Our Favorite Places: Hookena Beach

When we’re in the mood for a sandy beach but don’t want to drive up north, we head to either Keei Beach, which is about five minutes away, or Hookena Beach, which is about twenty minutes away.  Both of these beaches are small, local, and relatively quiet – compared to the big northern beaches backed by resorts.

To get to Hookena, we head up Napoopoo to Middle Keei Road, follow Middle Keei up to the Highway, then drive south until we see the sign.  We follow a winding farm-road down to the beach at the bottom.

Hookena Beach is a mixed white-black sand beach.  It has soft sand, unlike the pure black of Punalu’u, that is lovely and hot (make sure to wear your flip-flops down to the water).  The Beach is backed by dramatic sheer cliffs and is a protected small crescent.  There are some rocks and there is reef along the side and out a ways from shore, so you can snorkel, but the sand and break make this beach great for body surfing and boogie-boarding.  The turtles seem to like it here, so stay on the lookout for them. 

Camping is allowed with a permit along the back of the beach, and there are a few houses just before the entrance.  This, coupled with a sometimes rowdy sunset crowd have given Hookena a bad reputation, but it’s really a fabulous small beach and completely worth a visit.  I went the other day and was once again taken in by its beauty.  It was morning and the light shining against the jagged cliff faces and up along the rugged shoreline was breathtakingly lovely.  The water was clear and calm and there were several large tide pools alive with baby fish.  I lay down in one with my son and watched the waves crash from a safe distance.  The sky and water were both utterly, shockingly bright-blue.  The sky was cloudless, and yellow butterflies fluttered along the tops of the wet black rocks in front of us. 

A perfect afternoon for us is time lazing at Hookena Beach, playing in the soft waves, digging in the warm dark sand, and resting under the shade trees reading.  We have seen turtles here, reef fish, and dolphins, and have watched many a glorious sunset.  We’ll often bring a picnic down, poke and sushi from Choice Mart, or pick up BBQ at Big Island Jake’s on the way home.  It always seems to rain in the late afternoon, providing soft counterpoint to the heat of the beach.

The Beauty of Leis

I had a very stressful day the other day.  I had to fly our little newborn son over to Honolulu for an appointment with the only pediatric urologist in Hawaii.  It turns out that our son was born with a congenital defect called kidney reflux, which means that one of his kidney ureters doesn't work quite right.  He may grow out of it, he may need surgery.  We just have to wait and see.  

So I had to fly my little two-month old over for the appointment and fly back.  Needless to say I was pretty stressed out.  He's a very laid-back baby but I didn't know how he'd be on the plane, and in the airport, and in the cab, etc.  We've flown with our other son only one time and the return trip was a disaster.  He was great the way over, but on the flight back he decided he'd had enough sitting still and threw a full-on tantrum.  It was a night flight from Honolulu to Kona and only forty-five minutes long, but felt interminable.  The cabin went dead-silent.  We were those parents you hate, hanging our heads in shame and hiding in our seats as we tried to calm our boy.  It was awful.

This baby, however, was an angel.  It couldn't have gone more smoothly.  We made our connections and everything went well.  He tolerated the uncomfortable car seat in the cab, withstood nursing in weird positions in unfamiliar places, and endured being worn in a baby carrier for hours without complaint.  Although things went as smoothly as possible, I was exhausted by the time we returned to Kona and needed a treat.  There are two lei stands at the airport with reasonably priced local leis for sale.  I choose a pikake lei for myself and wore it the rest of the day.  That string of delicate little jasmine flowers gave me the little lift I needed.  

The scent of leis can soothe and calm and inspire.  They are worn and offered for many occasions and reasons.  They are a wonderful thing to enjoy while here in the islands, and to take home.  There's a plumeria farm and lei stand up the road from the Inn that sells incredibly fragrant plumeria leis.  I would highly recommend picking one up to have in your room while here.  For something more permanent, we have a friend who weaves gorgeous leis out of local ti leaves.  She gave me one years ago and I still have it hanging on my wall.  One year while I was living in Washington and enduring snow, a friend lovingly carried a tuberose lei all the way back from Hawaii to place around my neck.  It brightened my cold dark day considerably.

So when you're here please take note of the flowers and plants and leis... Many of our guests observe that there is something distinctive about the way the air smells and feels when they land in Kona and step outside: the gentle air is moist but not wet, warm but not hot, and smells of something sweet. This is the scent of Hawaii.

