", walled by cliffs nearly 600 metres high, with a black-sand beach at its mouth. It was home to Hawaiian royalty and is still farmed for taro. The lookout is the place for visitors to enjoy it.

TipThe steep road into the valley is closed to visitors under county emergency rules, because of rockfall risk, and is open only to residents in 4WD vehicles; it's also closed to walkers. Visiting the valley floor is possible only on a permitted guided tour; check the current county rules.

The island's northern tip is green ranch country with the small towns of Hāwī and Kapaʻau, full of cafés and galleries in old plantation buildings. Kapaʻau has the original statue of Kamehameha the Great, who was born in this district. The road ends at the Pololū Valley Lookout, with a dramatic view along the sea cliffs; a steep, often muddy trail descends to a boulder beach.

TipParking at Pololū is very limited; the ocean below is dangerous, so don't swim.

A massive stone temple built by Kamehameha in 1790 to 1791, after a prophecy that he would unite the islands if he built a heiau for his war god. It's one of the last major temples built in old Hawaiʻi. A short trail leads past it to the shore, where sharks are sometimes seen cruising offshore.

TipVisitors may not enter the heiau; view it from the trail.

A long, wide beach of white sand on the Kohala Coast, often ranked among the best in the state, with calm water for swimming in summer and good bodyboarding on gentle days. It's the place to rest between sightseeing days on the west side.

TipWinter swells can bring powerful waves and currents; check with the lifeguards.

At 4,207 metres, Maunakea is Hawaiʻi's highest peak, and measured from its base on the ocean floor, the tallest mountain on Earth. It's the most sacred mountain in Hawaiian tradition, and its summit, above the clouds, hosts some of the world's leading astronomical observatories. The Visitor Information Station at 2,800 metres, open daily from 9am to 9pm, is the place to stop, acclimatise and look at the stars.

TipAbove the visitor station, the road is steep and partly unpaved, and only 4WD vehicles are allowed; use low range on the way down. The summit is open from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. Children under 13, pregnant women and people in poor health shouldn't go above the visitor station. Most hire-car contracts don't allow the summit road; join a tour if in doubt.