The blessing of year-round good weather on the Big Island lends itself to excellent opportunities for avid sportsmen and women. Tennis remains one of the most popular sports on the Big Island as just about any resort or living community will have courts to play on.
Whether you hope to join a tennis club, league, or take a pro lesson, the sport has a welcoming environment for anyone. Here are five of the most popular clubs to test your skills or improve your game.
Seaside Tennis Club – Mauna Kea Beach Hotel
An easy nomination for this list, the Seaside Tennis Club has been named one of the top 10 tennis resorts in the world. Renown for its 10 cliffside tennis courts carved into the surrounding black lava rock, this tennis experience is unmatched anywhere else on the Big Island.
Group tennis clinics and pro lessons are offered here along with tournament and a junior tennis program for youth. Round robin tournaments are available in men’s, women’s, and mixed doubles formats. The full range of professional services offered includes individual game-matching, racquet stringing and even video instruction services.
Royal Kona Resort Tennis Club
Located on the oceanfront Royal Kona Resort, these 4 courts are open to both members, resort guests, and the general public. The club is adjacent to the cliffside resort making this another excellent opportunity to play a few matches and enjoy the view above the lava rock cliffs.
This club is managed by the United States Tennis Association and offers memberships, tournaments, an adult league, and group lessons/drills. As a USTA sponsored club, you can be certain the lessons teach excellent fundamentals and skills fit for a pro.
Hualālai Sports Club – Hualālai Resort
This is one of the top facilities and programs not just on the Big Island, but globally. The Hualālai sports club is notable for its Rebound Ace surface – the same surface used at the Australian Open. This club features some of the more unique experiences on the Big Island via their Play the Pro experience, challenge yourself to a set against a pro tennis player. If you win a set, then your play is comped.
And for those looking for a social aspect to their experience, there is a doubles social mixer on Saturday mornings. Four games are played, and partners are rotated after each round with a mixer to follow the morning’s games.
Mauna Lani Resort
Mauna Lani Resort probably offers the widest range of classes. Beginning at the 4-5 age group and culminating in their High-Performance Academy suited for tournament level players. The blue synthetic hard courts are kept in pristine condition and tournaments are frequently hosted at the beautiful open-air stadium.
And for those looking to improve their conditioning they offer both cardio tennis and an advanced 90-minute session of drills, strategy, and point play situations.
Holua Tennis and Paddle Center
Holua Racquet and Paddle is located in Kailua Kona and is one of the largest lighted tennis and pickleball facilities in Hawaii boasting eleven (11) tennis courts, featuring an ATP and WTA Stadium Court, seven (7) lighted courts, eight (8) pickleball courts — four (4) of which are lighted.
Holua Tennis Center also happens to be the venue for the biggest non-sanctioned USTA tennis tournament in the state of Hawaii for 13 years running with over 200 players coming from across the state and from the mainland.
The FilAm Friendship Tennis Tournament is a charity event that my husband and I started in 2007. The event raises scholarship funds for eligible college bound West Hawaii graduating high school students. The scholarship is open to all qualified applicants regardless of race, color, creed/religion, or ethnic background. Over the years, the charity event has awarded scholarships to over 100 kids.
It is unfortunate that we haven’t held the event the past couple of years due to the pandemic, but we hope we can get it going again this year. I will post details as we draw closer to the event that takes place in July. Click here to learn more about the FilAm Friendship Tennis event and how you can help raise funds for our keiki.
Let’s Chat
Give me a call at 808.938.3910 or email me if you are interested in learning more about tennis in Hawaii or anything in general about life on the Big Island of Hawaii.
kevin sabet
January 6, 2022
Any grass courts in Hawaii? You would think the weather would make that ideal!
Lovette Llantos
January 6, 2022
Aloha Kevin,
You are absolutely right that the weather will be ideal for grass courts. Unfortunately there are no grass courts on the Big Island. 🙁
kevin sabet
January 10, 2022
> are there grass courts anywhere else in the state?
Gary M Brown
January 6, 2022
Maybe at the resorts but associatings it is only an HOA dues suck. The problem is you can’t remove the unused courts so you have to maintain them and no one uses them.
Lovette Llantos
Today at 11am
Aloha Kevin,
I’m not aware of any grass courts in the state.