Featured Restaurant: Huggo’s
For a special night out or a pau hana sunset experience visit Huggo’s, an iconic oceanfront restaurant in the heart of Kailua-Kona. Established in 1969, the restaurant is open daily from 4 to 9 p.m. with happy hour from 4 to 5 p.m. Owner Eric von Platen Luder says the goal of Huggo’s is “to provide a memorable evening and dining experience rather than simply a meal.” The menu features fresh fish, hearty steaks and many other dishes like the restaurant’s teriyaki steak which have been long-time favorites, and shares the limelight with Huggo’s open-air, oceanfront location. A list of custom cocktails includes island favorite and a nightly special which highlights island-grown ingredients. Also on the menu is a nightly fish special which doubles as a fundraiser for a local charity. For those with a sweet tooth, the restaurant’s mud pies are famous and fabulous, and if you love coconut, the coconut sorbet, served in a coconut shell, is refreshing. Reservations are available on Open Table or via the website at huggos.com.
Featured Activity: Seaside Cultural Education Center
Did you know that at the south end of Kohanaiki Beach Park there is a cultural education center showcasing a garden, halau and star compass? A short walk from the south end of the park brings you to a large traditional-style halau – an open-air shelter – that is a perfect spot for classes, meetings or hula rehearsals. Use of Ka Hale Waa o Kohanaiki is open to the public by request and with a reservation. An application for its use can be found at https://ohana-o-kohanaike.org/halau-use-application.
Just a few steps away is the garden featuring more than 20 canoe plants originally brought to Hawai`i by Polynesian voyagers. They include food crops as well as those with cultural uses, including ones used for cordage. Being mindful of the sea level location of the garden the plants selected are salt-tolerant; they grow well in dry, sandy soil and can stand up to
the heat.
A large 17-foot replica of a star compass near the garden adds to the cultural education goal. This stone piece helps describe how the early Polynesians navigated using celestial bodies as well as ocean swells to arrive in these Hawaiian Islands. Signage is placed throughout the site, including the English and Hawaiian names for the plants as well as their uses.
A visit to the site is easy and worthwhile. Take the Kohanaiki Beach road to the south end and walking through the gate will bring you to the hale, the star compass and the educational garden. This cultural center was created in a partnership between the developer (Kohanaiki), the community and the County of Hawai`i.