Christmas and New Years Bookings

The couple of weeks spanning Christmas and New Years is the single busiest time in Hawaii as far as tourism goes.  Ticket prices jump up at this time, and drop down again the first few days of the new year.  Normally everything books up early, and it can be difficult to find any last minute accommodation.  We even suggest that guests who wish to eat Christmas brunch or dinner out book ahead (most resorts do something, many small restaurants are closed.) 

We normally are fully booked at this time from about August.  However, we had a cancellation and still do have some availability.  To make a holiday reservation with us, please contact us at: info@luanainn.com  The last couple of years we’ve had guests actually see humpback whales off Keei Beach on Christmas Day.  It’s a fabulous place to ring in the New Year!

Keiki (Kids)

We are pleased to announce that on August 18^th our second son, Ryan, was born.  He is a beautiful, peaceful boy and we are extremely thankful. 

As far as the business is concerned, there has been no change to our level of service.  We closed for a couple of weeks following Ryan’s birth, but have since re-opened.  Guests can expect the same high level of service, great breakfasts, gorgeous grounds and lovely rooms as always.  Ken is doing breakfasts each day temporarily (normally we alternate days), but I’m out and about visiting with guests as much as I can and will return to work soon.

Speaking of kids, the Big Island is a very kid-friendly place in general and most places – including restaurants if you’re respectful – welcome keiki with open arms.  Here is my short-list of kid-friendly local spots:Fun places for young kids:

• Honaunau Bay (next to Two Step): shallow, sandy, protected water
• The big tide pool at Manini Beach (when the tide is right)
• The tide pools at the City of Refuge
• The playground at Yano Hall (on the way to Choice Mart, it’s the closest playground to the Inn)
• Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden
• Higashihara Playground (right off the highway just north of Teshima’s) with the huge castle (which is so cool you may want to go by even without kids)
• Pualani Playground: the new playground off the highway just south of Kailua, good to stop at on the way to dinner in Kailua
• The kiddie-pool at the public pool in Kailua
• Old Airport Park (North Kailua): pretty yellow sand, lovely large tide pools

 Good places to eat with kids:

• Manago Hotel: you can play at Yano Hall first then walk across the street when they’re calmed down and enjoy kid-friendly service and local-style family food.  Our oldest son likes their beef teriyaki and pan-fried local fish.
• Teshima’s: this is a family-friendly local restaurant and the first restaurant we took our oldest son to.  He had his first nori and miso soup here and has loved it ever since.  He also likes the beef stick and the ahi sashimi.
• Jackie Rey’s restaurant (off the Kuakini Highway) serves fresh ono and hand-cut fries for their kid’s menu fish and chips – you have to respect a place that does that! 
• BaLe (Kailua): what child – or adult – can say no to yummy Vietnamese noodles!?!

Our favorite places: Paleaku Peace Gardens

Speaking of secret places tucked down winding roads, Paleaku Peace Gardens is one of my favorite spots in the Painted Church/Middle Keei area.  As I’ve mentioned in other posts, it’s about a two mile run/walk from the Inn, or about a two-minute drive.  It’s open Tuesday through Saturday from 9-4 and also hosts various events and a wonderful Ashtanga-style yoga class Thursday evenings and Tuesday mornings.  Admission to the garden is $5, to yoga is $10 (please check the website for updated information). 

Paleaku is a beautiful garden and a very special, peaceful place.  You’ll pull down their driveway and park under some very old trees most likely filled with chattering mynas, then enter through a shaded walkway lined with interesting plants.  Part of the year, a crimson jade flower will be blooming above you.  You walk through a partially open/partially covered walkway and sign in, look at gifts if you like, use the restroom, grab an umbrella if it’s raining.  There will most likely be no one else around.  You’ll hear birds and the tinkle of little fountains and wind rustling leaves, but this is a place of silence, not a tourist-spot or heavily-visited botanical garden.  It is a peaceful place and its mission is to host/foster peaceful activities. 

You exit the entry walkway and head down a grassy path that ends at a brilliant white Buddhist stupa backed by a sweeping ocean view.  There’s a covered area with two Tibetan sand-paintings on the way (I saw the monks working on these a couple of years ago and it was amazing), and a green parrot named Harriet (Harry, for short) that likes to whistle at you as you pass.  The grassy lawn is bordered by some strange exotic flowers and deliciously-scented flowering trees and elegant cocoa palms.  A breeze blows up from the ocean keeping the grounds comfortably cool.  In addition to the Buddhist stupa there are other sculptures, a labyrinth, and a Galaxy Garden.  There are some very old, interesting trees here (a huge old strangler fig with massive above-ground roots, a bodhi tree), an orchard, and loads of lovingly-tended flowers.  It is easy to wile away hours here looking, strolling, listening, sitting, and being quiet.  If in a need of a quiet respite one sunny morning or one misty afternoon, you will indeed find a bit of peace here at Paleaku.

