One of the best front decks you'll ever experience

Guest: Digger (Minneapolis, MN)
Date of Stay: 11/13/10 Review Submitted: 01/01/12

My wife and I stayed here three or four nights. The house is near the best areas for snorkeling/scuba on the Big Island, which is what we did during the daytime. We used Steve's equipment and it worked great. As others admit, the view from the lanai is amazing! Steve has a cable tv package with lots of choices for music - we had the Hawaiian station on most the time and it was perfect. The kitchen has everything and there is fresh fruit, coffee, and mac nuts sold in the area. Not much near the house in the way of groceries/restaurants/stores so get your groceries in Captain Cook or Kona and grill while enjoying the view and sounds of the waves crashing. You get an amazing view down the south shore - especially when the waves are biggest. The hot tub is great and has a great view too. Just a great spot to relax, it doesn't get much better than this! Steve was great to deal with as was his caretaker. Met some fun locals on Pebble Beach too.

Owner response:It is always great to get a nice review, I'm always happy to see a 5 star rating and I always strive to do what I can to make your stay a great one. Thanks, Steve

Recommended for:Families with teenagers, pet owners, adventure seekers, sightseeing, girls getaway, romantic getaway.

The BEST of EVERYTHING and HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!

Guest: Little Fox (Sacramento, CA, USA)
Date of Stay: 10/01/11 Review Submitted: 11/06/11

To start with, this house has EVERYTHING I wanted (and could afford) in a Hawaiian rental home… and then some!!! It’s VERY close to the beach, beautifully decorated in a tropical theme, has an extremely well stocked kitchen, a nice big hot tub, is located at the end of the street so there is PLENTY of privacy, and the most FANTASTIC VIEW from the lanai I could have ever hoped for!!! My friends and I looked at a plethora of houses at which to stay while on the Big Island, and this one beat them all. It has everything we desired, so we chose it… and I’m REALLY glad we did!!! The kitchen was FULLY stocked and gorgeous!!! Besides the granite countertops and beautiful wood cabinets, the owner has ALL KINDS of great kitchen cookware and utensils. He even has really nice, non-stick ITALIAN pots and pans. One of my FAVORITE aspects of this house is the outdoor shower. Because the home sits at the end of the street in a private neighborhood, there are no neighbors to the side… just wilderness. This gave us the perfect option to go au natural (if so desired) while using the outdoor shower after we scuba dived, or walking from the hot tub to the house. The view from the Lanai is what sealed the deal. The view is PERFECTION: not too high where you are far away from the ocean and don’t get the feel and sounds from the beach, yet not too low so you don’t get a great view. We could see MILES and MILES of coastline in both directions! The beach (which I generally referred to as “our beach”) is a pleasant little rock beach just down the way. If you like to scuba dive and/or snorkel (which all of my friends and I love to do), you can’t beat Pebble Beach. I swam with sea turtles and spotted all sorts of beautiful fish (wrasse, trigger fish, angel fish, puffer fish, box fish, etc.), a wide variety of shrimp, a HUMONGOUS eel, as well as LOBSTERS!!!! This area is SO good, the Kona Aggressor even dropped anchor not too far from Pebble beach and let its PAYING CUSTOMERS scuba dive and snorkel in the area… that’s how good it is!! The owner (Steve) is a very interesting person and definitely leads a full and active life, however not so much that he wasn’t right on the ball when I tried to contact him. I spoke with Steve a few times on the phone, and if I couldn’t reach him I would leave a message and he would get right back to me. Also, every time I emailed him, I had a response within 24 hours. All in all, we had a GREAT TIME and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this home!!!

Recommended for:Families with teenagers, adventure seekers, sightseeing, girls getaway, romantic getaway.

Everything we had hoped for and more!

Guest: Karen (Fayetteville, GA)
Date of Stay: 06/25/11 Review Submitted: 07/06/11

We rented this house for a family trip of seven, including our four-year-old granddaughter. We could not have been more pleased. The view from the lanai is incredible. There was peace and privacy. We appreciated the cordial attitude of the owner and caretaker. The place was clean and had a wonderful "near the ocean" feeling. We found it very convenient to the Volcanoes National Park. Our whole family enjoyed the location. The kitchen is well-stocked with pots and pans for dinners on the lanai. We would definitely go there again and I have no problem recommending this rental to friends and family.

