My wife recently did a triathlon on the Big Island (I stayed home with the kids), but I did a bit of sniffing around to see if there was much of a kite scene there.
Here's one (discouraging) post I found (from 2008):
http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=5642(begin paste)
"Of all the islands in Hawaii, kite surfing on Big Island is the most difficult, dangerous and challenging. First, BI doesn't have any real beaches, so you have to launch off razor sharp lava rocks. Second, the Kona side of the island is in the Lee of two 14,000 foot volcanos, so the only winds Kona gets are winter storms and thermals. And third, the few guys I know who kite BI only kite the thermals and in order to do this you have to really know your local weather patterns. If you screw up and go outside the thermal effect, next stop is Tahiti. Seriously, the waters to the West of Kona are known as the Alinui Ha Ha Channel, one of the most treacherous and dangerous stretches of water on the planet (normal channel conditions are near-hurricane winds and seas year round). Kitesurfing BI is for expert kiters only and then only with the guidance of someone with local knowledge. I lived on BI for a year with my wife's family while we were living in Hawaii and have enormous respect for the local watermen. I'm a pretty experienced surfer, but got the sh*t kicked out of me on numerous occasions on BI.
Keep in mind that BI is the youngest of the islands and it is by no means an amusement park. Even hiking on BI can become deadly. There were some euro tourists that were hiking the volcano area a couple years back. They must have ventured a bit too far off the main trail because their bodies were found a couple days later, their bodies had been "cooked".
BTW, there is no where on the island to kite mountain board, in fact, there really isn't anywhere in the state to do it.
So what to do on Big Island? For me, I kick back with my brother inlaws and drink beer a lot... Seriously, sight seeing on the island is awesome. There are three ways to get to Hilo on the other side of the island that are worth seeing: The North route takes you past the Hamakua Coast, one of the prettiest coastlines on the planet. The South route takes you past the volcanoes and South Point, definitely worth the trip. The middle route (old "saddle back road") takes you up in elevation between the two volcanoes. Drive slow on this one, you don't want to get in an accident up there! You used to be able to take a 4x4 up to the summit of Mauna Kea (elev. 14,000 feet) but they may have closed the access road. It's a rough drive, but very cool. Bring sweaters / winter clothes if you attempt this. It will likely be below freezing up there.
Visit Hilo and see how Big Island used to be. Wednesday is the farmer's market, be sure to buy some local papaya and "apple bananas". The best fresh fruit and vegetables I've ever eaten.
The deep sea fishing off Kona is the best in the state. A guy snagged a 600 pound Ahi (yellow fin tuna) while I was there.
If you absolutely have to try to kite there, drop me an email and I'll put you in touch with some guys who do it there. But unless you're really comfortable with your kite and ocean survival skills, you'd be better off either not even trying or flying to Maui for a day to do it."
(end paste)
Maybe the kiting there is so unreal, this poster was trying to keep non-locals away. It's working for me!
Kirk out