Green Luana

On the one hand it feels a little hypocritical to call ourselves green while living in such an extraordinarily luxurious house, but on the other, we do take seriously doing everything we can to minimize waste and impact.  This has always been our process, but it’s come to our attention that our guests appreciate this, so we thought we’d put it out there.  Here are some of the green practices Luana Inn has always followed:

• Composting of kitchen and yard waste 
• Growing food on the property and buying as much local food as possible, cooking from scratch rather than purchasing imported ready-made foods (like bread)
• Solar-heated water     
• Use of florescent bulbs and timed/controlled lighting systems
• Non-toxic cleaning supplies such as Simple Green and Vinegar (as much as is possible, although we of course use bleach for sanitation)
• Use of washable cloth rags for light cleaning versus paper towels
• Paper-less communication and marketing: we are totally web-focused and believe in a minimum of hard-copy advertising and guest communication
• Recycling – we sort and haul everything that is recyclable on the island
• Re-usable shopping bags: we leave cloth bags in each guest room to encourage guests not to use plastic bags because garbage is a major concern on the island.
• Clean water: we put Brita filters or PUR water filters in each guest room to encourage guests not to buy plastic water bottles.  Please note that these filters are for taste only, and that the Inn is on county water which is clean and safe.         
• No hotel soaps: every guest room is stocked with large bottles of shampoo and conditioner, and we use refillable soap containers with our favorite old-school liquid soap, Dr. Bronners, because it feels good and has clean, organic ingredients.
• No Styrofoam or paper in the kitchen: we are not fans of the typical accoutrements of the “continental” hotel breakfast, including paper napkins and Styrofoam cups of coffee.  We serve a hot, homemade breakfast at a beautiful table with linens and real dishes.
• Like most accommodations, we are happy to provide fresh towels daily, and we do a regular linen rotation for all long-stay guests.  However, between scheduled rotations we encourage guests to re-use towels to conserve water.  Please note that we aren’t strident though, and will never guilt-trip a guest (as we’ve heard some other B&B’s do.)  We have practices in place that work for us most the time, but our guests’ comfort is our biggest priority.

Clean Luana

Being a small B&B doesn’t mean we aren’t running things professionally.  We once had a friend who stayed at another island B&B which she described as “funky”, where she – in her words - was afraid to look behind doors and in corners.  There were loads of ants and a prevalent musty smell, beer bottles left out from previous guests and an air conditioner that made her wheeze.  This isn’t relaxed and funky and cool, it’s gross and unnecessary.  We take cleaning extremely seriously here (I admit I’m a bit of a germ-a-phobe) and follow these practices (among many others):

• Daily maid service     
• Guest linen rotation
• And yes, we regularly wash bed covers and shams - even pillows!
• Guest dishes through the dishwasher (not just rinsed with water or cleaned with Windex!)
• We sanitize: although we use white vinegar and simple green and other non-toxic, biodegradable cleaners as much as possible, we are not afraid to use bleach regularly for guest safety.

The truth about owning a small business

We recently spent some time chatting with a friend of ours who is a restaurant owner/chef.  We hadn’t seen each other for awhile and didn’t realize how much we needed to talk.  It’s a lonely, isolating world being a small-business owner, and it’s a major relief to sit down with someone who understands this and blow off some steam.

Here’s the down-and-dirty reality.  It may look like a dream to the outside world, but in reality, owning your own small business is very, very hard work.  For example, as Anthony Bourdain, with characteristic bluntness and humor, discusses in “The Nasty Bits”, for people who dream of opening a restaurant, the reality is – most often than not – that they will fail.  If it was as easy as swanning about the dining room in nice clothes giving out free drinks to friends and raking in loads of money, everyone would want to do it.  The young celebrity-chef wanna-be who is faced with boxes of onions to peel and dishes to wash and the reality of the heat and sweat and stress of a professional kitchen will not last.  He describes successful chefs who at times return to the “menial” jobs of prepping garlic or washing pots because they appreciate the meditative nature of such jobs, and have understood that it is these seemingly small, mundane tasks that actually make up the bulk of your days in a kitchen.  If you can’t perform these tasks mindfully, if you cannot find pleasure there, then you should not be in a kitchen.

