Aloha, we’re John & Tori—your guides to all things Big Island!
Tours & Activities on Hawaiʻi's Big Island
The Big Island covers 4,028 square miles — more than all the other Hawaiian islands combined. That footprint creates something no other island can match: tropical rainforest on the Hilo side, arid lava desert along the Kohala Coast, snow on the peaks above 13,000 feet, and active lava flows rewriting the shoreline in real time.
That range directly shapes what you can do here. Watch an active volcano reshape the landscape at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Swim alongside giant manta rays off the Kona Coast after dark. Stargaze from 13,796 feet on Mauna Kea, where the air is so thin and dry that thirteen international observatories set up on the summit. No other Hawaiian island offers that spectrum in a single trip.
Below you'll find our picks — the activities that consistently deliver, the operators we trust, and the pricing you need to plan your trip. For a focused guide to lava viewing options, see our Top Volcano Tours on the Big Island.
Big Island Activity Guide
12 categories · tap any card to explore
Volcano Tours
From $30/vehicle#1 Must-DoManta Ray Night Dives
$100–$200Big Island OnlyHelicopter Tours
$250–$500Aerial Lava ViewsStargazing
$200–$300Mauna Kea SummitWater Activities
$25–$180Snorkel · Kayak · SUPWhale Watching
$40–$120Nov–May SeasonHiking
Free–$200150+ Miles of TrailsCoffee Farm Tours
Free–$55World-Famous KonaZiplining
$150–$250Waterfall CanopyWaterfall Adventures
Free–$250Hilo/Hamakua SideHorseback Riding
$100–$200Paniolo CountryDeep Sea Fishing
$150–$800+Kona Game CapitalOur Top Big Island Activities
Featured Big Island Tours
Our Top Choices on the Big Island
We've partnered directly with FareHarbor* to provide a curated selection of the best tours and activities across Hawaii. By cutting out the middleman, we're often able to offer you the lowest available rates. Click the 'Explore Now' link to view the low price for each respective tour. Book confidently and save with HawaiiGuide!
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*Activities are subject to availability, cancellation fees, and restrictions. Bookings made through this website are arranged directly with the activity operator and are subject to FareHarbor's terms of service and the operator's specific terms and conditions. HawaiiGuide.com (Hawaii-Guide.com) serves solely as a referral platform and is not involved in the transaction between you and the activity operator. The operator is responsible for all aspects of the booking, including cancellations, returns, and customer service. HawaiiGuide does not make any representations regarding the level of service provided by an activity operator.
Big Island of Hawaii Experiences
Hawaii’s Big Island is not only big in size, but also in diversity. Explore snowy mountaintops, lush jungles, windswept grasslands, picturesque beaches, and even lava fields- without ever leaving the island. And because we don’t want you to miss a thing, we’re spotlighting the very best Big Island Tours and Activities here.
If you’ve chosen Big Island, you’ve chosen to visit the epitome of paradise. Soar over cliffs and valleys, discover waterfalls, and sample some of the most delicious bounty Mother Nature has to offer. Plus, you can even walk on land that is younger than you are- isn’t that amazing! Tropical splendor, rich history, and big adventure combine perfectly to give you the best Hawaiian vacation imaginable. See what makes Big Island so special:
Water Activities
The Big Island's 266 miles of coastline deliver every kind of ocean experience. The Kona side stays calm and clear most of the year, with visibility regularly hitting 100 feet. That makes it the island's snorkeling and diving epicenter. Kealakekua Bay, a marine sanctuary accessible by boat or a steep trail, is routinely rated among the top snorkel spots in all of Hawaiʻi.
On the Kohala Coast, outfitters run everything from stand-up paddleboard tours to sunset catamaran sails. The Hilo side is rougher and rainier, but that's where the waterfall kayak tours operate — paddling into hidden bays and under cascading falls that the Kona side simply doesn't have.
Pricing runs $60–$180 for most half-day snorkel and boat tours. Kayak rentals start around $25/hour; guided kayak tours run $80–$150.
Volcanoes
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is the island's must-do. Two active volcanoes — Kīlauea and Mauna Loa — sit inside the park boundaries, and Kīlauea has been one of the world's most active volcanoes for decades. What you see depends on when you visit: during eruption phases, the Halemaʻumaʻu crater glows with a lava lake visible from multiple overlooks. Between eruptions, you can hike across fresh lava fields, explore the Thurston Lava Tube, walk past sulfur banks and steam vents, and study centuries-old petroglyphs along the coast.
Self-guided visits cost $30 per vehicle (valid for 7 days). Guided volcano tours range from $100–$200 per person and typically add expert narration, transport from Kona-side resorts, and stops at lesser-known sites that most visitors miss.
Hiking
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park alone has over 150 miles of trails crossing lava flows, steam vents, and native rainforest. Outside the park, the Waipiʻo Valley trail drops 900 feet into a sacred valley of taro fields and black sand beaches. The Pololū Valley Lookout on the north tip offers a steep but rewarding descent to a remote shore.
For something less strenuous, the Kona coast delivers flat, scenic walks along historic sites — Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park connects ancient fishponds, petroglyph fields, and a sea turtle resting beach in a short coastal walk.
Guided hiking tours run $80–$200, but many of the best hikes are free with just a park entrance fee or no fee at all.
Helicopter Tours
A helicopter tour is the only way to see the Big Island's full volcanic story in a single experience. From the air, you'll fly over Kīlauea's caldera (and the active lava lake during eruption periods), trace the Hamakua Coast's 2,000-foot sea cliffs, peer into the roadless Waipiʻo and Waimanu valleys, and count waterfalls that don't appear on any map.
