Kona's World
Famous Mai Tai
The Mai Tai that built a reputation.
Ask around for the best Mai Tai in Kona and you will keep hearing the same name. Ours is poured at a horseshoe-shaped, all-Koa-wood bar right on the water, layering Ron Diaz light rum and a dark rum float over tropical juices. Cold, colorful, and made for the sunset.
What makes it pour
Simple, done right, and built the same way for decades. No sour mix shortcuts, just rum, juice, and a float you can see.
- Ron Diaz light rum
- Dark rum float
- Tropical juices
- Fresh garnish
Why it's the best Mai Tai in Kona
Kona Inn has poured Mai Tais on this exact stretch of Aliʻi Drive since the doors opened, and the bar itself is part of the story: a horseshoe of solid Koa wood where the bartenders have the recipe down to muscle memory. Order one, turn toward Kailua Bay, and you are doing what visitors and locals have done here for decades.
It is not the flashiest cocktail in town. It is the one people drive across the island for, and the one they remember.
Mai Tai questions, answered
Kona Inn Restaurant pours one of the most well-known Mai Tais in Kailua-Kona, made at a horseshoe-shaped all-Koa-wood bar right on the water on Aliʻi Drive. It has been a Kona tradition to order one at sunset for decades.
Open in Google MapsThe Kona Inn World Famous Mai Tai layers Ron Diaz light rum and a dark rum float over tropical juices, served well iced with a fresh garnish. It is $16.75.
Open in Google MapsNo. You are welcome to walk in and grab a seat at the Koa-wood bar or the oceanfront rail for a Mai Tai. Reservations are only recommended if you also want a table for dinner, especially around sunset.
Open in Google MapsSunset. The bar sits right on Kailua Bay, so a Mai Tai on the water as the sun drops is the classic Kona Inn experience. Happy hour runs daily from 2 to 5pm if you want to come a little earlier.
Open in Google MapsSee you at the bar.
Open daily 11:30 AM – 9:00 PM. Happy hour 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM. Walk in for a Mai Tai, or reserve a table on the water.