Running an inn is no different, really.  As I was re-reading this book for the second or third time, this part about peeling garlic made me think about cleaning toilets and doing laundry.  It’s not uncommon for us to do ten loads of laundry a day and finish folding in front of the TV at nine at night, and to spend eight to twelve hours on our feet each – and I mean each – and every day.  And it’s typical to work seven days a week, with a day off every couple of months.  It may look like a dream from the outside, but being a small business owner – even in Hawaii or in a beautiful restaurant – is hard work. 

We’ve been asked with surprising regularity if this is “all” we do, and what our “real” jobs are.  To be asked this, after spending hours scrubbing and cleaning and mending and peeling and cutting and baking and washing and folding and ironing and sweeping and hauling and managing books and marketing and being on the phone and computer and running up to Costco and Home Depot and Lowes and baking and cleaning and washing some more and tossing and turning all night wondering how we’re going to pay our bills … I am speechless.  But, I try to take it as a compliment, that we make things look easy because we are professionals.

As our conversation drew to a close with our friend and we’d aired all our common complaints and stresses and fears, we returned without hesitation to the fact that we love what we do, wouldn’t trade it for anything.  Sure, it’s extraordinarily – if not obviously – hard work (you can forget weekends, evenings, holidays, any sense of security, and probably a pay check for many months or even years when you first start out).  However…we choose this work so that we could be with our kids, and raise them in a beautiful place we love.  We’ve risked much to do this, but we still believe it was totally and completely worth it.  We love it here, and we love the work.  Our friend is fabulous at his job, and his customers can feel this.  We genuinely love taking care of our guests and sharing the island with them, and we think that they can feel this, too.  We are constantly working to do better by our guests, to improve everything we do – from our website to our welcome book to our breakfast offerings to our marketing.  We have met the most fantastic people here, and it is our absolute pleasure taking care of them.  Yes, it’s hard work, but we wouldn’t be doing anything else.  Again, I think it’s like being in a kitchen.  It may be hot, you’ll definitely get burned and cut, people will send back food and abuse your waiters, your feet will ache, you’ll stress endlessly about paying the bills, but at the end of the day – or long night – when things have settled and you see how happy you’ve made your guests with your creation, with your vision, with your dream, you know you are in exactly the right place and wouldn’t trade it for the world. 

Our Favorite Places: Kua Bay

Kua Bay is our favorite sand beach.  It is our go-to beach when we have enough time to leave the neighborhood (otherwise we just pop down to Keei Beach).  To get there, you drive north from the Inn on highway 11 to the airport (about thirty minutes), pass the airport and continue on for another ten minutes or so, then look for the sign for West Hawaii Veteran’s Cemetery on your right, and turn left.  The entry road is paved and there is a sign that says Kekaha Kai State Park, Manini'owali Recreation Area.  There’s a parking area, restrooms and showers. 

This beach is fantastic for two reasons.  First, it’s just a beach, there are no resorts or houses near by, so you don’t have to deal with the crush of the resort-crowd.  Second, it’s just freaking gorgeous.  Envision white sugar-sand, soft and feathery, brilliantly clear water than glows green over white sand, and a huge blue sky spanning all around you.  It’s isolated enough that it doesn’t feel that busy, but is easily accessible meaning you can cart in your cooler and umbrella and books and beers and snacks.  It is hot and bright, so wear sunblock, and there’s a great break so it’s perfect for body-surfing and boogie-boarding.  Because it’s sandy it’s not so great for snorkeling (you WANT the rocks and reef for that so wait until you’re back here at Kealakekua Bay), but it’s perfect for swimming and playing in the waves.  For a purely self-indulgent laze in the sun on white sand, go here.

 

Our favorite places: Manini Beach

If I was a guest at our Inn, I would probably spend most of my days lazing about at Manini Beach.  Of course I’m biased and spoiled, because I live right up the street from it and have been there hundreds of times.  But it is stunningly beautiful and one of those special places that I always return to.

Manini Beach is a small beach just down the hill from the Inn.  It takes about fifteen minutes to walk down to it, and about two minutes to drive down.  I personally enjoy walking down, smelling all the lovely flowering trees and viewing all the wonderfully weird tropical plants on the way.  For visitors, taking a walk like this is an excellent way to get acquainted with the area.  If you follow our road to the water, then take a left, you’ll meander through the little shoreline neighborhood and eventually get to Manini Beach Road, which you follow along the water to the park.  Sometimes the water’s so clear you can see yellow tangs (a kind of reef fish) from the road.

