Kauai - moving from Cali in January (Hilo, Kaneohe: rent, houseboats)

[twobeachbums]

hi guys -
we just spent some time going through the threads about moving to kauai, etc. and werent able to find comments about living on a boat.
we are a married couple in our 40's and we live in sunny california, we dive, we surf, and we relax ... we have income, we arent rich or anything but it is a steady income thank god.
after months of planning, we are taking ourselves out of this insanity and we are retiring to kauai so we can actually dive and surf (the relaxing part is going pretty good!)
we would like to (straight away) purchase a house boat - or a motorboat where we can live for a while. and dive. and fish. that's about it. we are bringing like 50 belongings each, and our puppy dog. thank you for any feedback! ideas! other suggestions! also we are certified to work as padi diving instructors. peace!

[hotzcatz]

No house boats in the state, the ocean eats them. Buying a boat is easy, finding a mooring spot for it might be very difficult or downright impossible for several years. It all depends on the wait list for slips at Nawiliwili boat harbor. It's a state run harbor and the only year round boat harbor that I know of on Kauai. Maybe someone will know of some private docks you can rent somewhere on Kauai? Maybe there isn't a wait list? The wait list for the Ala Wai boat harbor on Oahu is usually over five years long. The one for the harbor in Hilo is over twenty, I think.

I think you get a certain number of days each year to moor in each state harbor, somewhere around fourteen to thirty although I forget the exact number now. Sometimes you can get an extension depending on the harbor master. But after the days are up, you have to move on until the next year rolls around.

Oahu has several private marinas where you can live aboard as well as several state marinas where you can live aboard. I don't know if Kauai has more than just Nawiliwili or not. Good hunting but a plan "B" might be in order.

[twobeachbums]

ahhh thank you so very much for this information! it's very valuable! we are starting plan b .... right away!

have an awesome day!

[hotzcatz]

You could live on a boat on Oahu. There are several private marinas in Keehi Lagoon, although they are sort of in the back of an industrial area and directly under the end of the airport runway. There is a marina over near Ewa which I think either allows liveaboards or at least doesn't actively kick them out. There is also a private marina plus some private docks over in Kaneohe Bay, although there are a lot of coral heads to navigate around in that bay. If you had a boat that could go inter-island, then you'd be able to visit each island and stay in the state marinas for the allotted time spans and then move to the next harbor.

As soon as you leave the harbors you are out in the open ocean so you need a capable boat. There aren't a lot of places to go with your boat - no restaurants with docks that I know of, etc. There are quite a few folks who live on boats although most of them are on Oahu and it took most of them awhile to get there. A lot of them talk about marinas in other states such as California where you can just go to a marina and buy a boat and a place to moor it. They say you can even buy and own a mooring place? I don't know of any privately owned mooring spots within a marina, they are all rented. I don't think any of the yacht clubs allow liveaboards, either. Hmm, it's been awhile since I lived on board, though, and these things change all the time.

It can be done, but just flying in and having it happen is very difficult.

[Mar0]

You can also keep a boat at Port Allen but it's really hard to get an in there...the waiting list is usually pretty long unless you know someone. I don't know anything about houseboats, but I don't know anyone who lives on one either.

If you keep it simple, you can get a studio or one bedroom for $800-$1000 a month.