The description of the place was on-point, yet it exceeded our expectations. Keep in mind, there are no sand beaches within walking distance (or even close driving distance for us since the surf was so high), and restaurants/big grocery stores are 30 min north in Hilo, and more restaurants 20 min south in Pahoa. There is no air conditioning, other than the house being open-aired all day/night with ceiling/floor fans available. There is plenty of hot water, just have to wait 5 min or so since it is a rainwater harvesting/solar system. There are also bugs, geckos, roosters crowing early in the morning, coqui frogs singing all night, and mosquitos when hanging outside the well-screened house. It was off the beaten path in a private jungle-garden setting and we LOVED it.
We stocked up with groceries and took full advantage of the decently stocked kitchen (blender for smoothies and electric water kettle made this girl feel very much at home). We ate breakfast on the patio, enjoying the beautiful yard and birds, our favorite orange cat greeting us every morning. We’d then set off on our adventures, including the walk from the house to the tide pools (on cliffs) and longer walk to the Puna cliffs, the Government Beach Rd and Kalapana-Kapoho Beach Rd scenic coast drives, the Akaka falls, Volcanic National Park (less than 1hr away), and a mind blowing fissure 8 tour close by in Pahoa. By the end of our days’ adventures, our almost 2 year old daughter started asking for “home” and she’d giggle with happiness when we pulled onto the driveway of the jungalow.
There are so many thoughtful touches to the home, including two 3-gallon jugs of drinking water, great energy efficient washer/dryer, covers on most open electrical outlets (not sure if for child-proofing or other reasons), a play/game room, covered carport, bikes to cruise around, super comfortable and aesthetic furniture, inside and out.
I was glad I packed many of our items in reusable ziplocs and Tupperware containers just in case we needed them because there were no food storage containers/supplies. Another thing to think about for very young kiddos - it can get a little cold at night with all the open air flow, so they can go from sweaty to chilly in a few hours. No complaints here, just little tips.
We were sad to leave, and of all the Airbnb places I’ve stayed (there have been many), this is the first place I truly hope to return to soon.