Private Beachfront Home Set on Beautiful, Peaceful Grounds

We had a delightful four day stay on Molokai at this private beachfront cottage in a lush green jungle setting. The cottage was just what we wanted: small, but large enough, and equipped with everything we needed to be happy cooking, relaxing, sitting on the lanai reading, or just listening to the breeze and the surf as we lazed away the day.

Our time at Hale KaiNalu on Molokai was one of the most relaxing vacations in one of the most beautiful places that we've ever had. The beaches and the mountains are stunning and the people are super friendly. The home is everything you could expect, private, comfy and well equipped, the grounds are beautiful and well maintained, and the private beach is the cherry on top. It also comes with a small eclectic library that we took good advantage of.

This trip was a pure delight from start to finish!

We arrived late at night, and it was a bit tough to find the property because there are literally no lights on the island. Tired, a bit stressed and confused we tumbled into bed (which was very comfortable) and fell asleep. When we awoke, it was like waking up in a dream! The cottage was charming, but the property was pure heaven! Kayaks, a small private beach, a lush lawn with palm trees, and outdoor shower, OMG, we never wanted to leave!

Everything was very clean (I'm sensitive to smells, dirt, etc. and this property met and exceeded my expectations) and was just as described. The cottage truly feels larger than the pictures show. The grounds were very well maintained too, and the owners were very responsive. When we left we inadvertently forgot to carry the trash out, so we texted in a panic, and they responded right away.

It depends on what YOU want in a vacation, but we wanted to get away and to relax and reconnect and this property was perfect for that. We weren't close to town (but there was a gas station/store/eatery near by) and wasn't in a tourist area. It was close enough that we could drive to wherever we wanted to go, but when we got back we could completely relax and unwind and get away. Which is what we wanted.

One day we did the Halawa Valley Cultural hike, one day we went to town and then went to the beach to watch the sunset, one day we went to the old Leper Colony. All magical and wonderful experiences. We simply cannot wait to get back there again. I have already told my parents that they need to book here, and when we do go back, I won't stay anywhere else.

Here are the things that I wish I would have been aware of however. The island is small. We flew in late on a Sunday night and stores were closed. We swung by the one store that we found and got some food for breakfast, but we didn't get coffee because we assumed that the house would have coffee. While there was a coffee maker, there was NO coffee there. The stores were far enough away that it was inconvenient to go grab a coffee that first morning. Just plan ahead and if you like coffee or tea, be sure to bring your own. Same with shampoo and conditioner. Being used to hotels, we didn't bring our own, and didn't realize that there was no shampoo or conditioner until after we got back from the store getting coffee! Oops! Again, not a problem, just something we wish we would have known in advance.

Truly magical!

We LOVED your house on Moloka’i! It is absolutely beautiful and perfect for what we wanted: peaceful, private, well-tended, clean and comfortable, glorious vistas, filled with aloha! A very sacred space like this is hard to leave, but we did go to the Friday afternoon ukulele fest at the Hotel Moloka’i. And we drove to Halawa Valley, so lush and beautiful, though we didn’t have time for the hike to the waterfall this trip. Next time! Also drove up to the Palaupapa Overlook. Gorgeous and such deep history. Still much to explore, but we had a great first taste of this beautiful island.

But mostly we just enjoyed sitting on the lanai and slowing down to Moloka'i time. We walked on the beach each morning, offering prayers of love and healing for the whole world. We watched as rainbows gradually arched across the sky and enjoyed the friendly green lizards with blue feet who came to greet us on the lanai. We watched for whales and photographed the palms dancing in sunlight. Never once did we turn on the TV, though we enjoyed playing Hawaiian music from my phone through the music system while we cooked in the well appointed kitchen. And thanks to the fringing reef a half mile from shore, the ocean sounds are soft and soothing, as if someone put them on a dimmer switch. Made it easy to sleep unlike many oceanfront homes. Thank you for making your home available to travelers like us. We are deeply grateful to be able to live in such a wonderful home when we are so far from our home. Every morning my husband looked at me with eyes aglow and said, “Thank you for finding this place. Thank you for bringing me here.” We’ll be back!

Mahalo nui loa, JO

Holy Moly--kai?! The views you see the moment you enter the house and look across the room out the sliding glass doors toward the ocean will knock your socks off (which is a good thing as the homeowners do ask that guests not wear shoes in the house). My primary concern with any rental home or condo I've stayed in is the cleanliness of the property and this one was perfect! The home is quite spacious and very well equipped with all the accoutrements that any one would need, in the kitchen and elsewhere. I do agree with the other reviewer who felt that it would be nice to have a television in both bedrooms--but what is truly amazing in the "guest" bedroom bath is the wall of windows looking directly out onto beautiful foliage that surrounds the house. And don't worry--the only ones looking in will be the birds in the trees that like to sit outside and sing to you! The grounds are immaculately maintained and the cottage is also surrounded by lovely foliage with the front oriented just slightly in a different direction (still maintaining an ocean view) but enough to create a feeling of total privacy for both properties. We would love to come for another stay and are already pursing that. The only thing on my wish list would be a few more and closer restaurants. One thing others might find helpful in the (hopefully) rare event that your mainland flight is delayed and you miss the last flight to Molokai on your arrival date is that there is a bank of phones in the luggage arrival area of the Honolulu airport that connect you directly to 3 airport hotels, that are less than a mile from the airport and all offer free shuttle service. The last thing, I think, anyone would want to do is end up at a Waikiki Beach Hotel when you're going to want to turn around and get back to the airport first thing the next morning and, needless to say, there are many aloha shirt wearing, smiling faced shuttle drivers from the beach hotels that would love to whisk you away! Another helpful, for us, thing that we learned during our surprise stay at the Honolulu Airport Hotel is that they have something called a "day stay" program for people with late flights out of Honolulu who have a day to kill and don't want to schlep around to the tourist attractions that they've likely already seen with all their luggage (turns out airports have done away with lockers and I did not trust the airline to not lose our luggage if we left it with them all day)--a nice alternative.