TravelGuides

(TGA) - Yikes! I booked this place for 3 nights and then read some bad reviews that mentioned unsanitary water that can cause staph infections, and druggies breaking in cars & doing home invasions. Please anyone who's been there, or in the area. Give it to me straight. Thank you! The Hula Cove Cottage has a gated driveway, and is at the end of the road from all the action. Plus it doesn't have a/c. Do any of the places have a/c in Kapaho? Thanks!! Here's more info on it:
hutz.com/vacation/509878/Hula-Cove/Kapoho/HI…
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Re the A/C, what month are you coming? It would be atypical for places in Kapoho to have A/C. It can be pretty hot there in the summer. The place you rent should be built for cross-breezes and have good fans. If you leave during the day you may need to lock up and close windows, ask the landlord. If so, it can be warm when you return.
I rented a place there in summer and it was really warm, but it wasn't a well-designed place. This cottage looks nice.
I looked at the map
hutz.com/property_images/…
and it does seem to be on a sort of inlet. When I swam in the pools I crossed the lava "bridges" to get to the outer pools. I don't know if I'd swim right off the cottage there. I look for more water exchange.
The bacteria thing is real and there are signs (those houses have cesspools and the ground is really porous rock, so they leach), but there is staph everywhere. A lot of people use these pools. I can't really give it to you "straight" in the sense of assessing the risk. It's not that high but it's higher than the standards sometimes, is what I read.
Don't swim with open wounds, rinse and disinfect any skin breaks, and do that WHEREVER you are in Hawai'i. Maybe because it's always warm here and everything grows well, so do bacteria. So don't ignore owies that you get.
Kapoho is a beautiful place.
As for break-ins, yes, there's a problem in the area, but whether that rental has had issues I can't say. My rental had had break-ins and the landlord had installed some extra security measures and I always had to lock up. The driveway had a gate but people can get around gates. It's not something I would fear but I would be security conscious and I wouldn't leave valuable in your car.
Most home invasions happen when people aren't home, in the daytime. Very rarely are they bold enough to enter when there are occupants. If you have concerns about people breaking in while you sleep, I would relax about that.
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I will be staying at a rental several houses from the Hula Cove in less than two weeks. I was also concerned. I searched for hard data and found this Health Dept. link with data for all the islands:
…hawaii.gov/CleanWaterBranch/…default.aspx
It has regular and recent testing info on Enterococci & Clostridium levels. I don't claim to understand the numbers, but levels at Kapoho (listed as Vacationland) and other beaches and areas are here for comparison.
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I will be staying at a rental several houses from the Hula Cove in less than two weeks. I was also concerned. I searched for hard data and found this Health Dept. link with data for all the islands:
…hawaii.gov/CleanWaterBranch/…default.aspx
It has regular and recent testing info on Enterococci & Clostridium levels. I don't claim to understand the numbers, but levels at Kapoho (listed as Vacationland) and other beaches and areas are here for comparison.
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The problem w/ wanting A.C. is that it is very expensive to run on the island. If you have good breezes and ceiling fans its not that big of an issue at night but depending on the house and time of year, yes it can get pretty hot during the day.
If you can and decide to cancel and want something a couple of blocks away from Kehena Beach, here's a good option that I have rented a cozy little cottage close to the beach w/ kitchenette, laundry, free wi-fi
http://olianaguesthouse.com/Cottage.html
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