Things to Do on the Big Island of Hawaii: Where We Ate, Shopped and Explored

I had been to Hawaii twice before this trip, but both times I went to Honolulu. The first was my senior trip in high school. The second was years later when I returned for my honeymoon during my first marriage. I remember Honolulu as beautiful and tropical, of course, but also distinctly urban. In some ways, it felt a little like a tropical Los Angeles, with familiar restaurants, stores, and traffic just surrounded by scenery that instantly reminded you that you were in Hawaii.

The Big Island felt completely different. There were stretches that felt almost rural, with lush greenery, open land, livestock, and far fewer big franchises we're accustomed to seeing at home. We also quickly learned that many local shops and restaurants don't open until later in the day. So this wasn't going to be a vacation built around a packed itinerary. The pace was slower and the island seemed to lend itself naturally to relaxing, wandering and actually vacating.

That worked especially well for this particular trip because we were traveling as a multigenerational family, including my 12-year-old daughter, my five-month-old baby, my autistic brother, and my mom and aunt. We needed enough activity to experience the island without packing every day from morning to night. We ate well, shopped, learned about Hawaiian culture, toured a coffee farm and left plenty of room for naps and pools.

If you're planning a trip to the Big Island, these are the places and experiences from our trip that I would recommend, along with one excursion I'd approach differently. Please note: this isn't an exhaustive guide to everything there is to do on the island. It's what worked for a family that wanted to experience Hawaii without needing a vacation from our vacation when we got home 😂 .

Start Slowly and Enjoy Your Resort

We arrived to thick humidity and heat, grabbed our rental van and headed straight to the resort. By the time we checked in, divided up the rooms and unpacked, no one needed an itinerary. After a long day of traveling with a preteen and a five-month-old, spending our first afternoon in the pool was exactly enough activity.

I would absolutely plan a slow first day again, especially when traveling with children. Hawaii itself is the destination; so sitting outside and lounging in the pool doesn't feel like wasting vacation time. It gave everyone a chance to settle in before we started exploring, and it established the slower pace that ended up defining most of our trip.

Have One Really Nice Dinner

One of our family vacation traditions is choosing one really nice dinner, and for this trip we went to Manta at Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. We wanted somewhere close because it was our first night. We were tired and none of us wanted to navigate unfamiliar roads in the dark. Manta gave us exactly what we wanted: beautiful views, excellent service and food worthy of our one fancy vacation dinner.

I started with sashimi and had ahi fillets for my entrée. And everything was delicious! It was also nice to get dressed up after spending most of the day traveling, unpacking and recovering by the pool. If your family likes to build one special meal into a vacation, I would definitely recommend this restaurant.

Experience a Hawaiian Lūʻau, Even If It Takes Two Tries

Our first attempt at a lūʻau was memorable for all the wrong reasons. Not long after we sat down with our food, it started raining. And this wasn't the casual tropical sprinkle you wait out for a few minutes. It POURED. The staff handed out ponchos and eventually hot towels. But after trying to keep a sleeping Eden dry while realizing Ava was sitting beside me getting soaked, we finally gave up and left.

Thankfully, we were given a rain check and returned on Friday under perfect weather. The second time around, we were able to take photos, enjoy the buffet and actually absorb the cultural demonstrations and performances. I'm glad we went back instead of deciding we'd had enough the first time because experiencing a lūʻau was something I really wanted our family to do while we were there.

Tour Hala Tree Coffee in Captain Cook

One of our outings was a tour of Hala Tree Coffee, a working Kona coffee farm in Captain Cook. The tour itself was shorter and more stationary than I expected, with much of our time spent listening as our guide explained the growing process and pointed things out around the farm. Still, I didn't really mind because the property itself was part of the experience.

The greenery, fragrances and coffee plants made the farm beautiful to simply stand in and take in. Afterward, we sat outside for a tasting of coffee and tea, which I especially appreciated because I don't drink coffee. We had time to browse the little shop, buy souvenirs, use the restroom and take photos before leaving.

Even if you're not a coffee drinker, I would still put a Kona coffee farm on your Big Island itinerary. It gives you a chance to experience something the region is known for while seeing another side of the island. For me, the scenery and slower pace of the farm were just as enjoyable as the tour itself.

Shop and Eat at Queens' Marketplace

A waiter at Manta recommended Queens' Marketplace to us, and I'm glad he did. It's in Waikoloa Beach Resort and has more than 50 shops and restaurants, along with a large food court, so it's an easy place to spend a few hours without needing much of a plan. We wandered around, shopped for gifts and souvenirs, and stopped for lunch.

