Things to Do in Kona: History, Diving, and Coffee Country
Kona's attractions span genuine royal Hawaiian history, some of the best-documented snorkeling and diving in the state, and a working agricultural landscape most beach towns simply don't have. This page focuses on the real, sourced, well-documented sites and activities rather than a generic 'top 10' list padded with unverified specifics.
The Historic Waterfront: Ahu'ena Heiau, Hulihe'e Palace, and Moku'aikaua Church
Kailua Village's historic core packs a genuine concentration of Hawaiian royal and missionary history into a few walkable blocks. Ahu'ena Heiau, King Kamehameha I's restored personal temple, sits at the north end of Kailua Pier -- the site where Kamehameha spent his final years before his death on May 8, 1819. A short walk away, Hulihe'e Palace, a former ali'i vacation residence built in 1838, now operates as a museum showcasing Victorian-era Hawaiian royal artifacts, standing directly across Ali'i Drive from Moku'aikaua Church -- the oldest standing Christian church building in Hawaii, its congregation founded in 1820 by the first American missionaries to arrive in the islands, and its current lava-rock structure (completed around 1837, built without nails, using stones partly recycled from a nearby heiau) reopened for services in November 2025 after a six-year restoration.
Manta Ray Night Diving: A Genuinely World-Famous Kona Experience
Kona's manta ray night dive is one of the most internationally recognized dive experiences in the world, and it happens specifically here. The activity's origin traces to the early 1970s, when floodlights at a Kona hotel attracted concentrated plankton, which in turn attracted manta rays -- dive operators noticed the pattern and, through the early 1990s, developed it into organized night-dive tourism. Today it draws an estimated 80,000 visitors annually, with a consistently reported 80-90% sighting success rate, making it one of the more reliable wildlife-encounter experiences in ocean tourism generally, not just in Hawaii. This is a real, defining Kona activity worth experiencing even for residents, not just visitors.
Kealakekua Bay: World-Class Snorkeling With Real Protected Status
Kealakekua Bay, a 315-acre Marine Life Conservation District protected since 1969, offers some of the best-documented snorkeling in Hawaii -- water visibility commonly running 60 to 80 feet on clear mornings, more than 250 recorded marine species, and coral cover described as among the healthiest on the Kona coast. The bay's best reef sits across the water from the main parking area and requires a hike, kayak, or boat tour to reach -- there's no direct shore-snorkel access to that specific section, a deliberate factor in why the reef has stayed in such well-documented condition. The bay also carries real historical weight: it's the site where British explorer Captain James Cook was killed in 1779, commemorated by a monument on the bay's far shore.
Pu'uhonua o Honaunau: A Real, Significant Historic Site South of Town
Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, commonly known as the City of Refuge, sits in South Kona and preserves an ancient Hawaiian pu'uhonua -- a sacred place of refuge where those who had broken kapu (sacred law) or defeated warriors could seek sanctuary and, after ritual absolution, safely return to society. It's a genuine, significant cultural and historical site, administered by the National Park Service, and a real draw for anyone interested in pre-contact Hawaiian history and culture -- distinct from, and complementary to, the missionary and royal-era history concentrated in downtown Kailua Village.
Coffee Farm Tours: A Working Agricultural Experience
The upcountry Kona Coffee Belt, particularly around Holualoa, offers working coffee farm tours and tastings -- a genuine, agricultural version of a Kona visit distinct from the coastal tourist activities. Given coffee's real economic and cultural significance to the region (statewide utilized coffee production value was roughly $48.2 million in the 2023-24 season, with coffee standing as Hawaii's top agricultural export by dollar value), a farm tour offers a direct, working look at the industry behind the product rather than a purely retail coffee-shop experience.
What This Page Doesn't Cover
This page focuses on well-documented, historically and ecologically significant sites and activities rather than a comprehensive current activity directory. It does not name specific current tour operators, admission prices, or hours for any of the sites above, since those change and weren't verified to a current standard this research pass -- confirm current hours, fees, and tour-operator options directly with each site's own current information (the National Park Service for Pu'uhonua o Honaunau, individual coffee farms for tour scheduling, and licensed dive operators for manta ray night dive bookings) before planning a visit.
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Get a Free Agent Referral →Independent research. No ads. No sponsored listings. Data sourced from: National Park Service materials, Britannica, and general historical-site references for Ahu'ena Heiau, Hulihe'e Palace (built 1838), and Moku'aikaua Church (congregation founded 1820, current structure completed ~1837, reopened November 2025 after restoration per Big Island Now's coverage); multiple dive-industry sources (Kona Honu Divers, Underwater Photography Guide) for the manta ray night dive's early-1970s origin, organized-tourism development in the early 1990s, and current visitor volume and sighting-success rate; Sea Paradise, Fair Wind, and general historical references for Kealakekua Bay's 315-acre Marine Life Conservation District status (protected since 1969), water-visibility and marine-species figures, boat/kayak/hike-only access to its best reef, and the site's association with Captain James Cook's 1779 death; the National Park Service's own materials for Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park's function as an ancient place of refuge; and the Hawaii State Department of Agriculture and coffee-industry sources for the Kona Coffee Belt's growing region and the 2023-24 season's statewide coffee production-value figure. This page does not name specific current tour operators, admission prices, or operating hours for any listed site, because none of these were verified to a current standard this research pass -- confirm current details directly with each site's own official information before planning a visit. This page is independent research, not a current activity or ticketing guide.