We Rented a House

Anahola Beach

Phase I of our Hawaiian vacation is complete!

One of my mini-goals for this month was to find a suitable rental for our vacation in Hawaii next December. Yes, that’s a long way from now but everything we had read said that not only were prices higher in December but it could be difficult to find a room or rental if you waited too long. It was better to be too early than too late, so at the end of last year we started looking. This week we found a wonderful place and put down a deposit.

One of the goals of our vacation is to research the cost of living in Hawaii as much as possible, Kauai in particular, as that’s where we dream of moving in 2014. We did not want to stay at a resort or in a resort-like environment, but rather in a home where we had to buy food, drive to go places and so forth. The house also needed to be big enough for our family of five and our son and his family.

The home we’ve reserved is located on the Coconut Coast of Kauai (upper northeast) in Anahola, a great location for exploring the whole island. It’s got three bedrooms, two baths, a big, gorgeous kitchen and room for all of us to get together to eat and celebrate. Although it doesn’t have an ocean view, the house does have a large deck out back with a terrific view of the mountains, and is beautifully landscaped with a yard for our grandson to play in. The house is located near Anahola Beach, and comes equipped with everything we might need including beach gear, boogie boards, umbrellas and other accoutrements. Best of all, it’s affordable! Two weeks in this home will cost us less than 7-10 days at a resort.

The many, many positive reviews by previous renters are what really sold us on this place, and chatting with the owner cemented our decision. The house was originally built as a family home, but after their children arrived they decided to move back to the mainland to be nearer grandparents, and now rent the house out most of the year (they use it for a couple of months each year).

So on to Phase II, which will be finding affordable air fare. Most of the charts we’ve seen show that prices for December flights drop in late summer, but we’re already set up for price alerts from a few sources and have our price parameters set. A strong rumor has it that Southwest will start flying to Hawaii again this year as well, which would be fantastic because their fares are so competitive. In the meantime, we will continue to save, save, save!

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