seeking sublets & temporary housing (Hilo, Kailua: where to stay, hotel, theater)

[willie49]

Hopefully will be working in Honokaa for nine weeks.Need somewhere to stay.Always can someone brief me up on things to do such as fishing,shopping,farmers market,etc.I am a smoker,however will go outside if requested. Do I need a car or is there public transportation.I am a female 49yrs.old.Can I fly in Honokaa?

[OpenD]

Take a look at the City-Data profile for Honakaa. It has a lot of information about the community.
http://www.city-data.com/city/Honokaa-Hawaii.html

And use the Search function to dig into the archives here. They're a goldmine of information.

Honakaa is a small and fairly remote village, and bus service is very poor. Three buses a day in each direction between Kona and Hilo, which is where the airports are, with a stop in Honakaa. The drive to Waimea is a half hour, to Hilo is an hour.

Stores? A few. A general store with basic groceries and a couple of touristy places. Farmer's market is Saturday, 7:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. You'll need to get to Waimea for more choices.

[hotzcatz]

Ask your employer for housing ideas, nine weeks is an odd amount of time. There is "Hotel Honokaa Club" which is sort of a hotel although not much of one. Here's their website: http://www.hotelhonokaa.com/ They may have some long term rates and they are directly on main street near the center of town so depending on where you are working, you may not need transportation. Honokaa is a walkable town if you don't have to work outside of town.

Will you be working at the hospital or the university annex? Those are both near the center of town and close enough to Hotel Honokaa that a car wouldn't be necessary. I'm pretty sure that all the County buses stop in Honokaa if they pass through this section of the island. Here's their website: Hawai'i County Mass Transit Agency — Hele-On Bus

Honokaa is a small town with a main street that is about four to six blocks long. There are covered sidewalks throughout most of town so walking along the shop fronts is nice and dry when it rains. The grocery, auto parts, post office & hardware store are at one end of town, the other end of town has the school, library, pool, fire & police stations. It's about half a mile maybe between each end. There are quite a few eatery choices although all of them are mom & pop, no chain stores of any type in Honokaa. There is a variety of little shops and such although not any general stores so your source for household stuff is probably Hilo or Kailua. There are a variety of thrift shops which would be useful for basic household stuff, I suppose, but for only nine weeks, you'd not need all that much.

There isn't any fishing since there isn't a lot of ocean access in Honokaa. The coast line along here is seacliffs so no beach. There is a small farmer's market on Saturdays and a vegetable market open most days near the center of town.

There is a theater which screens up to two movies a week as well as has live concerts and such. The movies are usually semi-current in that they've been out for several weeks before they get here. Last week it was "Skyfall", this week may be Twilight and the Hobbit, I think. There is a "Sports Bar" in Honokaa now, although I've never been inside, so I don't know much about it. There is a big park with tennis courts, baseball diamond, track, indoor "sports complex" although I don't know exactly what they do in there. There is a nine hole golf course in Honokaa which has really reasonable rates, I understand. It's not a flat golf course, though, so you get a lot of exercise hauling golf clubs up and down hill. Depending on your work schedule, there is a quilting group which meets on Wednesday mornings and a spinning yarn group which meets on the second and fourth Fridays in Honokaa. What are your interests?

Hilo is about an hour away and the bus is about as fast as a car. I think it is an extra $1 for each package you carry on the bus. To Waimea it is about fifteen to twenty minutes depending on which part of Waimea you are going to.

No airport in Honokaa and the one in Waimea doesn't have any more inter-island service, I don't think. So, you are pretty much set with flying into either Hilo or Kailua-Kona. It might be easier to fly into Hilo and then take a taxi to the bus stop and catch a bus to Honokaa. The bus driver could probably let you off in front of Hotel Honokaa Club or at least point to it as you go past, it's about a half block from the sports complex where the buses stop.