About 30 minutes south of Kona, you will find the City of Refuge, which is the most popular historical site on the Big Island of Hawaii. While it does offer a lot of Hawaiian history, it is also one of the more beautiful areas of the island.
While there is a lot of history to this area, it is best know for being a city of refuge on the island in ancient Hawaiian warriors, civilians, and more. During battle they could come to this area for safely. While visiting the City of Refuge, there is a nice covered small theater where you can enjoy watching a short film on the history of the area. There are also a few stations in the same area where you can see old artifacts or things of that nature that you can listen to audio about them.
After you are done watching the video, you can head out towards the ocean and see everything. The National Parks division has done a great job of providing maps and more information to help you along your journey. Just outside of where you start there will be a lot of easy sites to get to. If you are one that enjoys to walk, you can walk a good distance in both directions along the ocean. There are a lot of sand paths that area easy to walk along. While the lava rock near the ocean may appear dry, we always highly recommend staying off of there as when it is wet or if there is algae it can become very slick. You will probably find more palm trees here than just about any other area of the island so it does offer some small areas of shade as well as it is really relaxing to hear them as the breeze blows.
Just south of the site is an area where many people go swimming if you would like to swim while you are there. While it is not as sandy as other beaches, it is relatively safe and is also a nice spot for snorkeling. It is very interesting because the site within itself is a very peaceful place to walk and to be, but yet just a short walk away is an area where you will see the kids enjoying the water and a lot more action.
There is a large paved parking lot so it is easy to find parking. There are also public restrooms as well as a small store. While it may not always be the case, the few times I have been there there have been several people working that work more than willing to help answer questions and help you.
Overall to get the full enjoyment of the City of Refuge, I would recommend planning to spend at least one hour there. Of course, you can get in and get out relatively fast, but will not have time to catch all the history of the area.
About the Author: Rob Dalton is the owner of Waikoloa Vacation Rentals and has lived on the Big Island of Hawaii for over 20 years.