So shocked to hear about Kapoho Bay... I almost bought a house there last year (Kilauea: condo, violent crime)

[rhbj03]

Originally Posted by Blind Cleric

I'm not aware of any beaches in Puna LZ3. Maybe you have a specific area in mind and don't want to share, which is fine, but the oceanfront I'm familiar with in this area have significant rock bluffs one would have to find a way down in order to access a rocky coastline that's pounded by strong surf. Not conducive to swimming for the average person.

I have no secret white sand beach location. For my budget I know I have to live with a rocky shore. The few times I was at the Puna coast I did observe the surge is stronger on the east side than on the west side, which I don't know if there is any special condition. My guess is there are calmer days.

My plan is find or create a path among the rocky shore that can descend down to water's edge for entry. And I will go only on calm ocean days.

And a couple of properties actually had a natural pool at low tide. It is a beautiful natural swimming pool setup.

This following shoreline, to me, is very accessible; and the water is calm enough for swimming and diving:

[davephan]

Originally Posted by Blind Cleric

Where exactly are you thinking of?

Not that it's an area on my radar as a place to live, but I believe all of the condos in the Waikaloa Hilton complex are only rentals, none for sale. Waikaloa Village itself is well up slope and not walking distance to the coast.

I was referring to properties near the Hapuna Beach Recreational Area, about 30 minutes north of Kailua Kona on Queen Ka'ahumanu highway, AKA Hwy 19, in Waikoloa. It looks like there are condos in the price range. Single family homes look like they range from over $1M to about $12M. If it's not within walking distance, it would a very short drive. Even from Waikoloa Village, up about 900 feet elevation, it's only about a 20 minute drive to the Hapuna Beach Recreational Area. We found that beach to be the best beach on the Big Island and the whole state of Hawaii. If you search the Internet, that is considered one of the best beaches in the world. It's a large beach and very uncrowded.

Perhaps it would be more practical to have a short drive to a fantastic beach, rather than a walk to a lousy, rocky, and very unpleasant beach. If we ever decided to buy in Hawaii, it would be in the Waikoloa Villlage area, which is a dry area, but mostly green because of the widespread irrigation. It's like an oasis of green, surrounded by rocky lunar landscape. Some people don't like Waikoloa Village because it is a little windy there. We found the breeze to be refreshing, and it was a little cooler than close to the coastline. There's no worries about tsunami problems either, because of the elevation. It was very quiet at night, except for the breeze blowing through the pine trees. No noisy frogs or birds at night made sleeping very easy. There are some homes where you have an ocean view. There is a cost to regularly irrigate everything to keep it looking green. We never saw any VOG in Waikoloa Village when we visited for a short time. A local would need to respond if Waikoloa Village experiences VOG in the longer term. The VOG only seemed to reach up to Kailua Kona. Single family homes are in your price range in Waikoloa Village. There's a very nice grocery store in Waikoloa Village, that's a little higher priced than places like Costco. It's only a 20 minute drive to the beach and about 20 minutes to Kailua Kona for shopping. That seems like a more practical solution to me, than living within walking distance to a very unpleasant rocky beach.

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by rhbj03

This following shoreline, to me, is very accessible; and the water is calm enough for swimming and diving:

Looks good. I'm thinking that's LZ2 rather than 3 though. Maybe not.

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by davephan

If we ever decided to buy in Hawaii, it would be in the Waikoloa Villlage area, which is a dry area, but mostly green because of the widespread irrigation..

Yes, for a beach lover this would be a fairly good location as it's not a long drive to Hapuna or Spencer, by far the best beaches on the Big Island.

[rhbj03]

Originally Posted by Blind Cleric

Looks good. I'm thinking that's LZ2 rather than 3 though. Maybe not.

You are right, this is in LZ2 bit close to 3. I thought it could be 2.5.

This is between Hawaiian Paradise and Hawaiian beaches.

[Nyfinestbxtf]

Originally Posted by Blind Cleric

My advice would be: If you can afford Hamakua, go for it and don't look back. Certainly not a crime free area itself though, FYI.

I’m only comfortable with going up to $400K tops. My pension after taxes will be about $5K per month. My wife will be teaching and her salary will be about $3K per month. I only want a small part time job. A $400K home will put us about $2400 a month. I’ll only have about 5% down and closing costs to put toward a home and moving expenses saved up. We will ship two cars, a small U-pack or pod and that’s it.e everything else is being sold or given away. $400K does not get you a lot on the Hamakua coast. I think we will find something, but it may need work (which I am good at), and the property size will only be measured in square feet, not acres. I think I much rather have more acres and more money left in the monthly budget to do stuff with. Also, With more acres I could put a pool in, have a big garden, and have the privacy we want. I want to be reasonable with what we spend because I know my wife isn’t going to want to teach forever. She is also going to want to retire and just do some part time work. As much as it would be nice to be closer to Hapuna beach and the other nice beaches on the west side, I’m ok with being a long drive to there; It will be more of a treat that way. I believe we can deal with the crime and the few Punatics running around. Maybe we will become Punatics ourselves. I just hope my wife becomes more open and realistic as me.

[davephan]

If you haven’t already visited the Hamamua coast, you need to visit that area before considering it. We stayed several miles from Honokaa, and didn’t care for the area because of all the mosquitoes, even mid-day in the sunny places. There was a huge amount of noise almost all night from the frogs or birds, making it hard to sleep.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Originally Posted by Blind Cleric

Where exactly are you thinking of?

Not that it's an area on my radar as a place to live, but I believe all of the condos in the Waikaloa Hilton complex are only rentals, none for sale. Waikaloa Village itself is well up slope and not walking distance to the coast.

In the Waikoloa resort area, there are a bunch of different "developments". I have friends who own a condo in an area called Waikoloa Colony, I think. All of the units (they are townhouses) are individually owned, but probably 90% are rentals.

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

In the Waikoloa resort area, there are a bunch of different "developments". I have friends who own a condo in an area called Waikoloa Colony, I think. All of the units (they are townhouses) are individually owned, but probably 90% are rentals.

Thanks. I kinda like that area. Do your friends live there full time?

[Nyfinestbxtf]

Originally Posted by davephan

If you haven’t already visited the Hamamua coast, you need to visit that area before considering it. We stayed several miles from Honokaa, and didn’t care for the area because of all the mosquitoes, even mid-day in the sunny places. There was a huge amount of noise almost all night from the frogs or birds, making it hard to sleep.

We didn’t spend a lot of time there, but drove around up and down and stopped at a few places. We did like it there and my wife liked Hawi the most. We checked out the high school in Honakaa too. I didn’t notice any mosquitoes, but we are pretty use to them anyway. I guess frogs is something we will just have to get use to. Aren’t they worse in Puna?