Me and my boyfriend stayed at Sandys place for 4 nights while traveling the North America and Hawaii. The place was stunning, very nice details and most beautiful area without any tourists.
We flew into Kona and didn't realize the distance to Pahoa - it was an at least 4 hour drive through the inland, so I would definitely recommend to fly into Hilo. We arrived at night and followed Sandy instruction on how to get to the place. It was definitely a bit of an adventure as on Hawaii Island doesn't exist much road lights, but we made it there safe and were stunned by the apartment. The balcony right on the ocean was beautiful. The bed was very comfortable and the bathroom was great swell. We found some nice Hawaiian chocolate in the fridge that was very nice.
Just one thing could be improved is the cleanliness of the kitchen. We had to clean all cutlery and plates, pots etc twice before using is and it would have been great to have some cooking oil there.
But beside this everything was great. The area is very very beautiful and you don't see many tourists. Right around the corner - few minutes walking - there is a pure black beach where you share the beautiful spot with some hippies you sometimes play music etc. The ocean here is also great.
A supermarket is 20 minutes away by car, the lava viewing area is just 10minutes by car and all the other beautiful spots to see turtles and dolphins are on the east coast and by car between 30 and 90 minutes.
Sandy was always reachable very easily and she gave us some good tipps on what events are on during our stay.
If you're looking for an authentic Hawaiian apartment where you live right in the jungle (the road getting to the place is super tropical) - this is your best bid :-)