Discovery Harbour Subdivision, Kau, Big Island - what you should know before moving there (Waimea: crime, house)

[puh]

Thanks You, yes the lot has a nice view especially if build up high.

Yes you are right.....only the trees were removed. We know about the approval process and I am waiting on plans. I did go to the office but it was closed. I am sure my plans will be approved. Very similar to the house to the right......

[glassnumbers]

My mom and I are buying a home in Discovery Harbor! She's retired, I'm disabled so I get SSI, (I can walk and get around fine, my disability is unrelated to mobility.) so there's no worries of commute or a job. We've lived in rural locations for many years of our lives, and she loves the house we're getting, and I know how ridiculously picky she is with houses, so much so that early on I quit trying to help her because everything I suggested was not good enough, lol. For my mom it has to be absolutely pristine, so I'm positive the place is amazing.

Not many beaches in the area, but Ho'okena is only 45 minutes away, and sometimes I just want to float in warm water, and black and green sand beaches are quite close to DH and you can do that there. If I ever get tired of going to the beach, there's the gigantic K'au Forest Reserve, which, I mean, damn, the thing is practically the size of Maui, it's so big. I've loved the forest ever since I was a kid, I love exploring it and finding the little streams and clearings, it feels like I personally discovered it and it belongs to me when I come across land by myself out in the middle of nowhere.

I've watched a thing on youtube of a guy doing a drive around the DH subdivision, and it's very clearly super remote, but it's so beautiful. Trees line the roads, you can tell the HOA cares about making the place gorgeous. I know our place has a view of the ocean not only on the ground floor but also from the second floor, and I also know you can see the Hawai'ian sunrise over the ocean which is the most magical thing I've ever seen in my life.

I live in southern california but I'm depressed waiting on escro and all the delays that come with selling and buying a house because none if this is 100%. It hasn't been long enough for the offer on our house to be completely locked in, the guy could still back out in the next ten days, and we have to ask the owner of the house we're buying to drop their price by 20k as our best offer was lower than we expected. The house we are buying has been on the market for over a year, so I think they will do it, but they might -need- that 20k, and it just might not be possible. I am pretty sure they will go for it, but all of these maybes on top of there's nothing I can do is depressing.

On the plus side, the house in Hawai'i is nearly twice the size of this one, it has a pocket wall in the kitchen so you can literally just roll the wall outside and instantly be eating outside, polished concrete floors. It's in a community, there's other houses on the street, and spring is so cold in California, at least here in Fallbrook. It frosts every morning. Too cold for me. So I just gotta have faith and wait it out! I'm pretty sure everything will work out, if not we will just buy a slightly cheaper place in the same subdivision.

[Buckeye77]

Any suggestions for an ELECTRIAN in the Discovery Harbour area? I have my house under contract and the home inspector found an issue with some wiring.


I think I see a truck with an electrician name on it but I haven't had any luck finding anyone using google and yellow pages.


Mahalo in advance.
Hoot

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Good luck with the electrician. There's one who lives here but he's so busy that he never answers his phone or return calls. You might be better off trying to get someone from Hilo or Kona and paying their travel costs. You might try calling the DH office and see if they know anyone or look in the Ka'u Directory.

Hope the sale goes smoothly!

[glassnumbers]

Lol I thought Ka'u was supposed to be dry. It's rained every single day I've been here, and the cloudy gray days have outnumbered the sunny ones. Sometimes its rains SO HARD it just torrents down in a sheet of water, its incredible. If Ka'u is like this, my god, what is Hilo like? it must be like living in Waterworld! :O

[Palanakonu]

Originally Posted by glassnumbers

Lol I thought Ka'u was supposed to be dry. It's rained every single day I've been here, and the cloudy gray days have outnumbered the sunny ones. Sometimes its rains SO HARD it just torrents down in a sheet of water, its incredible. If Ka'u is like this, my god, what is Hilo like? it must be like living in Waterworld! :O

Welcome to the Big Island. You'll learn the nuances, especially about elevation.
Even parts of Puna get little to no rain.
For the record, today was the first rain at my house in Naalehu in a week (10 minute light shower), with the sun shining this evening and giving a nice orange sunset. Just came in the house from a "front yard visit" with the neighbors.

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by glassnumbers

Lol I thought Ka'u was supposed to be dry. It's rained every single day I've been here, and the cloudy gray days have outnumbered the sunny ones. Sometimes its rains SO HARD it just torrents down in a sheet of water, its incredible. If Ka'u is like this, my god, what is Hilo like? it must be like living in Waterworld! :O

You may be experiencing a random wet period, or maybe conditions aren't as dramatic as you describe.

According to the latest Big Island drought monitor, that area is still a bit drier than normal for the year. Perhaps an update is in order?

A check of plant species and densities of vegetation growing in a particular area is a good indicator of local rainfall, over the years. It is relatively dry there, but definitely not so dry as where you've been living in California.

Hilo can be extremely wet at times, and typically gets showers on the vast majority of days during the year, but it can also go for long stretches of fairly dry weather..

Although it gets more rainfall in inches per year than my locale in SE Alaska, I consider our "panhandle" to be cloudier/wetter than Puna/Hilo because we don't get nearly as much sun or have the extended dry periods that one can experience in the "Punaverse".

[glassnumbers]

*checks plants* so there's like I dunno 10 different plant species and a literal forest growing in my backyard. I guess this place gets a lot of rain :/ Panhandle? Do you mean Ka'u? Also, thanks Palana, and I'm jealous Naalehu is definitely a cooler place to live than Discovery Harbor, stuff is actually -in- Naalehu. With that said I got some killer end tables from this lady in South Kona, and that particular neighborhood was the hardest to navigate place I have ever been in. I feel no envy for those homeowners, the road is strictly one car only, on a steep incline, with speed bumps every 30 feet.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

This discussion just shows how you can never tell anyone what the weather or climate is like on the Big Island. As we've discussed here many times, rainfall amounts even within a particular subdivision can vary by elevation.

I live in the same subdivision as glassnumbers and I agree -- it has been really wet recently. Clouds start forming in the morning and by afternoon we start getting rain. Of course, that comes after several weeks of no rain at all. However, at my elevation of 1400 feet, I get twice as much rain as those in my subdivision at 800 feet, and about half of what my friend gets just up the road at 2400 feet. And it's only about five miles from the 800 foot location to the 2400 foot location. We all use the exact same rain gauge and report our daily rainfall at 7:00 every morning.

So who can say how much rain falls in Ka'u?????

[Palanakonu]

Originally Posted by glassnumbers

*Also, thanks Palana, and I'm jealous Naalehu is definitely a cooler place to live than Discovery Harbor

Don't be.
I live "in town" and the highway is very noisy. There's a select few people in the camp that have no respect for others, so it's dogs barking, roosters crowing, motorbikes and ATVs whining... with your occasional idiot revving his fart-exhaust while trying to hit 50mph in a 25.
Only temporary at this spot though, hoping to start building soon.