Kona HI area with teenagers
We are planning a trip to the Big Island of Hawaii which includes two days in Kona before we head to Naalehu. I'd love some suggestions as to where to stay in Kona and what to do with two teenage boys, ages 14 and 17. Mahalo!
Jun 14, 2021
Parent Replies
We visited Kona with teen boys in December 2019 and their absolute favorite thing was a night snorkel with manta rays - they still talk about it. There are several companies that do it; we used https://konaoceanadventures.com. Be aware that sometimes the outing gets postponed due to high seas, so you have to be a little flexible - we ended up going a day later than we had planned. We also rented snorkel gear for the week and hit up beaches around the island, which they enjoyed - I'd say overall the water/beach stuff was their favorite part of Kona. We drove to Volcanoes National Park and hiked across the caldera there, which was cool, if you have time (although I'm not sure how the recent-ish eruptions have affected availability). Tours of coffee or cacao plantations can be fun depending on your kids - I'm not sure what's near Kona. We just stayed at a bare-bones AirBNB in Kona, since we planned to spend most of our time outside. Have fun!
If for some reason you end up down by the Place of Refuge, aka Pu'uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park, 22 miles south of Kona, there is a great snorkeling spot one block away. It's called Two Step. It's not the easiest water access, you have to step down from a lava shelf, and climb back up when you come out, but it's not too hard to do unless the waves are really strong.
The Place of Refuge itself I found very interesting, but not sure teenage boys would. Lots of info about Hawaiian culture, taboo rules, etc.
Snorkel cruise, rent kayaks or SUPs, eat shave ice. If pool access is not a big thing for you, lots of options in town or closer to town (as opposed to the South Kohala resort plexes) would probably be more fun for the teens.