Welcome to Hale Honu, "Home of the Sea Turtles"! This 2 bed/3 bath private and gated OCEANFRONT HOME has additional space and can easily sleep 8 adults. We designed Hale Honu to provide our guests with an experience in which everyone can slow down and become immersed in the presence of the ocean, filled with its rhythms and energy, and mesmerized by the waves and tropical fish below. This is a sublime place to let the cares of the world drift away with the tide. You'll love it here!<br /><br /><b>The space</b><br />Hale Honu is a 2 story Hawaiian style beach home which is ideally located to take advantage of all that the Pacific Ocean has to offer! TRULY OCEANFRONT, you hear the waves from every room, and the sea breeze moves easily through this airy, thoughtfully designed and well-appointed Hawaiian home. <br /> <br />The bedrooms and living areas are designed so that the inside and outside world flow into each other. In the main living areas of the house, the inside and outside world are separated by an eighteen foot bank of interlocking retractable glass sliding doors, which creates one contiguous indoor-outdoor living space between the kitchen, living-dining room, and lanai. The natural bamboo hardwood flooring in the bedrooms and kitchen transition to Italian travertine tile in the living-dining room, which continues out onto the lanai. This 400 Sq. foot lanai is about 70% covered with a finished bamboo ceiling with lights, and constructed of locally sourced ohia poles and railing, and a nearly invisible stainless cable railing system that gives you an amazing, unobstructed 180 degree view over the ocean and horizon (facing directly west, affording sunsets 365 days a year!) You can sit out here at any time of the day, in any kind of weather, be in the shade or get a tan...your choice!<br />Curtain screening easily pulls across this opening if desired or if a bug hatch is on (though during the day and most nights there are so few bugs that we almost always leave this entire space wide open). There is a sectional sofa on this lanai, providing additional space for guests (2 under 6-foot people could sleep here) or for some of those heavenly vacation naps! The lanai also has an outdoor dining set that can seat 6-8 for dining. The indoor dining table that has a banquet and bench seating for 6-10 is just a couple feet away away so you could even move the tables together for a large group! At night you can turn on flood lights that illuminate the ocean surf rolling onto our coastline. <br /><br /> Everyone loves the kitchen at Hale Honu. It's designed and outfitted with the serious cook in mind (that would be Darla!). We've got pretty much everything you could need or want. All appliances are stainless steel. A huge French door refrigerator with ice maker, tabletop icemaker, an induction range, dishwasher, rice cooker, Instapot, blenders, espresso and coffee maker, digital meat thermometer, servings for 12, island pottery and more. And we have a state of the art reverse osmosis water filter with a dispenser at the kitchen sink, eliminating the need for bottled water. Bring your refillable bottles and "Just Say No" to single use plastic bottles polluting paradise! We provide bins for you and recycle all plastic beverage bottles, glass, aluminum cans and cardboard. <br /><br />The Master bedroom has an en-suite bath with a soaking tub and tub-over shower, with a super comfy California King bed that is raised on a platform so you can look right over the ocean and sunset from the bed. The Master and second bedrooms are each outfitted with a 4 X 10 foot Nana Window that completely opens with no obstruction to the incredible view and ocean air! The 2nd bedroom also has a King bed! That’s not all though… both bedrooms have banks of jalousie windows above and below the Nana windows so even if the big windows are closed you’ll get plenty of airflow. Upstairs there is also a small nook room with a double (full) sized bed which overlooks the ocean and the Pahoehoe Beach Park, another place for a nap or additional guests. The second bath upstairs has a large walk in shower and vanity, and is accessed from the hall. Twin sized foam floor sleeping mats and a blow-up queen bed complete the sleeping options. <br /><br />On the ground level of the property is a wonderful 625 square foot “bonus room” with a King sized Murphy bed (really comfy!), breakfast nook, living room with private oceanfront lanai, and wet bar with sink, refrigerator, coffee maker, and all the accoutrements needed for simple meal preparation. The bathroom here has a double headed marble walk in shower (roomy enough for two!) This bonus room has a private secure entrance and no contiguous passage to the upstairs main house. This is the perfect space for families traveling with grandparents or travelers who are challenged by stairs. Young children should not be in this space unattended as the sea wall just outside the door is not childproof like the upstairs lanai is. All rentals of Hale Honu are for the entire property, including this ground level bonus room.<br /><br /> Hale Honu borders Pahoehoe State Beach Park, a grassy park with a meandering walkway that leads to Magic Sands Beach. You can often join in a yoga class, and watch the local keiki's (kids) hula class on many Saturday mornings. There is a small keiki friendly beach here with shells and tide pools, and the reef here is excellent for snorkeling. There are often turtles sunning on the beach. There’s a knack to easily navigating this ocean entry (and even getting in and out right in front of Hale Honu), so ask Peter or Darla about it and save yourself some scrapes!