Farm-to-table origin
Waimea
Merriman's Waimea
Peter Merriman's original 1988 restaurant, a birthplace of the farm-to-table movement in Hawaii.
Visit official site
For food lovers
Coffee, cacao, and the farm next door.
The only US soil growing commercial coffee and cacao at scale, served by the kitchens that started a movement.
Design This TripWe anchor the trip around the Kona Coffee Belt, with estate tours and cuppings at Hala Tree and Mountain Thunder, then follow the chocolate to a bean-to-bar cacao farm.
You dine where the farm-to-table movement began, at Merriman's in Waimea, and at the oceanfront tasting menus that source from the same island farms.
Then the kitchen comes to you.
Private-chef villa dinners draw on more than 160 local farms, day-boat ahi and Waimea ranch produce, plated on your own oceanfront lanai.
What’s inside
- Estate tours and cuppings in the Kona Coffee Belt
- A bean-to-bar cacao farm visit
- Dinner at Merriman's, a birthplace of Hawaii Regional Cuisine
- A private-chef villa dinner sourced from island farms
- An oceanfront tasting menu at CanoeHouse or ULU
A sample rhythm
- 01
Coffee country
Estate tours and cuppings across the Kona Coffee Belt.
- 02
Cacao and the source
A bean-to-bar farm, then dinner at Merriman's in Waimea.
- 03
The private table
A chef-led villa dinner from local farms and the day's catch.
- 04
Oceanfront finish
A tasting menu at CanoeHouse or ULU to close.
The Big Islandwe’d build in
The pieces that fit this trip.
Where to eat
The birthplace of Hawaii Regional Cuisine.
The island grows more of its own food than anywhere in the state, and the kitchens show it, from Waimea ranch country to oceanfront tasting menus.
Sunset tasting menu
Kohala Coast
CanoeHouse at Mauna Lani
Oceanfront modern-Hawaiian tasting menus built almost entirely from island ingredients.
Visit official siteOceanfront fine dining
Kohala Coast
ULU Ocean Grill
Four Seasons Hualalai's seafood-forward room, drawing about three quarters of its ingredients from island farms.
Visit official siteRomance benchmark
Kohala Coast
Brown's Beach House
The Fairmont Orchid's signature room, long considered the island's romance benchmark.
Visit official siteSushi institution
Waikoloa
Sansei Seafood & Sushi
An award-winning institution for contemporary sushi and Pacific Rim small plates at Waikoloa.
Visit official siteThe signature days
Stargazing on Mauna Kea, coffee in Kona.
Only here can you stand near the summit of the tallest sea mountain on Earth for the stars, then tour a working Kona coffee estate by afternoon.
Summit + stargazing
Departs Waimea
Mauna Kea Summit & Stars
Hawaii Forest & Trail's permitted 4WD summit sunset and stargazing tour with telescopes.
Visit official siteEstate Kona coffee
Captain Cook
Hala Tree Coffee
A family 100 percent Kona estate with farm tours and tastings under an ocean-view pergola.
Visit official siteOrganic cloud-forest
Kailua-Kona
Mountain Thunder Coffee Plantation
USDA-organic coffee in a cloud forest of lava tubes, with free tours and roast tastings.
Visit official siteWaterfall ziplining
Hamakua
Umauma Experience
Nine zip lines over fourteen waterfalls on the Hamakua Coast, plus a guest-only falls viewpoint.
Visit official siteCanopy adventure
North Kohala
Kohala Zipline
A canopy course with sky bridges and a rappel, with resort transport on offer.
Visit official siteWhere to stay
Resorts on the sunny Kohala Coast.
The west side is the dry, reliably sunny coast where the island keeps its great resorts, strung along white-sand bays and black lava fields.
Flagship
Kohala Coast
Four Seasons Resort Hualalai
The barefoot-luxury benchmark, low-rise bungalows and seven pools including the snorkel-stocked King's Pond.
Visit official siteStoried reopening
Kohala Coast
Kona Village, A Rosewood Resort
The reimagined 1965 retreat, 150 standalone thatched hales on Kahuwai Bay, deeply cultural and serene.
Visit official siteCultural luxe
Kohala Coast
Mauna Lani, Auberge Resorts Collection
Oceanfront contemporary luxury set among ancient fishponds and petroglyphs, with the standout Auberge Spa.
Visit official siteTimeless classic
Kohala Coast
Mauna Kea Beach Hotel
The pioneering 1965 Rockefeller resort on the white-sand crescent of Kauna'oa Bay.
Visit official sitePolished resort
Kohala Coast
The Fairmont Orchid
Refined, family-friendly grandeur on a sheltered turquoise cove, home to the Spa Without Walls.
Visit official siteBest beach
Kohala Coast
The Westin Hapuna Beach Resort
Sits above Hapuna Beach, regularly ranked among the best stretches of sand in America.
Visit official site
Food & Chef Experience
Let’s design it around you.
Share what you can already picture. A concierge fills in everything still open and sends back a plan, not a quote.