Grocery Stores and Markets for Self Catering
We picked up this huge piece of fresh tuna at one of the markets for $15! We would pay that much at home for two small tuna steaks. We seared it up on the BBQ with nothing but a little black pepper, it was delicious.
We just loved trying all kinds of different fruits, some of them were very strange looking. Nothing cools you off better than a fruit smooth blended with ice!
There are tons of places to buy groceries in Kona. KTA, Safeway and Costco just to name a few. In the same complex as Safeway there’s a large health food store with an excellent selection of products. Sac and Save is a good choice as well with reasonable prices. There’s a great market right downtown Kona that is open most days to get fresh fruit and veggies.
On Saturday there’s a great farmers market set up in the Keahou Center’s parking lot, it’s well worth going to. Check with someone for times of other farmers markets in town, there’s always one going on somewhere.
If you happen to be in Hilo on a Wednesday or Saturday be sure to check out the farmers market downtown. It’s a good one with better pricing than what we encountered at the ones on the Kona side of the island.
If you see some of the Donkey products around town or stop at the shop along the main road going through Captain Cook you must try them. They’re really good. They have different variations of chocolate covered macadamia nuts. Next door is the Surfin’ Ass Coffee Company.
Shopping
It can be quite difficult to find items that are authentically made on the Big Island or in Hawaii at all for that matter. A lot of stuff comes from the Philippines.
Ali’i drive is lined with tourist shops on both sides. Take the time to go back further into some of the little alley shops, they have some interesting stuff. Hilo Hatties is a quick drive or they have a free shuttle that will pick you up at your resort if you are outside the downtown Kona area. It is a mecca of everything you could possible take back home as a souvenir from Hawaii.
We liked the shopping at the International Market. It is located just north of downtown Kona. It is a collection of open air shops that seemed to have a bit more variety of items than many of the other shops in town. We managed to find a shop here that had “made in Hawaii items” with an official authentication certificate from the artist. We found this carved wooden Kava Kava drinker.
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