This review was submitted before 2018 and has not been verified.
10/10 Excellent
Chris S., Vancouver
Feb 23, 2017
quiet high end beachfront home perfect for families
This place was a great find. The location is probably the best feature. It is right on the beach in a quiet neighbourhood about a 10 minute drive from the closest town. You must have a rental car. It is on Oahu's North Shore with big surf and surfing happening directly in front however there is a wide reef that blocks about 80% of the surf size and power that reaches the beach. As such the water is usable and pleasant for swimming, wading, and snorkeling although not perfect for any of these. The beach is sand but the reef happens very quickly with areas of sand where you can walkout in pockets. The water is too shallow to swim in many places and fine in others. You really need goggles or mask to see exactly what is happening under water and how much room you have. We had young children we could take in the water on a sandy bottom but there is always a bit of wave action to the shore, although often minimal in places. The best areas to get in the water are about 2 properties in either direction but you can use the water directly in front. It is quite windy most of the time (February) which helps with the heat. The sound of the surf is moderately loud both inside and outside the house. This can be a positive and a negative depending on your perspective. You can walk along the beach, which is gorgeous, for miles in both directions without interruption and seeing very few people. The beach in front was always just us and rarely you could see a few people only in either direction. Mostly it is a few surfers walking by to the best enter spot and watching the surfers was a highlight for sure, from the beach, lawn or house. The pictures of the house and beach are quite accurate. The lawn, deck by the beach and hammock were features that we highly valued, more so than I imagined, and especially with children. There are adequate numbers of chairs, loungers, tables, snorkel equipment and some toys. An outdoor shower and hose were perfect for not tracking sand into the house. We spent almost all of the 2 weeks we were there at the property. It is that nice and very relaxing.
The house is large and very nice. It has been recently renovated. The master suite (King) is particularly well done (perhaps disproportionately) and huge. The other bedroom upstairs is smaller (Queen) and has a day bed plus a whole second living room, kitchen, dining room, washer/dryer. The downstairs bedroom is quite separate (double bed?) , off the dining area.