Nobody plans a trip to Hawaii around where to buy groceries in Kona. Then day one arrives, everybody is hungry and slightly jet lagged, and you are sitting in a rental car deciding whether to drive twenty minutes for the big store or pay whatever the small one charges. We host guests up and down this coast, and this is the question we answer more than any other in the first twenty four hours.
Here is the short version. Costco if you are feeding a group for a week. KTA if you want one good store and no second stop. Choice Mart if you are staying in South Kona and would rather not drive to town. A farmers market on Saturday or Sunday for anything that actually grew here.
The longer version has the tradeoffs in it, which is where the useful part lives.
Start with the honest part, because groceries here cost more
Almost everything on a Kona shelf arrived by barge. Cereal, milk, paper towels, mainland produce, all of it crossed an ocean, and the price says so. Visitors who try to reproduce their normal weekly shop are the ones who get a nasty surprise at the register.
The things that are reasonably priced are the things grown a few miles away. Papaya, avocado, apple bananas, greens, tomatoes, macadamia nuts, local honey, fish off the boat, and coffee from the belt just up the hill. The cheapest way to eat well here is also the best way, which is to eat what grows here and stop fighting it. Buy the papaya, not the imported berries.
The big stores, all of them in Kailua-Kona
Costco, 73-4800 Maiau Street, sits off the highway on the north side of town, so it is close to the airport and easy to hit on the way in. It is the real saving if you are a group of six or a family staying a full week, and the gas station out front is usually the cheapest fuel on this side of the island. It is not worth it for two people staying four nights, and you do need a membership. Go early, because it gets genuinely busy by mid morning.
KTA Super Stores is our pick if you are only going to one store all week. It is a local chain, it carries both the mainland brands you recognize and the local ones you should try, and the prepared food is better than a supermarket has any business being. There are two locations that matter to visitors: Palani Road in the Kona Coast Shopping Center, and Keauhou Shopping Center down Aliʻi Drive. The poke counter is legitimately good, which we get into in our guide to where to find the best poke in Kona.
Safeway on Henry Street is exactly what you expect, which on day one is worth something. Sack N Save on Palani Road, across from KTA, is plainer and cheaper, and a good call if you are buying in volume.
Target on Makala Boulevard and Walmart on Henry Street are where you go for the things you forgot rather than for dinner. Sunscreen, a cooler, beach towels, a cheap boogie board, reef safe sunblock. The grocery aisles exist but are not the reason to go.
Island Naturals Market and Deli at Kona Commons on Makala Boulevard is the health food option, with bulk bins, organic produce and a hot bar and salad bar that make a decent lunch. Worth knowing that their Kealakekua store has closed, so the Kona Commons location is the one to drive to.
If you are staying in South Kona, you may not need town at all
Choice Mart in Captain Cook is a full grocery store, not a convenience stop, and it is about ten minutes from Casa Grateful and Casa Gratitude in Kealakekua. The selection is smaller and the prices run higher than Costco, and we would rather say that plainly than pretend otherwise.
But here is the math nobody does before they arrive. The round trip to town and back, with parking and a full store, is close to an hour and a half of a week you flew a long way for. Doing that twice because you forgot milk is a bad trade.
So what we tell guests in South Kona is this. Do one proper shop in town on arrival day, since you drive right past the stores on the way down from the airport, then use Choice Mart and a farmers market for the rest of the week. You spend a little more per item and get a lot more of your afternoons back.
Farmers markets, which are the actual reason to cook here
This is the part visitors skip and then regret. Kona farmers markets are not craft fairs with a few tomatoes. They are how you get food picked the day before, at prices that make the grocery store look silly.
Keauhou Farmers Market is the best one. Saturday mornings, roughly eight until noon, at Keauhou Shopping Center on Aliʻi Drive. It is run by the Kona County Farm Bureau and it leans toward people who actually grew the thing they are selling. KTA is in the same shopping center, so you can do produce at the market and everything else in one stop and be home before the sun gets serious.
Pure Kona Green Market runs Sunday, roughly nine until two, at the Amy Greenwell Botanical Garden in Captain Cook. This is the closest one to our Kealakekua houses and it has a slower, more local feel.
