moving to honokaa (Lahaina, Waimea, Koloa: transplants, renting, living)

[coachsean]

Thank you for your thoughts, most of the land we are hoping to lease out for cattle grazing, some will be for farming and the balance will be for our home and outbuildings. We have been looking at Haina Pali Estates not the camp area but are concerned about salt spray and corrosion issues. Ahuloa is on our list to check out. Any other places you could suggest would be appreciated. I have been reading alot of your posts and value your input. aloha and mahalo

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Haina is at about 500-800 foot elevation and has an entirely different climate than somewhere such as Ahualoa which is a mere two or three miles away. Entirely different things grow in the two areas and they aren't that far apart.

As usual, Hotzcatz is spot on. I'll add the emphasis that the variations of microclimates on the Big Island are unlike anything I've ever seen anywhere else, so you MUST visit the property in person, and preferably visit a number of times, at different times of day, over an extended period to get an accurate picture of what the land might be good for.

As an example, I average about 100 inches of rain annually on my property in Volcano, but 3 miles west the rainfall is less than 1/3 of that.

And then there are the hidden gotchas to watch out for... I know a family that bought land that used to be sugar cane fields, which it turns out had been so heavily treated with arsenic to kill the cane rats that it's deep in the soil and they cannot have a vegetable garden.

Like Hotzcatz said, plan to rent for 6 months while you look around.

Good luck!

[hotzcatz]

Haina Pali Estates (dontcha love it when developers use the name "estates"? There's several over in Puna district where each "estate" is about one tenth of an acre) anyway, if Haina Pali Estates are the ones I think they are, then they are lovely and can probably honestly claim to be an "estate". Do you have to go down Standard Oil Road to get to them? The nearby power plant - who owns Standard Oil road - just got resold to a mainland firm a few months back and now there's a locked gate across Standard Oil road. Has a keypad to enter a number although I've also heard most of the town can find out the number if they want. They've also fenced off Haina Landing which is one of the few spots along the coast below town where one can access the ocean. It's not a very good access, no beach or boat dock or anything but one can climb over the big rocks to get to the water or fish off a small rocky cliff. There was also some chat about how the few residents there wanted the power plant people to pave the road and the power plant isn't going to. Although this was just with chit chat with a lower level power plant worker so things could be entirely different and he wouldn't have been at a corporate level high enough to actually know.

Most of the Haina Pali Estates are old cane land (I haven't a clue about arsenic but fireweed is a new pasture problem) currently used as cattle fields. I don't know if they are over grazed or not, they don't seem as lush as the grass in some other nearby areas. Wind will be a big factor there since that bit of coast kind of sticks out into the tradewinds. I don't know if there's grid power to the area, I'd expect so, but it's easy enough to put in a solar system to run the house and a few wind generators would work well there. It does get a lot of sun and wind. It is nice and close to Honokaa although walking to town might be a bit of a trek, especially when town is uphill. But it's probably less than a mile or so across fields.

There are a few larger town lots almost directly in town that are usually already planted with citrus and other fruit trees. A two acre lot with lovely older home went up for sale a year or so ago. That would have been a very "sustainable" sort of place since you'd be able to put solar on the roof to produce power and a large vegetable garden for produce and all the fruit trees for fruit as well as some extra to sell at market.

Other areas you may find of interest would be Kapulena over towards Waipio. Larger lots, lots of folks growing things and heading towards being sustainable. Also Kolopa and possibly Pauuilo Mauka. Ahualoa is lovely, but usually it is densely wooded and has a lot of afternoon mist and is moister than many of the other areas around here. Good for growing coffee and tea. Citrus will grow in almost all these areas. If you are real specific about the variety, you can grow apples, peaches, pears and cherries, too. Look for "low chill" varieties. Bay Laurel Nurseries in California will mail you low chill varieties of these trees and they are of a good quality.

My general impressions of each area are that Haina Pail Estates is a new semi-hoity toity area. Dunno if folks live in the houses or not, but "farming" is not their prime source of income. I don't actually know anyone living in the houses, so this could be an entirely incorrect assessment. Kapulena was built with outside money but they seem to be trying to be producing farm produce and they live on their properties. Some areas of Kalopa were built with outside money by folks who were planning on a second home here but most of it was built by long standing residents who live in the houses. Most of Pauuilo is long time residents and they live there. Kapulena, Kalopa and Pauuilo produce more than Haina Pali Estates and Ahualoa. The produce more varied things, too.

My advice would be to move over to Honokaa town (since that would be your base of operations) and then look once you're able to ask around and see everything for yourself. You'll be able to notice the difference in climates, the topography and the flora. Fauna too, for that matter.

Drop by the Honokaa Wednesday quilting group when you get here, there's lots of folks there who've lived here for ages who can fill you in on good spots. At the moment, prices are low so you may be able to pick up an already built place at a reasonable price. It's always nicer to have mature fruit trees than to have to wait for the little ones to grow.

The Building Department is a bit slow right now, too. I draw blueprints so it's something which gets noticed. They've just done a drastic change to the Building Code (from an old version of the UBC to a much newer version of the IBC) so everyone is all in a dither trying to figure out what it actually means when it comes time to put things on paper. Hawaii County hasn't come out with their "amendments" to make the code work in Hawaii yet, either. Everyone has been using the same code (as amended by Hawaii County) for decades so we'd all gotten used to how to do things to code so we didn't have to look stuff up. But, with the new code now everyone's having to check everything so the whole permitting process is slowed down. It will perk back up again in about six months to a year or so but at the moment things are pretty slow. Everyone on my current project (an elder care home in Ahualoa) just gave up and went on vacation last month to give the dust time to settle.

[coachsean]

Have done a quick internet search of Kapulena, Kalopa and it appears there is nothing for sale??? I'll keep checking something may pop up.. We are in no great hurry, so we can look and look for the right place.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by coachsean

Have done a quick internet search of Kapulena, Kalopa and it appears there is nothing for sale???

See, this is another reason you have to have boots on the ground in Hawai'i to find out what's really happening. Property is bought and sold every day without ever appearing on the internet. A place near me recently sold, by the owner, via a notice on the bulletin board at the general store.

You need to drive around, walk around, talk to people, be patient. No way you can get more than a general idea from online listings.

[coachsean]

If that should happen in the future can you pass it along?? appreciate it. I can be over there in a matter of an hour or two depending on flights from Honolulu.

[OpenD]

Oh, you're in Honolulu? Why didn't you say so earlier? That makes a big difference.

OK, no guarantees, but I'll let you know if I hear anything. But Hotzcatz is probably your best resource on this forum, because she and her hubby have lived over at that end of the island forevah.

Happy hunting.

[coachsean]

Thanks for for the information, have been communicating with Hotzcatz and getting some useable information which we feel will help us make a final decision on where to buy land or an existing place.


aloha

[wikiwikirunner]

Originally Posted by coachsean

we are looking at setting up a self sustaining farm/ranch. we want to slow down and enjoy ourselves and do some volunteer work within the community. We are hoping Honokaa is the place for us..

Honokaa and the surrounding Hamakua coast is definitely the place for you if you want to slow down

[cagary]

In my humble opinion, i don't think you're going to like living in Honokaa.

Slowing down is one thing, but coming to a complete halt is another. And I think that is what you'll find in Honokaa.

Rent a place for at least 6 months.

You might like being closer to Hilo. (Not in Hilo.) The towns just north of Hilo like Pepeekeo are easy going places AND the activity (restaurants, shopping, etc.) found in Hilo is just a short drive away.