Kris is a fabulous host. The location of her home is perfect. It is in an area accurately called Paradise! We enjoy staying away from the constant roar from the resort crowd, but prefer instead waking to the sound of the ocean- and quietly sharing a glass of wine for the sunset.. Kris' place fit the bill. Just down from her beautiful home are local private beaches- a pebble beach, black sands beach, and a a short hike leads you to a private black sand cove with amazing cliffs.. spend the day there into sunset!
More on Kris' place...The ground floor of her home was perfect for two, immaculate, with all of the necessary amenities.... A comfortable king bed, great water pressure for hot showers and a great coffee maker for Kona coffee ( all of these things are most important!). Next, the location is centrally located to provide access to all of the wonderful things that the big island has to offer.. We hiked into green sands beach, hiked at the national parks, traveled down chain of craters road, but also went north to see the other side of things. We took the helicopter tour of the island with Paradise tours.. highly recommend! We snorkeled for a lazy wonderful day with Fair Winds... saw very cool fish in a private cove at the Captain Cook monument, got the history of the area, and came back with the dolphins guiding our catamaran! Also, hiked up Mauna Loa, drove up Mauna Kei, went to a luao at Royal Kona, hiked up the Pit of Craters at Volcano National park, went to Hilo, and hiked into Akaka falls, visited rainforest and had wonderful dinners out-- recommend the sunset view at Sam Choy. Recommend you get a super 4 wheel drive vehicle so you can get into the more remote locations (the roads are REALLY PRIMITIVE), such as the beaches north @ Kapa'a Beach park. One other strong recommendation...Stock up on your food and supplies at Walmart as you come down from Kona airport as the prices are much much higher in Captain Cook. There are great authentic asian restaurants in the general area, check these out with Kris she is a writer for the Fodor books you find in the studio.. what could be better! One other recommendation- Miranda's coffee farm... The BEST Kona coffee on the island... and THEY SHIP!!