Puna/hilo Friends: This Is For Those Who Live In/will Be Moving To This Area (Kailua: oceanfront, to buy)

[Paddywagons]

Briefly: I bought in Hawaiian Recreational Shores and in Green Sand. I planned on buying in Mark Twain, but the prices weren't a bargain for such a remote area.

Hawaiian Rec: the closer to the water .. the better as in all the subdivisions I visited. It pretty much has the best roads, and water and electric are already there, a very big factor.

Green Sand: remote & rustic to say the least. The roads are bad if not terrible, pretty much like Mark Twain for the most part. The locals: some incredibly friendly and open; others just like everywhere else on the planet - wouldn't notice you usually.

Lelani Estates: remote and beautiful.

Nanawalee: entrance is shoddy, but after that it's not bad and some areas are very nice.

More later.

[leilaniguy]

There is a public bus service on the island. The Hele-On bus system is provided by Hawaii county, stops in every town, and is free!

[Paddywagons]

If anybody is thinking of buying in Puna or Ka'u on the big island, PM me; I would be glad to give you my personal opinion. I only visited once, but I did spend my entire trip traversing those areas as much as anybody possibly could. I'll give you a brief response based on my trip to most of the subdivisions. I can't tell you details of individual lots, but I can provide you with an overall opinion of the area, notably what I think are the pros or cons. I can assure you that there are areas most of you would love; but conversely, there are areas you would probably run from. This is the case wherever I have been. Cynthia, one of the forum members who is a realtor, was very helpful in showing me around. She didn't spare her time, and she was honest. She showed me the great, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Overall, I love the big island and hope it's my destiny to live there full-time as soon as possible. I recommend contacting Cynthia for more insight. She is squite the researcher and will get you the info you need to make the best decision.

[worldwideprotege]

girlinaz, u still here?

[CNYJAKE]

Paddywagons,
I admire your approach to researching the Big Island and seeking a place to start enjoying this unique corner of the world. My wife and I are taking a 2 week trip to HI in 11/08. We will probably see 3 islands, but I want spend at least one week on the Big Island. From what I hear and see in this forum, I am most drawn to the BI. I could see buying a place and living there part-time. Can you share with me any of your advice and discoveries of what you liked and disliked in your research and travels? I would greatly appreciate that. I also plan to contact some of the others who have been so helpful in this forum, Cynmkolohe, Genxor, and Leilaniguy, to name a few.
Thank you, Jake

[jamesxio]

This has been a great thread with a lot of useful information.

[hotzcatz]

Hmm, the property was bought before the new vog issues appeared. Wonder how that area is doing in the vog?

[cynmkolohe]

The Ka'u property is likely seeing the most significant effects. General consensus seems to be that the more populated areas of the Puna district are seeing much less impact from the Vog day to day. Of course, that is not meant to be a scientific analysis!

We were on the Kohala coast last weekend on one of the most heavy Vog days they have had in a while. The bartender at the Seafood Bar told us his estimate is that lately 60% of the days are fairly clear, 40% of the days they are seeing some Vog. (Keep in mind, Seafood Bar is down by the harbor, not up at Waimea's elevation. We were staying in Waimea and even up that way it was a bit hazy. But we didn't really notice any effects as we might if we were driving through a place where the chemical concentrations were much higher. We went to the beach at Hapuna and didn't notice much effect there either--just a hazy horizon.)

Here are links to a two part series recently printed in the Tribune-Herald...

Hawaii Tribune-Herald :: Hilo, Hawaii > Archives > Local News > Vog 101: A guide to understanding 'volcanic smog'

Hawaii Tribune-Herald :: Hilo, Hawaii > Archives > Local News > Working together in battle over vog

(These will eventually be archived, so print them out if you want to save for reference!)

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Regarding vog, here in Discovery Harbour in Ka'u we are lucky to have steady tradewinds that blow the vog on by. We have some haze in the early morning and then it clears up. However, Pahala to the east of us is being hard hit. Ocean View to the west of us is so big, that parts are covered and other parts aren't.

[saltylady]

My husband and I are moving to the Big Island (Hilo side) next month. We have already purchased 18 acres off the grid a few miles outside of Hilo. I have been reading thru these forums and have noticed that noone has discussed that on the Hilo side of the BI is one of the only places on earth were one can live completely self sustainable, we plan on growing our own food, having solar and windmill power and a water catchment system. We will be completely self sustainable, we absolutely love the Hilo side of the big island, there are many rural areas were one can farm there own land. There is much rain which allows for growing your own food year round and enough sun and wind to produce enough power to live off of (if you can be conservative with the amount of power you use, no more blow drying my hair!). I realize that we are very fortunite to have been able to purchase the land we did, however with that being said living the lifestyle we plan on living will be very inexpensive, we will have no power bill or water bill and we will produce much of our own food if not all of it (we eat very little meat). We have traveled to all the Hawaiin Islands many times and did much research and found that with the lifestyle we want the Hilo side of the BI was the only choice for us.