Where to get shave ice on the Big Island

Shave ice is not a snow cone. A snow cone is crushed ice with syrup sitting on top. Shave ice is a fine, dry powder that takes the syrup all the way through. The version people mean when they say “Hawaiian shave ice” usually has ice cream or sweetened condensed milk in it, and three flavors, not one.

You do not need a dedicated day for it. You need the right shop on a day you are already in that town.

Hilo: Kula Shave Ice

Kula Shave Ice is at 57 Mamo Street, downtown Hilo. Their own page lists the shop as open every day, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. This is the bowl I would walk someone to on the east side.

Kula made its name on fruit syrups rather than the neon ones. Get ice cream in the middle if you want the full thing, and try lilikoi once before you retreat to strawberry. Eat it immediately. It does not travel, and Hilo’s afternoon rain does not improve a paper cup.

Pair it with the bayfront: Suisan for poke first, Kula after, then the park if the weather holds.

Sleep in Hilo and this is a ten-minute errand. Places to stay in Hilo.

Hawi: It’s A Wai-B, after Pololū

It’s A Wai-B is on the main road in Hāwī, at 55-3435 Akoni Pule Highway. It is a small family shop: shave ice, acai, ice cream. Typical hours are about noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday. Check the day before you build a drive around it.

The reason to know about it is Pololū. The lookout and the short, steep trail down to the beach sit ten minutes past Hawi. You come back up hot. This is the stop, not a reason to drive the Kohala coast on its own.

If you are sleeping up here rather than commuting from Kona, places to stay in Hawi or Waimea make the north end of the island a base instead of a long out-and-back.

Waimea: Anuenue, if you are already crossing

Anuenue Ice Cream & Shave Ice is in Waimea, on the highway between the two sides of the island. Useful, not a pilgrimage. They have been cash-only, so do not arrive with only a card. The ice is colder and a bit coarser than the best powdery bowls; I would still stop on a saddle-road day, and I would not detour from Kona just for it.

Kona: Scandinavian, when it is actually open

Scandinavian Shave Ice has been on Aliʻi Drive since 1991, at 75-5699 Aliʻi Drive, a few minutes from the pier. Ice cream in the center, three flavors, condensed milk or coconut cream on top. That is the classic Kona bowl, and there is usually a line when they are serving.

Their own site has said the shop is temporarily closed for renovation. I would not walk a tired group down Aliʻi Drive on the promise of it. Look at the site the morning you are in town. If the lights are on, go, and get there before the cruise-ship hour if you can.

Until then, do not hunt a replacement for an hour. Eat poke in Kona and save the shave ice for Hilo or Hawi, where the shops above are the plan.

If you are based in Kona anyway, places to stay in Kailua-Kona are the right search. The shave ice is a bonus on a beach day, not the reason to choose the town. That choice is in Kona or Hilo.

What to order

• Three flavors is the normal cup. Lilikoi first. Lychee if you want one that is not sour. Coconut or strawberry as the third, so the cup is not three experiments.
• Ice cream in the middle turns it into dessert. Macadamia or vanilla. Do not debate it in the line.
• Li hing mui is a salty dried-plum powder. One flavor, not the whole cup, the first time.
• Condensed milk on top is the snow cap. It is sweet. You already knew that.

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