Manini is a little community park with grass and cocoa palms.  There is no sand, it is a rocky shore with an easy – and obvious – entrance into the water.  The water is very cold at first, because there are freshwater springs right offshore.  But as you wade out you’ll feel the water get warmer.  One of the amazing things about Manini Beach is that the water is almost always clear and the reef is right offshore.  When I see places like Kahalu’u Beach in Keauhou, or Hanauma Bay on Oahu gushed over in tour guides as the “only” and “best” places to snorkel in Hawaii, I always feel a little sad.  These are nice places, but if these were the only places you snorkeled on a visit to the islands, you’d be missing out.

The other wonderful thing about little Manini, is that it’s small and local and often deserted.  There’s a neighborhood donkey, Lia, who wanders through looking for things to eat (she’ll eat grass mats and hats and any snacks so watch out), a friendly neighborhood Boston terrier, and some regulars who like to swim.  But that’s about it during the week (like all beaches it’s busier during the weekend).  I have been down there at all hours: at dawn when the dolphins are swimming just offshore, in the morning when the reef fish are just starting to get active as the sun creeps higher, midday when the sun is high and the water crystal-clear, mid-afternoon when the afternoon mist rolls in and the water softens, and dusk when the water cools and the sun begins to sink, at night when all you can see is the huge moon hanging languidly over the bay.  It’s always beautiful; it’s always a little different.

The other morning I took my boy out for a long, hot walk out Pu’uhonua Road and we stopped at the park to take a dip and cool off before returning home to work.  The sun was blazing and the sky was perfectly blue.  The water was calm and we waded into the entrance-area.  He sat in the wet sand and played with the rocks, and I lay in the water in front of him.  Little yellow leaves from a big old tree floated down through the air, and butterflies flitted passed.  The water was warm and soothing and the only sounds were of gentle waves, myna birds and doves, and the wind in the trees.  It was a perfect moment, like many I’ve had down there.

The same week we went down in the evening, again to cool off.  It had been a long, hot day and I craved an ocean-dip badly.  The surge was too rough at the entrance area for my taste, so we walked along the short trail at the back of the park to the little point facing away from the bay towards the open ocean.  I found a safe tide pool for my boy and I sat in it and washed my face while he threw rocks.  The sun began to set.  At this time of night things begin to get quiet.  The Kona winds die down, the birds start to settle in, and the ocean seems to still.  I looked up just as a humpback whale showed its black back in the sunlight.  I got my boy up and carried him to where he could see.  We watched multiple whales languidly swim in the sunlight as it set. 

You may need to go to Manini more than once.  Some days, it’s perfectly calm like a bath tub and you’ll see all the same beautiful coral and fish you’d see at Two Step or the Monument, without the crush of the crowds.  Other days, it’s choppy and surgy and it’s most fun to walk along the shore and watch the waves crash and roll through the jagged lava-rock formations at the point.  I always see something new, I always feel better after being there.

Our Favorite Places

I was recently updating our guest activities list and was haunted by two main thoughts.  First, I was thinking again about how important it is to not over-plan a vacation, especially here on the Big Island where the languid pace of life is one of its most seductive qualities.  Second, I realized that I needed to put together a list of our favorite activities/places, since we’re asked all the time anyway.  I’ve compiled a list here, and will attempt to address them one by one in greater detail in later posts.

First off, when planning a trip please keep in mind that there’s nothing wrong with doing nothing.  We’ve had loads of guests enjoy themselves immensely simply spending time down at Manini Beach communing peacefully with the wildlife, picnicking at Pu’uhonua, taking long walks out Painted Church Road, and lounging on the lanai drinking wine and watching the sun set. 

