Honu Kai - Puako Beachfront House

The location is five star. The house is funky old Hawaii with beautiful koa furnishing. An unpleasant toilet leak and ruptured water line marred an otherwise beautiful week.

We thoroughly enjoyed our week at this home. We loved the location and the home itself is beautiful. The home is decorated with an old Hawaii feel and it is perfect! It has all the amenities and more that you need to be comfortable. There are plenty of linens and beach towels for a family of 5. In the green cabinets under the carport there are beach mats, chairs, umbrellas, and beach toys. There is whale watching and lots of turtles out front. We enjoyed the lanai so much. We used the grill several nights and cooked our own dinner. Overall it was a perfect week and we will be back!

The location cannot be beat, right by the Puako tidepools, full of turtles and fish, great for snorkeling and walking on the beach. The house itself is old- Hawaii charming, full of Hawaiian, marine and nautical objects, many have clearly been collected over a period of decades. A long, large, well-lit living room faces the ocean and the yard is grassy and huge with a comfortable deck and lounge chairs. Cleanliness is not up to par, there is much dust on all surfaces and objects, and cockroaches and bugs are common. Pillows underneath the pillowcases were moldy. Bathrooms are very dated. Although we loved the location and put up with the lack of cleanliness, when one is paying a premium price for a vacation spot (plus a large cleaning fee) one expects a higher level of cleanliness and a re-investment in newer amenities, in other words, please put some of your profits back into making the house cleaner and updated. Property manager Jay was very helpful when it came to responding to a few minor requests.

Obviously the location is the best. The house is spacious and comfortable. Big yard. Everything works. The property managers and rental agency are very responsive.

The Puako Beachfront House has a stunning location, right above the Puako tide pools. We have rented in Puako before and really appreciate its quiet and comfortable vibe. This is the first time we've rented on the ocean and now we are spoiled. Although the interior really needs renovation and up-dating, we were comfortable and happy there. The photos pretty much show you what you'll get and the property description is accurate, but does not reveal the broken patio furniture, cracked tiles, peeling paint, etc. If you're a stickler about such things, this is not the place for you.

We took advantage of the proximity of the property to the Fairmount Orchid Resort, walking along the beach path. A drink and dinner was a nice respite from cooking in, although we were unimpressed with the food at the resort's Brown's Beach House. (Much, much better, although not accessible with a stroll down the beach, was dinner at the Four Season's 'Ulu Ocean Grill.) When we cooked in, we enjoyed the fresh fish from the Da Fish House in Kawaihae. The fresh Kauai shrimp is outstanding!

We enjoyed walking the portion of the Ala Khaki Trail near Puako and recommend it for its panoramic ocean views and occasional ancient Hawaiian settlement sites. For swimming, we liked the beach at Mauna Kea, approached from Hapuna Beach Park along this same trail.