Karen’s Review of Royal Sea Cliff, Kona, Hawaii (June 2016)
by Karen Waldman, Family Travel Gurus Travel Consultant
Royal Sea Cliff Kona is an oceanfront resort about a mile south of the main Kailua-Kona town, on the famous Ali’i Drive along Hawaii Island’s western shoreline. The resort offers studios, 1-bedroom, and 2-bedroom condo units. Some of the units are occupied by year-round residents. It was a very quiet and pleasant place to spend a week.
Our family of four stayed in a roomy two-bedroom oceanview unit with two bathrooms. The kitchen was fully-equipped with everything we needed. We also had two lanais, one covered and one uncovered. We never heard our neighbors when they were in their room or balcony, but we did hear them periodically when they would walk by our kitchen window on the exterior corridor.
The grounds are not extensive, but what they have is nice. A beautiful open-air botanical garden runs down the main corridor, from the front of the complex to the ocean. Each of the unique plants is labeled, and there are waterfalls and waterways, giving a nice background noise as you walk to the pools or underground parking garage. There is a grassy area on the ocean-edge of the property. There is no water access, as it is a rocky lava shoreline with lots of crashing waves. The ocean side of the property is a great place to watch the sunsets.
There are two pools, one for families and one for adults. Neither is anything fancy, just angular pools. But my kids loved the family pool because it went very deep on one end. The family pool had a large covered area with chairs, tables, and grills. The family pool was never very crowded and was never loud. The adult pool was lightly used and quiet as well. Both pools are right on the ocean. Here is the family pool:
Because of how the property is configured, with a main corridor and branches off to each side, there are few true oceanfront rooms and several of them are occupied by year-round owners. Many of the oceanview rooms look over the tops of the shorter branches of the building. To give you an idea, this was the view from our oceanview room:
The location of this resort was perfect for our family – away from the crowds and action, yet 5 minutes from town and great snorkeling beaches. Kailua-Kona had everything we needed, from groceries (Costco, Safeway) to sunscreen, wine, and whatever else you need at the large Walmart. There is a great poke place – Da Poke Shack – just a mile south. We saw turtles and other ocean critters a couple minutes south while snorkeling at Kahalu’u Beach Park. Really, this was a super location.
If you like resort activities, there are a few during the week. We did not attend the sunset party or happy hour, but my daughter and I learned how to make leis one morning while listening to a local storyteller and musician and enjoying some yummy tropical fruit and malasadas (local donuts). It was a nice way to spend our last morning in Kona.
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