"This was the second time my wife and I have visited Hawaii. The last time was 20 years ago, before kids, when we went the Maui.
This December we went to Waikoloa with our 14 and 16 year olds and it was a dream! The property is amazing, with a protected lagoon. They literally could swim with turtles, rays, and all kinds of fish. They also have a dolphin population right at the lagoon and you can watch them swim and play with their trainers all day long. It's pretty amazing.
We stayed in a Makai garden room, which was clean and had wonderful views and easy access to the pool just outside.
The onsite food options were a bit limited and were expensive, as we expected, but honestly not that bad compared to the mainland these days. You can also walk a bit less than a mile to some other options, which we did on a couple of occasions.
If I can afford it, I will definitely come back to this place. And, I highly recommend it for families with older or younger kids."