9 Reviews of Property 82947 in Puako, Hawaii

This is my all-time favorite vacation rental. It helps that it's right next door to one of the best swimming holes on the big island, but it's the location and the layout that makes it unique. Each of the two wings is oriented to a different view, the bedroom wing looks out to sea and the kitchen wing looks down Puako Bay. Because both sides of each wing are covered with louvers, you also get views angled out through the center deck. The result is more than a 180 degree view of the sea.

You live with the sea here, it is the front yard, especially at high tide. I'm never lived in a place with such an intimate relationship with the ocean. Every view is different and special, just looking out the front deck, over moored sailboats, the bay and Kohala Mountain beyond - wow. I spent a lot of time working on a laptop in the bedroom wing, and every time I looked up I couldn't believe where I was, what I was seeing.

The house itself is clean and neat, but very much lived in. I had to smile every time I looked for a tool or a kitchen gadget, usually a vacation rental has very barren drawers, but this house has like three of everything stuffed in there, just from being occupied so long. I love the way the house works with the wind, there is little glass, but acres of screens, often I wouldn't turn on the fans at all, no need.

Finally, it's one of the most private houses I've been to, one neighbor is a couple hundred yards down the bay, and the other house seems to be usually empty. The church gets a little noisy on Sunday morning, the bell is an very effective alarm clock, but you'll be up looking out at the sea long before then. I can't say enough about it, life is too short not to spend a few months of it here.