Excellent location! The house is located just across the road from the bay, within a few minutes walk of the local jetty, from which you can swim, snorkel or catch a kayak tour to the Captain Cook monument. Manini beach, with a pleasant little shady park, is an easy 5 minute stroll, and the snorkelling just off the beach is as good as at the monument itself. Two step beach is an easy 10 minute drive. The house is across the road from the bay but you can glimpse the sea through the houses and trees, You can’t quite see the actual sunset from the house because of the house opposite, but the reddening sky is spectacular. We spotted spinner dolphins from the patio. A great place to stay for swimming and snorkelling. However, people with mobility issues may find it difficult to enter the water due to the sharp lava rocks or the need to clamber up the concrete jetty.
There are no shops, restaurants, or grocery stores in the village, so you need to bring everything with you. There is a well stocked Choicemart, about 10 mins by car up the hill. The road down from the township of Captain Cook is narrow and winding, best done during daylight. Not walkable in my opinion.
The house is large and airy and generally clean but ageing. There is no air conditioning but with ceiling fans and many open windows, the heat was not a problem (in November). The kitchen is well equipped with everything you need, with a fridge with freezer, microwave, toaster, dishwasher and gas stove. The appliances work well but are not modern. The 3 bedrooms are spacious, and the beds very comfortable. There is one interior bathroom, with a bath and shower that could stand a bit of renovation. There is also downstairs bathroom with a much better, heat-on-demand exterior shower. There is a small front patio with just enough room for 3 or 4 people. We ate there because the kitchen was too hot. The house is old but renovated and we found no mould. There is a working gas BBQ in the garden.
This being the tropics, there were insects everywhere but none that stung or bit. There was also a frog chorus that sang for most of the night. Not too loud, and more musical than annoying.
We were very happy with our choice of accommodation and experienced no problems with payment or with conditions of the house. The host responded quickly to our questions via AirBNB email. Not luxurious but good value for the price, when you compare it with the competition.