We ate at Tommy Bahama Marlin Bar, which was one of the surprise food highlights of the trip. I ordered a hot honey chicken sandwich on Hawaiian bread without expecting much from it. And it ended up being one of the best chicken sandwiches I've ever had.

Wander Through Kailua-Kona and Along Aliʻi Drive

Another day, we headed toward the Kona Inn Shopping Village and started at the farmers market, where we bought bracelets, coin purses, compact mirrors and other little souvenirs. From there, we walked along Aliʻi Drive, taking in the ocean views and stopping whenever something caught our attention.

One of our unexpected finds was Mokuʻaikaua Church, the first Christian church established in the Hawaiian Islands. The congregation dates to the arrival of missionaries in Kailua in 1820, while the present stone church was completed in 1837. We hadn't planned to visit it, which made stumbling across a piece of Hawaiian history in the middle of our wandering even more interesting.

We eventually stopped for lunch at Cheeky Tiki. They were out of fresh fish that day because the water had been too choppy for the fishermen to go out. I ordered shrimp with a macadamia nut topping instead, and it was amazing! It had the perfect balance of sweet and savory and ended up being another one of my favorite meals of the trip.

We also wandered into Cacao Cocoon, a small chocolate shop on Aliʻi Drive. Their chocolate is made with single-origin cacao from a family-run Hawaii farm and sweetened with Hawaiian honey. We tasted different cacao and flavor combinations, learned a little about the business, and I left with a cacao and mint chocolate bar.

Eat Breakfast at Kona Biscuit Company

One morning, we went to Kona Biscuit Company at Queens' Marketplace for breakfast. The restaurant specializes in scratch-made biscuits and serves breakfast and lunch, which made it exactly the kind of casual vacation breakfast we were looking for. I built my own breakfast sandwich on a biscuit, and it was both delicious and super filling.

Afterward, we stopped at an ABC Store for a few groceries and other things we needed. I had run out of diapers, because … you know, mom life. That was one of the nice things about not overplanning this trip: ordinary errands didn't feel like they were ruining some tightly scheduled day.

Stop at an Independent Bookstore

We also stopped at Sweet Wind Books & Beads while exploring the island. I didn't end up buying anything because much of what I saw leaned toward nonfiction and spiritual topics that weren't particularly my taste. But it was still a cute place to browse. The surrounding area had roosters wandering around, which was far more entertaining to Ava and Eden than my bookstore browsing anyway.

Research Your Route Before Looking for Turtles

Our one real miss was our attempt to see sea turtles at Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park. We had seen videos online that made getting to the water and seeing turtles look relatively simple. But that wasn't our experience. The route we attempted felt long and difficult for our group, and because we had the lūʻau later that day, we eventually decided to turn around.

It turns out our mistake may have been the route rather than the park itself. The National Park Service says Honokōhau Beach is about a 20-minute walk from the visitor center, while there is a much shorter route of about five minutes from the Honokōhau Harbor entrance. Sea turtles are frequently seen near the beach (although sightings are never guaranteed).

So I wouldn't tell you to skip it. I would tell you not to rely solely on a TikTok video before loading a baby, a preteen and your entire family into a van in search of turtles! 😂 If we went back, I’d research exactly where to park and which route made the most sense for our group before leaving the resort.

Have One Last Good Breakfast

On our final morning, we checked out and had breakfast at Meridia at The Westin Hapuna Beach Resort before heading to the airport. I ordered French toast with coconut syrup, something I don't think I'd ever had before. And the best way I can describe coconut syrup is that it tastes like icing!

After breakfast, we fueled up the van, grabbed Starbucks and headed to the airport. The Kona airport is largely open-air, so even waiting for our flight felt different from heading home through a typical airport terminal. It gave us one last opportunity to sit outside and enjoy Hawaii before boarding the plane back to Los Angeles.

We didn't see everything on the Big Island, and I'm actually glad we didn't try. Traveling with a baby and a preteen meant adjusting plans, taking breaks and occasionally abandoning an excursion altogether. It also gave us enough space to enjoy where we actually were instead of constantly worrying about where we needed to go next.

If I planned the trip again, I would keep that same balance. I would make reservations for the experiences that mattered to us, leave plenty of room between them and assume that at least one plan would go sideways. The Big Island reminded me that sometimes the point of vacation really is to vacate, and I think that's exactly what I needed from this one.