The long, white sand, coconut palm-lined drive, backlit by a sparkling azure ocean, welcomes you to Kaʻūpūlehu, home to Kona Village, A Rosewood Resort, and Island Copra, one of my favorite resort boutiques in Hawaiʻi. Just beyond, the water’s brilliant blue deepens against a black-sand seafloor, shaped by the gradual breakdown of a two-century-old lava flow from Hualālai.
The spirit of the original Kona Village still thrives here. Since opening in the 1960s, many of its beloved traditions have carried forward. Each bar serves its own signature mai tai, and the dark rum version at Talk Story Bar remains my favorite. The same imu pit still hosts pāʻina beneath the keawe trees, while Sunday Paniolo Nights at Kahuwai Cookhouse fill the air with Hawaiian melodies.
Island Copra mirrors Kona Village itself, at once elegant and laid-back. Thoughtfully curated with elevated essentials and unexpected finds, it stocks locally made truffle popcorn sprinkled with arare, colorful Over Under dive masks, organic mineral sunscreen, and prints by local artists alongside resort labels synonymous with effortless island style. Our HIE heirloom bracelets and pīkake collection feel right at home here.
I never leave empty-handed. This visit, I found a new Hunza G swimsuit, a Matteau slip dress in tones inspired by the island's gray, blue, and black sand coastline, an Alemais "modern muʻumuʻu," poolside pieces from Cap d'Antibes, and, of course, the latest Clare V. × Kona Village collaboration hat.
One of my favorite rituals is warming up in the hot tub with a perfectly balanced lilikoʻi margarita from Shipwreck Bar after an afternoon sailing on Mike Field's canoe. Looking back toward shore, Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, Hualālai, and the Kohala Mountains rise above the coastline, while the silhouette of Haleakalā appears across the ʻAlenuihāhā Channel. Few places make you feel both so small and so deeply connected to the vast beauty of Hawaiʻi Island.
Kaʻūpūlehu is as meaningful as it is beautiful. Scenic and deeply spiritual, it is a place that invites you to slow down and understand the stories held within its landscape. Wahi pana—storied and sacred places—are marked by interpretive plaques along the sandy paths that wind throughout the resort. Before your morning swim among the abundant fish, protected by a decade-long fishing moratorium, take a moment to read a few. They offer a deeper appreciation for why Kaʻūpūlehu has long been a place of profound significance, not only to Native Hawaiians, who have known, cared for, and stewarded this land for generations, but also to those fortunate enough to experience it today.
