Kona Surfing

Big Island Surf Spots

Best Kona Surf Spots

Kona, Big Island

Kona Big Island Waves

Most of the best surfing on this island happens along a five-mile stretch of Aliʻi Drive. Heʻe nalu was once reserved for aliʻi, and it is still one of the clearest through-lines from old Hawaiʻi to how people live here now. Not everyone in Kona surfs. Almost everyone in Kona watches.

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↗ Kona, heart of the Big Island’s surfing culture

How to Read The Kona Coast

Kona surf is reef surf. There is very little sand under most of these breaks; the takeoffs are steeper than what people are used to, and the difference between a good day and a bad one is not always visible from the parking lot. What gets called intermediate on the mainland is not always intermediate here.

The upside is that there is something working almost every day of the year, and the spots sort themselves cleanly by ability. Kahaluʻu for learning, Pine Trees for range, Banyans, Lyman’s, and Honl’s when you know what you are doing. Sunrise at Pine Trees and sunset at Lyman’s are two of the better free things available on this island.

Best Kona Surf Spots

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Kahalu‘u

Kahaluʻu is where many locals and visitors learned to surf, and it is still the best place in Kona to start. A protected reef bay in Keauhou with a gentle, forgiving wave and a lifeguard tower, which is a rare combination here. Surf schools work at the beach park, from Kahaluʻu Surf and Sea across the road to parked vans along the Ali‘i. The reef is shallow and sharp, so booties are not a bad idea.

  • Beginner, Plus Lessons Available
  • Keauhou, Ali‘i Drive
  • Reef Bay, Gentle
  • Kahalu‘u Surf Forecast
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Pine Trees

Kohanaiki Beach Park, which nobody local calls it this (Just call it Pine Trees, or Pines). One of the most consistent breaks in Kona, with several peaks along the shoreline and something rideable for most skill levels. Commercial lessons are not permitted here, so come with some experience already. It is also the island’s best-known camping beach, and weekend family surf trips out here go back generations.

  • Beginner, Intermediate
  • Kohanaiki, Near Airport
  • Multiple Surf Peaks
  • Pine Trees Surf Forecast

Banyans

The heart of the Kona surf scene and the break where the island’s talent comes up. On any decent day you will see kids who are going to be very good someday trading waves with people who already are. On big days the barrels over the reef are worth watching from the seawall even if you have no intention of paddling out. Deep local lineup, so read the water and wait your turn.

  • Advanced, Local Favorite
  • Kailua-Kona, Ali‘i Drive
  • Reef Break
  • Banyans Surf Forecast

Honl’s

A reef break just south of Historic Kailua Village that works year-round, with rights and lefts off the same peak. Easy to reach, easy to park, and there are picnic tables, grass, and shade right there, which makes it the one I point families toward when somebody in the group surfs, and the rest do not. It is not a beginner wave, though. Experienced surfers only.

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Lyman’s

A long left point break and one of the prettier waves on this coast. It picks up the winter swells and can run a long line across the bay, though it holds up reasonably well the rest of the year too. When it gets big, this is where the good Kona surfers turn up. Sunset from the wall here is one of the reasons people fall for Aliʻi Drive in the first place. And if you just want to spectate, this is a convenient option.

Magic Sands

Laʻaloa Beach Park, known to everyone as Magic Sands for the way the sand disappears on a big winter swell and comes back later in the year. The shorebreak is a bodyboarding and bodysurfing wave more than a board wave, and it is genuinely powerful, with a long history of neck and shoulder injuries. Lifeguarded, which matters here. Watch it a while before you decide.

Penn Henderson, R(S)

Twenty-Five Years on The Kona Coast

I have lived just a few minutes from these surf spots since 2001, and I am in the ocean most weeks of the year. I know which breaks are working before I get there, best places to park, and which stretch of Aliʻi Drive gets quiet in the afternoon and which one never does. That is not surf knowledge exactly. It is knowing a coastline.

It turns out to be the useful kind. When somebody calls me about a place on Aliʻi Drive, the questions underneath are almost always about the water. How close is the ocean? Can I surf, dive, or snorkel? Is the shoreline accessible or eroding? What does a big winter swell actually do to this building? I can answer those firsthand, having lived here for decades.

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↗ Iconic Ali‘i Drive, Kailua-Kona

Kona Surfing

Surf Safe, Surf With Aloha

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Surf Safe

Never surf alone, and when in doubt, do not go out. Check conditions before you paddle, because the water here changes fast, and what looks calm from the parking lot often isn’t. Know the hazards: strong currents, sharp reef, rocks, and, on rare occasions, sharks. Check forecasts, take a lesson, talk to locals first.

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Surf Etiquette

Do not drop in on somebody else’s wave. Before you paddle for one, look behind and to the side to see whether it is already taken, and look ahead before you take off. If you are new, stay inside and closer to shore, especially when it is big. Respect for the ocean and for the people who grew up in it goes a long way here.

