Golf in Paradise at the Mauna Kea, Big Island, Hawai'i

Paradise means different things to different people, but if yours includes a few hours golfing each or every other day, then the Mauna Kea is the place for you. Often featured on top 100 lists, it’s a stunning course in a top-notch resort on Hawai'i’s Big Island.

On arrival at the hotel, your clubs will be whisked away and will be waiting in a cart when your first tee time arrives and when that time comes, the clubhouse and first tee is mere steps from the hotel reception and your room.

Once you are checked in, an excellent range, good sized putting green and chipping facilities await, with the first tee alongside. Five minutes can have you from room to tee, pretty unbeatable.

Once you head out, the first runs along the hotel and is an unremarkable opener, but that immediately changes on the second tee as you drive downhill toward the ocean and the course really begins. The third hole is the one you’ll recognize as you shoot over a cove to a long narrow green with OOB on the left and a series of bunkers on the right and in front, but an awesome hole where the camera will come out every time. From there you head inland with a tough par four and a long par five before coming back downhill with the water in the distance, ending up with an excellent ninth back toward the hotel.

The back opens with a lovely par five before the second signature hole, this time a downhill par three to the ocean about 180 yards, often into the wind with the hotel beach to your right and houses that you hope one day you can afford hidden away to the left. From there you go back inland where for a minute golf regains your imagination, passing the sister Hapuna Beach course with a series of par fours and unremarkable par three and then you close out with a par four looking out to the mountains a par five back towards sea and the 18th, another downhill beauty back to the clubhouse with the ocean beckoning you to come for a swim, a straight drive here will pay dividends with an easy approach and high fives all round.

Once you are done the wonderful staff await with towels and water and your clubs are taken away until you do it all again. Which you will. 10 minutes later you are in the ocean or sipping a signature Freddy cocktail at the beach bar.

Paradise exists!!

Golf at the Mauna Kea is special. The course is in perfect condition and will be even better post renovations. Green fees for single rounds are expensive but multi-day packages bring the price right down and allow a second “cheeky nine” in the afternoons. The hotel itself is one of my favorites in the world and the first thing to go in the calendar at the start of every year. Being so close to Kona airport you can leave the West Coast at 7 am and be on the beach or first tee by 11:30 am. Paradise. Keep the Mauna Kea on your list for 2025.

This trip report is part of our ongoing series on travel to Big Island. In need of further inspiration? Check out Megan Daly’s guide, Hidden Gems of the Big Island of Hawaiʻi.