Recommended for:Age 55+, families with young children, romantic getaway.

Great View

Guest: Bob and Sally (Monmouth, Oregon)
Date of Stay: 01/07/11 Review Submitted: 02/01/11

The view from the lanai is amazing. Looking south along the coastline you can see for miles without seeing anything manmade except the ancient stone walls of an old fishing village and the Kings trail that follows the beautiful shoreline to a volcanic cinder cone. We love hiking this trail and watching for whales and spinner dolphins. The trail also goes to the north to a small black sand beach that is very picturesque and almost always deserted. One of our favorite spots to sit is on the lanai watching for whales and enjoying the breeze and the sounds of the ocean. The black pebble beach is only a ten minute walk down the hill and is also a great place to watch the sunset and look for the "green flash." It is a very steep hill, so the walk back up will take longer!! It is about 12 miles to the nearest grocery, Choice Mart, which is a good place to shop, otherwise there is good shopping in Kailua Kona. Big Jakes has tasty take out BBQ and is about 8-9 miles to the north. Greenwell Farms has excellent coffee and we loved the free tour of their operation. The painted church near Honaunau is well worth a visit. It is a bit of a drive to town, but it is also very scenic. We love the location, away from town because it so quiet. At night all you can hear is the ocean, the wind rustling the palms and ocassionally a whale breathing. We enjoy cooking our own meals at the house. There is a nice stainless steel grill on the lanai and the kitchen has been recently updared with new cabinets and granite countertops. It is well stocked. The LR could use additonal comfortable seating as there is only one chair and small couch. There is good wireless internet service and cable TV. The house has 3 bedrooms 2 baths on one level. A 4th room downstairs, is accessed only by the exterior stairway with 28 steps. You will carry your groceries and drinking water up these steps also. It is worth it though when you get to the top. Looking out over the ocean you feel like you are in skybox, able to see all the action. Some of the best snorkeling spots on the island are nearby. Place of Refuge about 5 miles north, Kealakekua Bay where Cpt Cook died is just north of that. Hookena is also a favorite: a nice sandy beach, good snookeling, and a great place just to sit and watch locals on boogie boards. We love it here for the peace and quiet and the great views. If you need to be close to the night life-- other than sleeping whales, this isn't it.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, sightseeing, age 55+, girls getaway, romantic getaway.

Sweet Kona Paradise

Guest: Holokauahi (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
Date of Stay: 12/20/10 Review Submitted: 01/17/11

We enjoyed a wonderful vacation at this lovely home in the Kona Paradise subdivision. It really does have 180 degree views, a huge and wonderful lanai, totally groovy hot tub, etc. Delightfully decorated in faux Hawaiian "tiki style" throughout, from the huge paddle fans to the bamboo furnishings. This is definitely a place to get away from it all, as you are 45 minutes from Kailua; be prepared to do your grocery shopping in advance, as it is 45 minutes in either direction to a decent grocery store (Malama Market in Ka'u, or one of the stores in Kailua), or a good restaurant (Kailua). There are a couple of delightful cafes in Honaunau, and terrific Hawaiian food "to got" from a family-owned place in Honaunau called Super J's. The owner, Steve, was excellent to do business with, and the caretakers were friendly and helpful. It is a very, very, very steep drive from Highway 11 to the home - but even in very wet weather we had no problems driving in or out. Below the house just a bit is the private beach, which is a pebble beach and just delightful; you'll most likely have it to yourself. The snorkeling in this area is so good that you will see dive boats from Kona anchoring nearby. The sound of the ocean rushing into and out of the pebbles beach is one of the most magical in the world. Dolphins and whales? Yup! Mosquitos? That too, but only when the normal trade winds aren't blowing. Peace and quiet? Definitely. If you're looking to drop off the planet for a while, this is a great place to do it!

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, sightseeing, girls getaway, romantic getaway.