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NEWS FLASH: Lava flow visible at night just a 15 minute drive from the house. How exciting!
Down a red cinder dirt road in the jungle, yet just 30 minutes from Hilo International Airport, is a sweet two bedroom cottage surrounded by an expansive verdant lawn, towering Ohia trees and banks of vibrantly colored anthuriums. Welcome to a retreat, a jewel-box in the jungle, lavishly decorated and made available for vacation rental.
This small, completely private abode lies in the heart of tropical Leilani Estates, one of the more upscale communities in the area. The cottage sits on 2 acres of pristine native forest on which to relax, unwind and get away from it all. Smell the sweet scent of gardenias, ginger, and night-blooming jasmine, gaze upon the myriad of colorful tropical flowers surrounding the cottage, and let the birds welcome you with their song.
Done in what one guest calls exotic Bali-Colonial décor, each room has a ceiling fan and views out to the gardens. There are two bedrooms, one with a queen size bed and another with two twins that can also be made into a king, an indoor bathroom & shower, and a living and dining room, all surrounded by a 1,400 square feet lanai. One of the highlights is the outdoor hot water shower on a lava stone platform. A wonderful way to cleanse off the salt water after your swims in the nearby hot ponds and ocean.
Then, when you are good and rested, check out the incredible places of natural beauty nearby. Start with a 10-minute drive down a mango tree-lined lane, to the Red Road, and travel it along the coastline from Kapoho to Kalapana. I vote this the most beautiful drive in the Hawaiian Islands. Until it was recently paved over with asphalt, it was a bright red road made from volcanic cinder.
Along the route, there is a lovely public hot spring lagoon right on the ocean at Pohoiki Bay, where locals surf, boogie board, fish and watch spectacular tropical sunsets. There is also snorkeling in the marine sanctuary tidepools at Kapoho, just as close. A 15-minute drive will take you to Ahalnui Beach Park, with it's amazing 90 plus degree, geothermal-heated tidepool. This is a safe and gorgeous place for anyone to swim and do Watzu, which is a gentle water massage, and is also an inspiring place to be during sunsets, where you can watch for rainbows and whales.
There is the picturesque Kehena Black Sand Beach, a clothing optional beach, with serious surf for the strong swimmer. This bay is where the spinner dolphins come in to rest. If you get there in the early morning, there is an excellent chance of seeing the babies leap and play with each other. Pahoa, our nearest town is just two miles away. It was a sugar cane village dating back 100 years ago, with Old-West style buildings and wooden sidewalks. No tourist trappings here, either, but we do have some very good restaurants from Thai, Tuscan, natural-foods, an Internet café, and bueno Mexican.
The colorful Sunday Makuu Crafts and Farmer's Market features live music, and just the people watching is worth the trip! It is as much a social event as a marketplace. Of course, you can also find about every kind of local veggie and fruit, plus a lot of prepared offerings, too. Just in case you are in the mood, how about an open-air Lomi Lomi massage?
In less than an hour, you can be in Volcano National Park, home to the active goddess Pele. There are several fabulous hikes into the craters, lava tubes and steam vents, a fine art gallery and a Visitor's Center with free educational films. I highly recommend you pay a respectful visit to the continuous lava flow on the coast--just 15 minutes from the house! The molten lava spews into the hissing ocean and is spectacular at night.
If you need a bit of city life, drive to quaint Hilo on one of the farmer's market days on Wednesdays and Sundays. Peruse the market, buy a basket full of exotic produce and goodies like mango tapioca pudding and Hawaiian sea salt rub for fish. Treat yourself to lunch at Ocean Sushi or Miyo above the lagoon (tempura & sashimi) and then flip a coin — do you go to the 50-cent movies (they show feature films!) or head over to Richardson Bay Park for some excellent snorkeling and count the colorful parrotfish as they cruise by? Or perhaps there is enough time to do both?
The Puna region has yet to be discovered (thankfully and probably due to Pele's close proximity and appetite) so there are no resorts, no condos and no conga line of tourist cars cluttering the roads. What you do get here is rural Hawaii at its best. |