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Surf Lessons

If you are starting out, a certified local school is the safest and by far the most enjoyable way in. They bring the foam-top longboards, the rash guards, and the local knowledge you cannot get from a forecast. Kahaluʻu Surf and Sea, Hawaii Lifeguard Surf Instructors, and Kona Town Surf Adventures all work this coast.

What Ocean Enthusiasts Ask Before Buying

The question I get most on this coast is some version of how close the water is, and it is never really about distance. It is about whether you can carry a board across the street, whether the noise from Aliʻi Drive reaches the lanai, whether the sunset lines up with your living room from November through February.

Then there is the part nobody thinks to ask about until later. Shoreline setback rules, what a big winter swell does to a seawall, how a building has handled surge historically, what salt air does to everything metal in a unit. Those answers exist. I can pull the actual history on a specific property and tell you what you are buying into before you write an offer.

Property Questions?
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Love the Ocean? Here’s Where to Buy in Kona:

Kailua-Village & Ali‘i Drive

Honl’s, Banyans, and Lyman’s are all inside a two-mile stretch. Walk or ride to the break with a board under your arm. Mostly condos, so check board storage.

Keauhou

Kahaluʻu is right here, which makes this the natural choice for families with somebody learning. Quieter than town, with more residential inventory.

Kaiminani

Above the highway with a straight run down to Kohanaiki and Pine Trees. Larger lots, more land, and you are out of the visitor traffic on Aliʻi Drive.

Holualoa

Ten cool minutes above the coast. You give up the walk to the water, and you get elevation, quiet, and a view of every swell line coming in from up there.

FAQ

Common Questions About Surfing In Kona

It has real waves, and it is not the North Shore, and being straight about that matters. The island is young geologically, so there is less reef structure and fewer well-formed points than on Oahu or Maui, and much of the coastline is steep lava rather than gentle sand bottom. What Kona does have is a handful of consistent breaks, warm water year-round, uncrowded days that would be unthinkable elsewhere in Hawaii, and swell windows that keep something rideable on the calendar most months. Surfers who move here adjust their expectations and then find they surf more often than they used to.

Kahaluu Bay in Keauhou is the most accessible and the most forgiving, and it is where most people here learn. Banyans, just south of Kailua-Kona along Alii Drive, is the best-known spot on this coast and holds a real local crew. Pine Trees, north of the airport, is the other significant break and has produced a generation of Big Island surfers. Honolii on the Hilo side is the east coast standard and picks up entirely different swell. Kohanaiki fronts several breaks, which is part of what defines that community’s culture.

Kona works best on south and west swells, which means summer is the primary window on this coast, the reverse of the North Shore pattern. Winter northwest swells wrap in at some spots, and the east side picks up trade swell much of the year. In practice, something is usually working somewhere on this island, and part of learning it is knowing which coast to check on a given forecast. Water stays warm enough that a rash guard is the extent of it, twelve months a year.

Real, and worth taking seriously. These are small breaks in small communities, many of which have families who have surfed them for generations. That is not hostility; it is a place where everyone knows each other, and newcomers are noticed. The approach that works is the obvious one: paddle out quietly, sit wide at first, do not drop in, give waves away for a while, and let people get to know you before you assume a place in the lineup. Do that, and you will be fine. Show up entitled and you will not.

Kahaluu Bay, almost universally. It is shallow, protected, and gentle, with a sandy channel and instructors who work there regularly. Kailua Bay near the pier picks up small rideable waves at times. Anaehoomalu Bay on the Kohala Coast works for longboarding on the right day and is one of the better places to learn on a soft top. Just be aware that Kahaluu has a reef bottom and sea urchins, so booties are not a bad idea while you are still falling frequently.

Excellent, and often the better answer here on flat days, which are common. Kailua Bay, Keauhou Bay, and Anaehoomalu are all good standup paddling waters. Anaehoomalu also has the most reliable wind on this coast for windsurfing and kiteboarding. Outrigger canoe paddling is deeply established here with real clubs and a strong community, and it is one of the best routes into island life for someone new. Bodysurfing and bodyboarding work well at Magic Sands when the sand is in.

Yes, at a scale that fits the island. Kona has shops for boards, repairs, and rentals, and the community is tight rather than large. Local contests run through the year, and the youth surf scene on this coast is stronger than the wave quality would suggest. If you are moving here with kids who surf, they will quickly find their way in. Adults take a little longer, which is normal anywhere.

Keauhou and the south end of Kailua-Kona put you closest to Kahaluu and Banyans, which is why most surfers on this coast base there. Kalaoa and the areas north of town are the closest to Pine Trees. Kohanaiki, if you are in that market, fronts breaks directly, and that ocean orientation is a real part of what distinguishes the community. Hilo and the east side are a different life entirely, with Honolii at the door. Tell me how often you actually want to be in the water, and I will factor it into where we look.

Talk Story

Every Big Island move starts with a conversation. Tell me what you are looking for, and we will take it from there.

Compass Real Estate in Kona, Hawaii - Penn Henderson, Big Island Real Estate
Penn Henderson, Compass Hawaii

75-1029 Henry St., Suite 301
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740

Phone: (808) 345-6214
Email: penn@pennhenderson.com