Of all activities available, we would highly recommend spending time in the water here in our neighborhood, considered the most beautiful snorkeling water in Hawaii.  For exploration of the rest of the island, perhaps devote one full day to the Volcano, one day driving east (through Hilo up the Hamakua Coast and back down through Waimea), one day driving north (up the Kohala Coast to the big sand beaches like Kua, Hapuna, Beach 69, and Mauna Kea), and the other days resting and relaxing locally.  Drink some local coffee or enjoy a farm tour, watch the glorious sun sets from the lanai, sunbathe at Keei Beach, BBQ at least one night, and take things slowly…

Here are our favorite places:

From Captain Cook counter clockwise around the island:

Manini Beach

Captain Cook trail

Keei Beach

Pu’uhonua O Honaunau (City of Refuge)

(Specifically the picnic area and 1871 trail)

Two Step

Painted Church Road

(for walking/running)

Hookena Beach

Manuka trail

South Point

Punalu’u Black Sand Beach

Wood Valley Temple

Volcano – Kilauea Iki

Queen Liliuokanlai Park and Coconut Island

(in Hilo, when it’s sunny)

Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens

(and the connecting scenic loop)

Kalopa Forest

(nature walk and Ironwood trail)

Honoka’a

Driving along the Hamakua Coast, then down through Waimea is beautiful.

 

From South Kona, north:

Kua Bay

Beach 69

Hawi town

Pololu Valley

A Visit to Honolulu

Last week we spent a few days in Honolulu.  We’d been to the city many times before (Ken’s family is from Honolulu) and it was great to be there again.  Here are the things we love (and sometimes miss) about the big city: food and shopping.  We stuffed our faces at Shirokiya (a Japanese department store in Ala Moana mall) with sushi and ramen and fresh gyoza and other nostalgic Japanese delights you just can’t get here, with dim sum in China Town, and with our favorite Korean BBQ (Kaneohe’s TastyBBQ which has the most amazing vegetable bar we’ve ever seen).  I was able to purchase hula supplies from a little old hole-in-the-wall hula supply store, and we temporarily satiated our consumerism by wandering Ala Moana Mall (a truly beautiful open-air mall).  We spent an afternoon at Kailua Beach, one of the world’s finest beaches (white sand, purple-blue water), and would have stopped by the Valley of the Temples but ran out of time.  We took Conlan to Honolulu Zoo (he enjoyed the meerkats the most) and walked all over Ala Moana Park and through Waikiki.  It’s undeniably fun to be in the city.  Restaurant service is friendly and helpful, the restaurant scene is so competitive that most places have to be good, and stuff is open late (our quiet farming island goes to bed early and rises early). 

But we were also reminded of all the not-so-nice things, too, and were glad to come home.  For example, the most jarring thing was simply the noise.  The day after we got home I was doing maid service in our cottage and paused momentarily, taking in the silence.  I could here absolutely nothing.  The coffee mill wasn’t roasting, the birds weren’t even chirping.  There was no one here, no cars, no people-sounds.  There was only a faint sigh from the trees as the wind blew through.  The city is LOUD: jack hammers, garbage trucks at five am, scooters and motorcycles and huge buses and loads of cars roaring by.  And drivers are impatient!  I know it’s not Boston-impatient but we’ve been spoiled by the laid-back attitude of our kind Big-Island drivers who let you in and don’t tail gate or cut you off or honk a milli-second after the light turns.

We’ll probably return to Honolulu in a few years to once again eat and shop at Shirokiya and share Ken’s city with our babies and get our big-city fix.  But for now we’re loving the quiet life here at home.  For visitors to the islands, I would suggest doing your homework and choosing the place that’s the right fit.  For shoppers, Waikiki offers up Coach and Rolex and Armani and Tiffany’s and all the other big names seen in all America’s cities.  It’s filled with resorts and you can walk easily for miles.  Stuff is open late and there is always something to do.  The Big Island always gets low marks on Trip Advisor for “nightlife”, which makes us laugh.  If you want a hoppin’ nightlife, go to the city!  Like all fabulous cities, there’s plenty of music and food and entertainment.  For guests who seek a respite from city noise and pace, the Big Island will be the better fit.

 

Tsunami

On Saturday morning I awoke to the phone ringing at 5 am.  It was our guests, worried about what they’d seen on the news about a possible tsunami coming to Hawaii following the massive earthquake in Chile.  At six o’clock the tsunami siren sounded.  I got out of bed quietly and crept out into our living room.  The room was still shrouded in darkness and I could hear the surf pounding.  A siren by nature is a harrowing sound and it filled me with fear.  The sirens are tested once a month, but we’ve never actually heard one used for-real.  Both Ken and I did some quick research online and found that indeed Hawaii was under tsunami warning status, and that a tsunami was expected to hit the islands at around eleven a.m. 

