Kona Village Resort, on the Big Island of Hawaii, is the winner of the Luxist Awards’ Readers’ Choice Award for Best Luxury Family Vacation. The pristine resort features serene lagoons surrounded by lush, tropical landscaping as well as dramatic, surreal, black lava cliffs that plunge to meet the ocean.
Kona Village Resort
Guests stay in thatched roof hales (Polynesian-inspired bungalows) on 82 oceanfront acres. No televisions, telephones, radios, air conditioners are there to distract. Coconuts supplant traditional “no disturb” signs.
Included in the guest rate are all daily meals, an award-winning, traditional Hawaiian luau and activities from snorkeling and tennis, to lei-making, stargazing and fishing the traditional way with bamboo poles.
Water-based activities include an Outrigger Canoe Program in which guests learn to paddle a canoe, Hawaiian-style. A Wiwo’ole Ribcraft Adventure is available for seasonal whale watching as well as cruises to hidden snorkeling sites with Scooters (dive propulsion vehicles). There’s also standup paddleboarding, kayaking, windsurfing, sailing, and SCUBA diving (scuba dive instruction and certification programs are available as Kona Village is a PADI certified resort).