For resort community residents on the Kohala Coast, the Big Island’s top golf courses and stunning white sand beaches are right in your backyard. But there are so many activities to lure you away from the fairways and the beach this fall.
The season is packed with a tremendous variety of events to keep folks busy until the holiday season begins. With one-of-a-kind festivals, dining experiences, cultural performances and not one, but two meteor showers on the calendar, residents are bound to find something new — and perhaps unexpected — to explore.
Looking up at a Kona coffee plantation from Mamalahoa Highway, Holualoa.
Kona Coffee Cultural Festival
November 9-18, 2018
10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Various locations
This 10-day coffee festival celebrates the harvest at Kona coffee farms, giving guests a front-row experience with Hawai‘i’s world-famous crop. Enjoy a cup of Kona’s 200-year-old brew and support local pioneers, farmers, and artisans. In its 48th year, the award-winning Kona Coffee Cultural Festival is the oldest and one of the most successful food festivals in Hawai‘i.
From coffee and art strolls to coffee picking and farm tours — even a coffee half marathon — this festival is filled with experiences beyond traditional tastings that help tell the story of Kona’s rich coffee history.
The farm is about 45 minutes from the Mauna Lani Resort, and many events are free.
Farm to Fairmont
November 16, 2018
5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Fairmont Orchid
The annual Farm to Fairmont event promises an unforgettable evening of artisan food and wine under the stars at the hotel’s Turtle Pointe oceanfront lawn. Last year’s menu featured dishes inspired by Fairmont Orchid award-winning restaurants — including Brown’s Beach House, Hale Kai and Norio’s — and 15 wineries from Chambers & Chambers Wine Merchants.
A short nine-minute drive from Ke Kailani, this sunset dinner will impress foodies of all tastes. Reservations are required.
Sports & Wellness
Hawi is the bicycle turnaround point at the annual IRONMAN™ World Championship. Photo by Marion Doss via Flickr.
100% Pure Kona Coffee Half Marathon
November 10, 2018
6:30 – 11:30 a.m.
UCC Hawaii Kona Coffee Estate
Run the breathtaking North Kohala coastline from Kailua to Kona at the third annual 100% Pure Kona Coffee Half Marathon. Overcome the route’s challenging hilly terrain and celebrate with a mug of 100% Pure Kona Coffee at the finish line where runners will receive their own coffee mug.
Mauna Kea provides the ideal environment for these observatories because there’s a thin atmosphere between the telescopes and the stars.
Space & Astronomy
Orionids Meteor Shower
October 21, 2018
Where: The sky
With its remote location and relatively low levels of atmospheric and light pollution, Hawai‘i has some of the best stargazing on the planet. This month, residents can see shooting stars from the Orionids meteor shower. To find the Orion constellation, look for the belt of Orion: three bright stars in a line that rise over the Eastern horizon just after sunset. The stars keep rising towards the east-south-east until they are almost overhead at dawn. Once gazers locate the constellation, relax your eyes and enjoy.
For those who want to get closer to the stars, the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station offers a 13,000 feet-above-sea-level view of the stars every night for no cost.
Leonids Meteor Shower
November 17, 2018
The sky
The Leonids meteor shower isn’t as bright as the Orionids shower, but after the moon sets in the early hours of November 17 — approximately between 3:30 and 5:30 a.m. — a lucky few may be able to catch some of the Leonids shooting stars.
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