We already knew that, were a tsunami to hit our shore, we would not need to evacuate, being that we are perched on a hill at 300 feet above sea level.  The best plan of action, seconded by the civil defense, is for people above shoreline areas to stay put.  Their concern is people panicking, leaving their homes unnecessarily, clogging up roads and not allowing the folks who really do need to leave, to leave in a timely fashion.  We planned to stay put, watch the news, and keep our eyes on the water. 

As the morning unfolded, the sun came out, the siren continued to sound hourly, and we checked in with the local news.  I served breakfast to our guests, we did maid service, answered the phone, and proceeded with our normal work.  Eleven am came and went, as did twelve, as did one and two and three.  We have a massive view of the coastline stretched out before us and watched the ocean constantly throughout the day.  There was no discernable shift (on our side) in current, color, level, or wave pattern.  The Kona winds picked up and the afternoon was sunny and clear.  In Honolulu, people panicked and flooded grocery stores and gas stations, but here, it was an extraordinarily quiet Saturday afternoon.

By evening the warning status had been lifted and there was an almost palpable feeling of relief in the air.  We could hear a stream of traffic heading down the road as the folks who live along the water returned home.  I heard people out on their lanais laughing and playing music loudly.  The sirens stopped, the threat was gone, and the islands endured no damage – thankfully.

More Hula

Last night we had an errand to run at the Keauhou Shopping Center (about ten miles/twenty minutes from our house). I’d known for some time that they had regular entertainment there but had never found myself there at the right time to see it. After we ran our errand we sat down for an early dinner outside of Habanero’s, and I noticed a flyer taped to the window that noted hula performances each Friday evening from six to seven. Each week a different local halau is featured.

As luck would have it, we were just in time. We strolled over to the main courtyard (over near KTA supermarket and Kenichi Sushi) and were happily surprised to see a large group of visitors had amassed to watch the performance. We sat on the ground while our son danced happily in front of us. There was some nice slack-key guitar first, followed by traditional hula performed by young girls.

The dancers on this night utilized traditional instruments as well, which was wonderful to see. So if you happen to be in Keauhou on a Friday night, waiting to catch a movie or perhaps grab dinner, please stop by the courtyard and see what’s going on. It was fantastic to see some traditional hula, which can be hard to come by.

Fruit Thieves

Recently our neighbors watched a very interesting scene unfold in front of their house. They were sitting on their lanai drinking coffee when they saw a rental jeep pull over and a man hop out. The jeep was left running with the other passenger inside. The man hopped the rock wall into their orchard, and started climbing a papaya tree to get at the ripe orange fruit at the top.

It’s necessary to clarify some things about papaya trees at this point in the story. Papayas grow like weeds all over the island. The trees can grow very tall, very quickly, and produce fruit within a year. The trees have tall stalk-like trunks, with a clump of leaves at the very top and a cluster of fruit just beneath the leaves. They’re classified as herbs rather than trees, and, most importantly, their trunks are hollow and weak.

So, as the man started to climb, the trunk cracked and both he and the tree toppled onto the wall. He cried out, jumped up, scuttled back to the jeep and tore away as quickly as possible. Our neighbors, who’d witnessed this scene unfold in its entirety from their obscured lanai found this quick karmic-return very humorous. The moral of the story is simply to not steal fruit from people’s property; it’s not right, and it can be dangerous!

Humpback Whales

It is humpback season and we’ve been watching them from the house. The humpback whales migrate down to the Hawaiian Islands from Alaska each winter to give birth and mate. They can be spotted along the west coast of this island, some years clustering up the Kohala way, and some years hanging out down here in the South Kona area.

We’ve seen them at South Point, and this year, we’ve had guests see them up off Waipio Valley. We often see whales from our house in the mornings just off Keei Beach or in Kealakekua Bay. Just the other morning during breakfast we saw a mother and calf tail-slapping right in close to shore.

Their season is November through May, with sightings seeming to peek in February, which is Humpback Awareness Month. Like all wildlife here in the islands, there’s no guarantee you’ll see one while here. But if you do, you will undoubtedly feel moved.

We’ve watched them at all hours from the house and from shore, we’ve known swimmers who’ve encountered them in the water and/or heard their calls. No matter how many times you see one of their huge, shining black backs emerge out of the ocean, it always feels lucky.

For Island visitors who will be here next week, please note that the City of Refuge National Park – Pu’uhonua O Honaunau – will be hosting a talk by Justin Viezbicke, Coordinator for Hawaiian Island Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, on Wednesday February 17 at 6.

