We took the red-eye from Vancouver to Kona, and didn't manage much sleep on route. A lot of people bring tiny humans to Hawaii!

I had planned to grab a taxi into town when we got in, but there were very few at that late hour. There were no Uber rides available. Perhaps pre-booking a shuttle would be the thing to do if arriving at night. However, Erin spotted one and the driver was nice enough to pick us up. We stayed at Kona Plaza which was very well located; after ditching our bags around midnight, we walked up the hill 10-15 minutes to Safeway (open 24 hours) to stock up for our stay. 

We spent the first 3 days right in Kona, without a car. We used the small beach at the Marriott one day. Another day we walked to the Queen's Bath, a tidal pool in front of a gated neighborhood (foot access was through a small gate behind the ball diamonds).