Most operators fly out of Hilo or Kona. Hilo departures get you over the volcano faster; Kona flights add the Kohala Coast and more of the Hamakua waterfalls. Flight times range from 45 minutes to 2 hours. Doors-off flights are available from select operators for photographers.
Expect to pay $250–$500 per person depending on flight duration and helicopter type. Eruption periods sell out weeks in advance.
Coffee Farms
The Kona Coffee Belt, a narrow strip between 700 and 2,500 feet elevation on the western slope of Mauna Loa, produces some of the world's most prized coffee. The combination of volcanic soil, afternoon cloud cover, and gentle mountain rain creates conditions that coffee farmers have exploited since the 1820s.
Dozens of farms along Mamalahoa Highway between Kailua-Kona and Captain Cook offer tours. Greenwell Farms and Mountain Thunder both run free daily tours that walk you through the growing, harvesting, and roasting process with tastings included. For a deeper experience, premium behind-the-scenes tours ($25–$55) add small-batch cupping sessions where you taste the difference between peaberry and extra fancy grades.
Macadamia Nut Farms
Hawaiʻi has been growing macadamia nuts commercially since the 1930s, and the Big Island remains the state's production center. The Hamakua Coast's rich volcanic soil and wet climate make it ideal growing territory.
The Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Visitor Center south of Hilo is the most popular stop — a free self-guided tour through the processing facility with a factory store at the end. Smaller family farms offer more personal tours where you can see the trees, crack a fresh nut off the ground, and sample flavored varieties you won't find in stores.
Horseback Riding
The Big Island's paniolo (cowboy) heritage runs deep — Parker Ranch in Waimea is one of the largest cattle ranches in the United States, and Hawaiian cowboys were roping cattle here decades before the American West got started.
Several outfitters offer rides through landscapes you can't access any other way: rolling green pastures with Mauna Kea as a backdrop, cliffside trails above Waipiʻo Valley, and coastal rides along Kohala's northern shoreline. Most tours accommodate beginners and run 1.5–2.5 hours. Expect to pay around $100–$200 per person.
Stargazing
Mauna Kea's summit sits at 13,796 feet — above 40% of Earth's atmosphere and well above the cloud layer that usually caps at 6,000–8,000 feet. That's why thirteen international observatories chose this spot, and it's why a stargazing tour here is genuinely world-class.
Guided tours typically meet in Kailua-Kona or at the Visitor Information Station at 9,200 feet, provide cold-weather gear (summit temperatures regularly drop below freezing), and include telescope viewing time with expert guides who know the Hawaiian star stories alongside the science. Most tours time the ascent for sunset — which, from above the clouds, is its own spectacle.
Tours run $200–$300 per person. Independent summit access requires a 4WD vehicle (rental car companies prohibit their vehicles above the VIS).
Manta Ray Night Dives
The Kona Coast is one of a handful of places in the world where manta rays reliably show up for a close encounter every single night. The mantas — with wingspans up to 12 feet — aren't trained or fed. They're drawn by lights that attract the plankton they filter-feed on. You float at the surface with a snorkel (or dive below with scuba gear) and watch them barrel-roll inches from your face.
This is the Big Island's most unique activity — no other Hawaiian island offers it. Two main sites operate nightly: "Manta Village" near Keauhou Bay and "Manta Heaven" off the airport coast north of Kailua-Kona. Sighting success rates exceed 90% year-round.
Snorkel trips run $100–$150 per person; scuba dives $150–$200. Most operators provide all gear and run 1.5–2 hour trips departing at dusk.
Whale Watching
Humpback whales migrate from Alaska to Hawaiʻi's warm waters every winter, and Big Island whale watching runs roughly November through May, with peak activity January through March. The Kohala Coast and waters off Kailua-Kona are prime territory — you can often spot breaches from shore, but a boat puts you in the middle of the action.
Most whale watch boats depart from Honokōhau Harbor or Kawaihae Harbor. Trips typically run 2–3 hours and include hydrophone listening so you can hear the males sing underwater. The NOAA-regulated 100-yard approach rule keeps boats at a respectful distance, but humpbacks frequently breach and spy-hop much closer on their own.
Half-day trips run $40–$120 per person. Morning departures tend to have calmer seas.
Ziplining
The Big Island's zipline courses use the island's dramatic topography — deep gorges, tropical canopy, and waterfall views — rather than just height for thrills. The Umauma Falls zipline on the Hamakua Coast runs over a series of three waterfalls, which is hard to beat for scenery. Kohala Zipline near Hāwī threads through a native forest canopy in the island's remote north.
Most courses include 7–9 lines and take 2–3 hours. Weight and age minimums apply (check with each operator). Expect to pay $150–$250 per person.
Waterfall Adventures
The windward (Hilo/Hamakua) side of the Big Island gets 130+ inches of rain annually, which feeds hundreds of waterfalls — many of them unreachable by road. That's the appeal: guided waterfall tours access cascades that most visitors never see.
ʻAkaka Falls (442 feet) and Rainbow Falls in Hilo are the easy wins — short walks, no guide needed. For the adventurous, Waipiʻo Valley hides Hiʻilawe Falls (1,450 feet, one of Hawaiʻi's tallest), and guided kayak-and-hike tours on the Hamakua Coast reach falls where the only trail is the river itself.
Deep Sea Fishing
Kona has been the big-game fishing capital of the Pacific since the 1950s. The 6,000-foot depth drop-off less than a mile from shore (one of the steepest in the world) puts blue marlin, yellowfin tuna, mahi-mahi, and wahoo within striking distance of even a half-day charter.
The annual Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament (running since 1959) cemented Kona's reputation. Most charters depart from Honokōhau Harbor. Half-day shared charters run $150–$300 per person; private full-day boats range $800–$2,000+.
Choose Your Big Island Adventure
Curated picks by trip style