I went to this talk a couple of years ago and enjoyed it immensely. This is a chance to learn all kinds of things about the humpbacks you may not know. For example, did you realize that the whales – even the birthing, nursing mothers – don’t eat while in Hawaii? They give birth, mate, and make the journey home to Alaska, all without a thing to eat.

Also, did you know it is only the male humpbacks that sing? The songs have been studied and it has been noted that each year the song is added on to, the rest remaining the same. Pu’uhonua O Honaunau is a beautiful park, a fantastic place to whale watch from shore, and provides a wonderful setting for such an informative talk-story session. We encourage attendance.

Flattering Photos

Recently I was talking on the phone to a prospective guest. I was describing our guest rooms to her while she looked at the photos on the website. She was excited about booking with us and breathlessly stopped me part way and asked, “Are these photos for real?” I was a little taken aback, but assured her that yes, we took them ourselves, and that yes, the property and everything she sees there is exactly as pictured.

Her question seemed strange at first, but as I thought about it, I realized that it was fair. In fact, it wasn’t the first time I’d heard it, or something similar like: Do you serve breakfast? Do you have to pay for parking/internet? Do you really have an ocean view? Are your breakfasts really the way you describe them? Is there parking? etc. We’ve tried to provide loads of helpful information on our website, and are always ready and able to answer questions via email and phone, so we’re always slightly surprised by these questions. But what we’ve eventually come to realize isn’t that we aren’t being clear in our communications or marketing, but that there’s lots of misleading info out there in general that tourists and visitors have to wade through (oh, and the standard of accommodations on the island is unfortunately surprisingly low in some cases).

We realize our photos aren’t that great. In fact, we took them ourselves. Don’t get me wrong, we would LOVE to pay a professional photographer for new photos that really capture our place. Our photos really don’t do justice to the place, especially to the size of the guest rooms. But on the other hand, we always wanted to paint a REALISTIC picture of what’s here. Our guests arrive and either say, “it’s exactly as it looks online”, or, “it’s even better than we thought it would be!”, which is EXACTLY the reaction we want. We would never want a guest to arrive after all the expense and effort of travel and planning and be disappointed.

We have, however, heard plenty of stories of guests who have been mislead, and we have also been misled. For example, a common pet-peeve of ours is when B&B’s or vacation rentals advertise panoramic ocean views and sport great ocean-view shots on their websites, but have either used photos that were taken with a telephoto lens from miles away OR have had their once fine view obscured by foliage (which can happen in a place where there’s no end to the growing season). This gives a false impression of proximity to the ocean and/or of the view from the property. We once stayed at a place that had a photo taken – obviously once you’ve been here and seen it – from Alii Drive, but was actually located at least five miles up mauka.

Oh, and the view from the property, while probably great thirty years ago, was totally overgrown with trees and vines. You could only see sky (which is fine, but not what we were expecting). Everyone says “ocean view” here, because we’re all near the ocean and probably sitting on a hill, but not all views are equal. Another pet-peeve is guest-room shots that make the rooms look much larger than they actually are (fish-eye view). We’re always grousing about our lame efforts and how our photos only show a portion of each room. We’ve shot from all angles, at all times of day, sitting down, standing up, crouching, etc., but again, we’d rather delight than disappoint. It seems that it’s common practice to go the other way. We had some guests recently who stayed at a place where it turned out that the guest rooms—although they looked large and roomy on the website—were all in a converted basement and had very low ceilings. They felt so claustrophobic they left. We stayed at a place a while back that looked to be a massive cottage online, but in reality was a teensy-tiny little studio.

Another unpleasant surprise relating to size has to do with guest room bathrooms. Because traditional B&B’s are usually converted homes (and often guest rooms are old kid’s rooms), it is not uncommon to either have to share a bathroom with other guests, or to have a small bathroom in the room that’s been converted from a closet or other small space. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with this, you just have to know what you’re getting. We had a guest stay at a place that did have private bathrooms—which was nice—but the shower was so tiny she bumped into the sides when she had to bend over to get soap. She laughed about it, but it had been uncomfortable and claustrophobic.

It is such hard work to plan a trip and find the perfect place to stay, and our thought as innkeepers is that, after all the effort, guests should find something that makes them happy. If, when we’re speaking with a prospective guest we get the sense that they may not be happy at our place, we will say something and make a recommendation that we think we’ll be a better fit for them. The last thing we want is for someone to be unhappy here. As a visitor, it’s important to do your due diligence and find a place that works for you. Your vacation-time is precious, and you should be able to relax and enjoy it.