Puako holiday house

While my husband and I stayed here, we called this place "the Shack" but still had a great time: you can't beat the oceanfront location with pounding surf on lava rocks, small sandy beach, huge grass yard, and swaying palms. Every morning we drank our coffee outside, in thoughtfully provided comfy chairs, while watching whales frolic offshore. That said, the Shack is very simple, built probably 50 years ago as a summer place and never really updated, with a pretty minimal kitchen and bath. Reminded me of summer camp. The insect screens are old, rusty and don't quite fit (i.e. don't entirely protect from insects of which there weren't many but a few.) Nevertheless, the owners provide everything you could reasonably want, including colorful new fluffy towels, blenders, toasters, WiFi and small flat screen TV. It would be small for 4 (especially crowded getting to and from the loo) but doable. Nice Hawaiiana motif. Easy parking. Great lanaii, BBQ, no dishwasher.
We had been looking forward to snorkeling off the front of the Shack but didn't quite see how that would work in fact; too shallow and rough during our visit in February, at least. We didn't hugely enjoy the Kohala neighborhood, to be honest, as being a bit too ritzy for our taste, although the immediate Puako neigborhood was pleasant but lacked restaurants and bars. The neighborhood Puako general store was close and friendly, and also had DVDs for rent. We found ourselves regularly using an insulated soft-sided cooler we'd brought with us, to schlep cold drinks and premade lunch items along to snorkeling beaches. Loved the Big Island overall.