<br /><br /> Snorkeling in excellent in front of the house, with sea turtles a regular occurrence at Hale Honu (this spot was locally known as “Turtle Cove.”) One can enter the ocean for a swim or launch a canoe or paddle-board from Pahoehoe Beach next door. Or you walk two minutes to island-favorite Magic Sands Beach for sunning, swimming and boogie-boarding! Magic Sands is a great boogie boarding beach, has a lifeguard, and is a safe walk and beach for kids. It is locally known as La’aloa, which means “Sacred Place” and is clearly the best beach south of Kailua-Kona town. (Sand coverage on this and other beaches is best between March and December... it all depends on the winter swells direction and intensity. Winter swells can sometimes pull the sand off-shore (that’s why it’s MAGIC sands!)<br />We provide boogie boards, beach and snorkeling gear. There is now an pretty good restaurant “Magics” at Magic Sands Beach, which also has an outdoor, beach side snack bar. (Watercraft are not provided by owners, but can be rented in town.) <br /><br />On the ground level where you park is a hot tub literally one foot from the edge of the sea wall. A propane BBQ is here also. On the ground level is another 400 square foot covered lanai, looking right out onto the ocean. There is a table & chairs on this lanai. We have 6 reclining outdoor lounge chairs with pads, and a total of 3 outdoor glass tables and chairs.<br /><br />Hale Honu is walled on three sides (with the ocean being the fourth side). A drive-through rolling gate is controlled with a key pad and remote openers for you to bring in your car. A walk-through locking gate is another way to exit the property to the street. The property is secure and has a monitored alarm system if you wish to use it.<br /> <br /> We’re located 3.6 miles from historic Kailua-Kona town, and an easy drive to all the sights of the Big Island's West side.<br /><br /><b>Guest access</b><br />You have full access to the entire property. This is a secure and gated property. An alarm system is installed. Hot tub, propane BBQ, hammock, free laundry room, beach gear are all for your use. We have boogie boards, coolers, beach chairs, beach towels and umbrellas for you. Snorkeling gear comes and goes. Lots of fins and snorkels, but masks are less predictable.<br /><br /><b>Other things to note</b><br />We provide everything you'll need for a great holiday- just bring your clothes and personal items! The kitchen is well equipped for serious cooking and there is everything you'll need for a day at the ocean- beach towels, umbrellas, snorkel gear, boogie boards, ice coolers, even a good book!<br /> There's a separate laundry room on site with a huge washer and dryer, and nice outdoor areas with padded lounges for sunning. Hang out on the large covered lanai and fire up the gas BBQ for grilling that fresh island fish. Maybe a soak in the hot tub while you sip a MaiTai?.... This really is paradise! <br /> Hawaii is a tropical island. Insects thrive in the Hawaiian islands. We employ a pest control service to minimize bug intrusions, but you will see an occassional flying cockroach and ants. If you are the type of traveler whose vacation will be runined because a gecko is in the house or a flying roach scurries across the floor or ceiling - don't come here. Book a place instead in a sanatized resort hotel that employs continuous insecticide application and has windows that will not open.<br /> We have an excellent cleaning crew, but they are expensive - our cost is $650 per departure. With a host "service fee" deduction of 15.5% imposed by AirBnB on hosts, we are absorbing a $50 loss on each cleaning, even at this high cost. Everything in Hawaii is expensive, and we have hired the most reliable and thorough cleaning service in our 20 years of hosting guests at Hale Honu. <br /><br />We are a LEGAL Short Term Vacation Rental Property. Our SVTR Registration number is STVR-19-361476. Our NUC NUMBER IS NUC-19-1650. Our Hawaii State Transient Accommodation Tax Number is transient accommodation license number is TA-009-656-7296-01. (All owners are required to post this information in all online listings). <br />All guests are obligated to follow local ordinances, with QUIET HOURS FROM 9 PM TO 8 AM. <br />General Excise Sales Tax for the Big Island is currently 4.712%, and Accommodation taxes are 14%…11% State & 3% County) . We have always collected and remitted general excise and "transient accommodation" taxes and have filed monthly returns in compliance with the law. Owners who do not collect and pay taxes put ALL homeowners at risk of being permanently prohibited from offering properties like Hale Honu to guests like you. MANY areas in Hawaii have banned short term rentals because of widespread tax cheating by owners. The hotel industry is lobbying heavily to eliminate vacation rentals by owners, and drive all visitors into their resorts. So please do your part by not booking with owners who are illegally vacation renting their properties and not charging lodging taxes.<br /><br /><b>Registration Details</b><br />SVTR REG NUMBER ..... SVTR-19-361476 ....... NUC NUMBER --NUC-19-1650 ..... TA TAX --- TA-009-656-7296-01 ....... GE TAX NO --GE-009-656-7296-01