Hoʻoulu Community Farmers Market is Wednesday and Friday, around nine until two, at the Outrigger Kona Resort in Keauhou. Smaller, but a useful midweek top up.
Kona Village Farmers Market on Aliʻi Drive runs Wednesday through Sunday and mixes produce with souvenirs. Fine for fruit, less special than the others. The South Kona Fruit Stand on Māmalahoa Highway below Captain Cook is not a market at all, just a very good stand, open most days.
What to actually buy: apple bananas, which are shorter and better than the ones at home and will ruin you for Cavendish. Papaya for breakfast. Avocados the size of a grapefruit. Lilikoi. Rambutan and lychee if you are here in summer. Local honey. Greens that have not been on a boat. And Kona coffee straight from whoever grew it, which is both cheaper and fresher than the airport, a point we make in our guide to Kona coffee farm tours.
One standing warning. Hours on this side of the island move around, especially at the smaller markets and around holidays. A quick call before you drive is never wasted.
Fish, which deserves its own paragraph
You are on an island with a working fishing fleet, so buying fish here is not the same errand it is at home. The counters at KTA carry ahi, ono, opah and mahi mahi that came in locally, and both KTA and the poke shops sell poke by the pound, cut that morning.
Two rules. Ask what came in today rather than reading the sign, because that is the real menu. And eat it the same day. Fish this fresh is not something you save for Thursday.
What we would actually buy on arrival day
Do not attempt a full week shop while jet lagged with a car full of luggage. It goes badly every time. After you land at Kona, which we cover in our guide to flying into Kona, stop once and buy coffee, milk or creamer, eggs, bread, fruit, something easy for the first night, water, and whatever you drink in the evening. That is it.
You will be back out in a day or two anyway, and by then you will know what your group actually eats on vacation, which is rarely what they eat at home.
Why this is different in a house than in a hotel room
A kitchen changes the shape of a trip more than people expect. Breakfast at home for a family of four is the difference between forty dollars and about eight, every morning, and it means nobody has to be dressed and presentable at eight, which on vacation is worth as much as the money.
The bigger thing is the evening. Coming back salty and tired and cooking fish you bought that morning is a different night than getting back in the car to find a restaurant. We still send guests out to eat, often, which is what our guides to South Kona, Kona Town and the Kohala Coast are for. But the option to not go out is the point of a house, and it is a big part of what we lay out in private rental versus Kona resort.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a Costco in Kona?
Yes. It is at 73-4800 Maiau Street in Kailua-Kona, off the highway on the north side of town and close to the airport. There is a gas station out front, usually the cheapest fuel on this side of the island. You need a membership to shop there.
What is the best grocery store in Kona?
KTA Super Stores, if you are only going to one. It carries both local and mainland brands, the fish and poke counters are good, and there are two locations, on Palani Road in town and at Keauhou Shopping Center.
How much more do groceries cost in Hawaii?
Budget well above your normal bill, and expect the gap to be widest on anything shipped in from the mainland. Produce, fish and coffee grown on island are the exception and are often no worse than at home.
Is there a grocery store in Kealakekua or Captain Cook?
Yes. Choice Mart in Captain Cook is a full grocery store about ten minutes from our Kealakekua houses. The selection is smaller than in town, but it saves you the round trip.
What day is the Kona farmers market?
There are several. Keauhou Farmers Market is Saturday morning at Keauhou Shopping Center and is the best of them. Pure Kona Green Market is Sunday in Captain Cook. Hoʻoulu is Wednesday and Friday in Keauhou. Kona Village Farmers Market on Aliʻi Drive runs Wednesday through Sunday.
Can you buy fresh fish in Kona?
Yes, and you should. The KTA counters carry locally caught ahi, ono, opah and mahi mahi, and poke is sold by the pound at both the supermarkets and the dedicated poke shops. Ask what came in that morning, and eat it the same day.
The guests who eat best here are not the ones who found the fanciest restaurant. They are the ones who hit a market on Saturday morning, bought too much fruit and spent the week working through it. That is a cheap habit to pick up, and most of what makes a stay here feel like living somewhere rather than visiting.
If you are still deciding where on this coast to base yourself, our notes on when to visit the Big Island and our three houses are a reasonable place to start, and you can always just ask us.